“Every move you make, every time you hard brake, I’ll be watching you.”
Apologies to The Police for changing the lyrics of Every Breath You Take, but truck drivers are aware that they are in the spotlight the moment they show up for work.
There are many sets of eyes on them – physical and technological – inside and outside the truck. Cameras, sensors and telematics keep a constant lookout for situations that could be problematic and report them to the fleet in real time. If a truck is involved in a crash, witnesses and people at the scene will pull out their cellphones and start recording.
Drivers are the most visible part of a trucking company. They must interact with other road users and pedestrians with a duty of care.
They are responsible for the expensive equipment they operate and costly freight they haul. The total cost of the big rig and cargo usually runs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and sometimes much more.
An error, willful disregard, lapse in judgment or plain bad luck can have catastrophic consequences.
Carriers use safety scorecards to track driving behaviors, helping identify risky drivers and areas for improvement. This performance evaluation tool uses data from telematics systems focusing on metrics like speed, braking patterns, acceleration and distracted driving.
Threat of nuclear verdicts
At a recent Fleet Safety Council seminar, insurance executives explained the cost of risk. Drivers and their driving habits were in the spotlight. They warned carrier representatives who were present about the risk of nuclear verdicts in the U.S., in which awards exceed $10 million after catastrophic incidents.
Panelists offered advice on how to minimize risky driver behavior. Training helps, and if there’s no improvement, it’s better to part ways with that employee.
This constant monitoring is warranted, but let’s consider another factor that might be at play.
Pushing drivers to run hard
Someone in the audience wanted to know why there was no mention of dispatchers who push drivers to deliver loads, sometimes setting hard-to-achieve pick-up and delivery schedules.
Given the current freight environment and economic uncertainty, some drivers feel they have no choice but to push hard to make tough delivery expectations. Drivers understand they should never let dispatch get mad, or they won’t be offered that choice load with plenty of miles the next week. A happy dispatcher could be the difference between an average and good weekly paycheque.
There are some companies that operate under a veneer of respectability while squeezing drivers every which way possible to increase profitability.
Underlying issue
Drivers may push themselves and the equipment they operate as they rush to deliver or pick up a load, and while doing so, increase risky behavior. Telematics will catch this, but not the underlying issue.
The person who spoke out about dispatching also suggested that dispatchers ride in the truck during a trip.
Drivers must deal with delays due to traffic and weather. Long waits at shippers and receivers, and sometimes border delays are part and parcel of the job. Imagine a dispatcher having to respond to messages from a dispatcher regarding the status of the load and answering irate calls inquiring why the delivery was delayed.
Staying safe
For many dispatchers, thanks to technology, a truck and its driver are a dot on a screen. There are loads to be moved while maintaining deadlines. Connect the dot to a load and keep things moving.
I remember a driver manager telling me, “We are not here to move hearts and minds, we are here to move freight.”
But remember, a driver has a heart and mind, and they move a carrier’s freight. Safety in the truck and on the road boils down to getting home to one’s loved ones once the job is done. Most humans instinctively choose to not get hurt.
Monitor the driver. But it’s also important to keep an eye on factors that could have safety ramifications.
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