Supernova Award Category

The Problem

Commercial trucking is a highly regulated industry. For public safety, legal, compliance, risk management and financial reasons, ensuring the safe operation of its fleet of some 700 trucks was and remains critically important to G&P Trucking. While driver behavior plays a central role in fleet safety, G&P, like other fleets, must monitor and manage their activities against the backdrop of a severe shortage of qualified truck drivers, extremely high driver turn-over rates, and skyrocketing costs associated with driver recruitment. In a nutshell, the company needed to maximize its ability to manage and coach its existing drivers—in real-time—to improve safety performance, even if past behavior had compromised safe vehicle operation. To do this, it needed a set of tools that could help them close the visibility gap between what was happening in the truck cab, on the road and improve their ability to implement corrective measures as needed. G&P was in search of a solution that would allow it to improve driver safety, implement driver safety scorecards for ongoing management and compliance, and exonerate drivers not at fault in the case of a collision. 

The Solution

G&P needed real-time driving performance insight and analysis to improve visibility, create driver scorecards, support collision fault determination, and coach drivers. SmartDrive’s video-based safety program, which includes video capture and analysis, predictive analytics and a personalized performance coaching program met G&P’s needs. The easy-to-use service allowed the fleet and its drivers to access and manage driving performance anytime, anywhere. Although the technology was only part of the answer, the key to G&P’s success was its dedicated driver improvement coach, Jim Gibson. Jim’s approach to the data and coaching tools, combined with a personal passion for safety, was the basis of an innovative, best-in-class driver safety program that is now core to G&P’s operation. Gibson’s driver training and coaching on truck technology and defensive driving delivered results that surpassed G&P’s expectations. 

The results

Before adopting the SmartDrive solution, G&P could only be reactive to incidents like collisions, tickets, or other high-risk safety-related event. The delayed awareness of safety incidents led to higher costs associated with accidents, insurance premiums and claims; an inability to coach drivers in real-time to improve performance which often led to driver dissatisfaction and turnover; and poor safety scores that negatively impacted the bottom line.

Shortly after adopting SmartDrive, G&P appointed Jim Gibson, formerly a fleet driver and instructor at commercial driving schools, to the new position of driver improvement coach. Gibson immersed himself in the technology, quickly becoming the resident expert at G&P. Beyond his technical expertise and extensive experience as a truck driver, Gibson’s passion for safety and world-class coaching skills allowed him to make a significant impact in the short-term, with continued improvements in progress. Gibson has become the resident “champion” of the SmartDrive solution at G&P, and his enthusiasm and skill have transformed the fleet’s safety program from one based primarily on compliance to a broad-reaching initiative that not only improves safety outcomes, but also enhances driver engagement and job satisfaction, encourages friendly driver-to-driver competition for the best safety scores, enables better customer service, and maximizes cost savings. 

Metrics

With implementation of the SmartDrive solution having occurred quite recently, metrics remain a work in progress. The company has focused its efforts entirely on positive coaching, with 100 percent of Gibson’s driver coaching interactions designed to help improve outcomes, rather than being punitive. For a six-month period, the fleet is rewarding drivers who achieve a SmartDrive safety score below 100 with $1,000 and will increase the reward around the December holidays. 

The technology has enabled G&P to begin tracking the total cost of accidents, beyond just the cost of a resulting insurance claim or premium increase. The firm previously used insurance-related expenses as the barometer of accident costs. With SmartDrive, it has become increasingly clear that there are additional internal costs—such as driver training, turnover, recruiting for back fills, etc.—that can and should be monitored and managed to ensure a comprehensive view of the true financial impacts of safety-related incidents.

SmartDrive hardware has been installed on 200 trucks thus far with the goal of equipping every truck that bears the G&P logo by the end of the year, in support of the company’s goal of become the safest fleet on the road.

The Technology

The SmartDrive solution includes video analysis, predictive analytics and personalized performance program to help fleets improve driving skills, lower operating costs and deliver significant ROI. Its easy-to-use managed service, allows fleets and drivers to access and self-manage driving performance anytime, anywhere. The company has compiled the world's largest storehouse of more than 80 million analyzed risky-driving events. 

Disruptive Factor

G&P’s implementation of SmartDrive surpasses the standard fleet adoption model in its scope, and is used uniquely for positive performance coaching.

The company initially planned to equip 100 trucks with SmartDrive, but realized early on that the results merited wider adoption. Today, 200 trucks are SmartDrive-equipped and the fleet aims to outfit all its corporate vehicle assets and incentivize owner-operators through 100 percent subsidies to adopt the technology on their own trucks. Drivers whose trucks have the hardware—and therefore receive regular one-on-one coaching—have noted marked improvement in company-driver communication. Little driver resistance is expected in outfitting the remaining trucks.

Jim Gibson is the secret sauce to G&P’s innovative and highly successful technology implementation. The platform itself delivers valuable tools to improve fleet safety, but Gibson’s singular focus on driver coaching and performance enhancement set G&P apart from others. The fleet safety score has improved, costs are going down, and drivers are happier and more productive.

Safety is incentivized and rewarded at G&P. There are no punitive aspects of the event recording, safety scoring or coaching. G&P’s model has the potential to disrupt the status quo in the industry and become the de facto standard.

Shining Moment

Before adopting SmartDrive, G&P had drivers who required excessive time and attention because of poor driving. The technology allowed driver coach Gibson to isolate problem behaviors and focus remediation/incentives on improvement. He coached all but one to great performance, saving G&P money, time, and the hassle of recruiting/training replacements. The shining moment came when G&P drivers who operated trucks without SmartDrive technology were clamoring for it - jackpot!