Fleet Tracking Systems: Advanced Technology Protects your Drivers’ Safety

Higher risks for fleet drivers

Whether your fleet vehicles (cars, vans, trucks, micro-mobility vehicles, or any combination thereof) transport your sales or support staff across the country, deliver goods, carry passengers, or serve any other purpose, driver safety is a top priority.
Fleet drivers drive at least twice as many miles as non-fleet drivers, which puts them at a higher risk of getting into accidents. It is, therefore, no surprise that the annual accident rate for
commercial fleets is 20%.
Moreover, according to the U.S Department of Labor, around 40% of motor vehicle accidents are work-related, and nearly 1 out of every 5 fatally injured workers was employed as a driver/sales worker or truck driver.

In any fleet, driver safety is a serious concern

Besides the obvious concern for fleet drivers’ health and well-being, protecting their safety has far-reaching financial implications. According to Automotive Fleet Magazine, average insurance-related costs of fleet vehicle accidents are approximately $70,000, and that’s before we’ve considered potential third-party liability claims or lost productivity and revenues due to vehicle and driver downtimes – which could have an adverse effect on your brand name.
Safer drivers are more likely to get to their destination unharmed, on schedule, with their vehicles and passengers intact and, in case of deliveries, with goods in excellent condition.
Furthermore, as user-based insurance becomes more popular as a pricing model, safer drivers imply lower insurance premiums.
For all of these reasons, keeping fleet drivers safe should be a key objective for stakeholders in any company that operates a fleet.

Protecting drivers with in-vehicle driver assistance devices

There are many devices available to help protect the safety of fleet drivers, that can be installed in fleet vehicles. These include:

Telematics Based Driver Behavior Tracking
The system tracks driver behavior, alerts the driver in real-time, and produces an individual score based on driver performance – sudden braking and acceleration, sharp turns, high-speed driving over speed bumps, erratic overtaking, speeding, and more. Drivers that get ongoing safety recommendations and feedback on their driving become safer drivers. The score is reported to the driver and the fleet manager who can commend safer drivers and help other drivers improve their driving habits in order to achieve much better overall fleet driving safety. In addition, as the system detects unusual driver behavior,
it can predict accidents, helping prevent them in advance.

ADAS
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, these devices are installed in the vehicle and help prevent accidents in real-time, using sensors to detect driver errors or nearby obstacles, and respond accordingly. ADAS applications typically include detection of pedestrians, lane departure alerts, recognition of road signs, automatic emergency braking, and detection of blind spots

 Video Telematics

Combination of videos from camera installed on the vehicle’s dashboard that records the events in and around the vehicle and vehicle data, linked to and managed via a telematics solution from a remote platform. This solution provides more context on incident footage and transmits video evidence in real time. The evidence can also be obtained by demand according to the company policy.
It can also collect data on driving behavior, that indirectly affect drivers driving habits

Driver Monitoring Systems – DMS
A vehicle safety system that assesses the driver’s alertness and warns the driver in real-time when it detects fatigue signs (dozing off, yawning, etc.) or distractions which cause the driver to look away to help him maintain control of the vehicle

 Cell Phone Blocking
A system that allows the driver to focus on driving with no distractions from his cell phone. The system blocks texting, notifications, and web browsing while driving, and is activated automatically when the driver enters the car

Each one of these devices on its own provides an excellent solution for a very specific driver safety challenge.
Ituran’s driver behavior tracking and monitoring system – Safety, improves driving habits, and saves expenses.
ADAS detects potential hazards or driver errors and affects driver safety.
DMS warns the driver in real-time.
Camera simply records events in the vehicle.
Cell phone blocking neutralizes mobile phone distractions so that the driver can focus on driving.

But what if the fleet manager or any other company official could receive alerts in real-time when a potentially dangerous situation is about to occur? What if the data collected by all of these devices could be analyzed to obtain actionable insights that would improve driver safety considerably and ultimately, be much better for business? And what if one system could be responsible for the data and insights?

The Ituran’s ultimate driver safety solution – integrated fleet tracking

Ituran’s integrated fleet tracking solution provides an extra layer of control and monitoring in addition to data analysis. Besides alerting the driver about potentially dangerous behavior or helping avoid
hazardous obstacles in and around the vehicle, these devices can connect and transfer real-time alerts and/or data to fleet management (FMS) and other operational systems.

With an integrated fleet tracking system:

• The fleet manager or any other stakeholder has an updated status of all vehicles and drivers at all times
• Alerts are sent to any pre-defined persona or system in the organization in case of potentially hazardous situations so that additional warnings can be sent to the driver
• Footage from the dashcam could be used as evidence in insurance claims
• Safer driver behavior could lead to lower insurance costs
• The brand name is protected as schedules are kept, and staff, passengers or goods arrive intact and on schedule
• Budgets are cut: lower insurance costs, fewer vehicle/driver downtimes, improved productivity and revenues
• The data can be analyzed for insights that will help improve driver safety and empower better, AI-based business decisions to boost business results.
• Safer drivers mean lower expenses for maintenance and repairs of fleet vehicles and lower fuel consumption (less braking, speed deviations and accelerations that are wasteful in fuel).
• Prevent driver exhaustion: real-time alerts can be sent about drivers that exceed legal or organizationally mandated permitted driving hours by a pre-determined time.

Ituran provides technology-based integrated fleet tracking to suit the needs of any size or type of fleet.

Contact us now to start protecting your drivers’ safety, improve control and monitoring of your fleet and reduce fleet maintenance costs!

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