Proactive driver safety alerts are a small addition that bring big benefits

Everyone wants to keep the drivers that work for them safe — and drivers certainly care a great deal about their safety as well.

The concept is simple, but the execution can be complicated. With both last mile and over-the-road drivers spending so much time on the road, fleet managers seek a variety of robust driver safety solutions that protect drivers. From video-based safety to performance monitoring, our industry has achieved a great deal in protection technology.

In addition to these solutions, proactive driver notifications offer various essential benefits to drivers and your operation. Read on to learn more.

Alert technology helps drivers learn in real time

Fleet managers and driver coaches typically review historical performance metrics with drivers to improve future performance. This is an effective way to help drivers improve their driving and learn from their past mistakes to guarantee better safety in the future.

However, you don’t have to wait until a driver is finished with their trip or route to begin the teaching process. You can alert drivers as they’re on the road by sending them alerts in near real-time about their harmful patterns and behaviors that can lead to potentially hazardous incidents.

Think about it this way: You’re practicing some new, intense workout moves with your personal trainer. While you’re doing a strength training exercise on your legs, your trainer approaches you and teaches you how to adjust your body position to prevent injury. You then continue your exercise using the safer, modified position. Proactive alerts work the same way — they train drivers as they’re working and thereby ensure drivers recall these helpful tips in the long run. In a recent in-depth article on memory retention, Harvard Business Review emphasized that committing something to one’s memory as soon as they experience or learn it is more beneficial than attempting to retain it after doing other tasks.

Pay attention to location significance 

Location matters. Driving on a smooth, steady road in broad daylight is not the same as driving on a graveled, dimly-lit interstate in the middle of the night. As such, fleet leaders can warn drivers of upcoming danger zones, so drivers can reduce their speed or make necessary stops beforehand.

With proactive driver alerts, fleet leaders can go the extra mile by customizing the alerts they want to receive relevant to their fleet. If you’re a fleet carrier that operates in mountain areas, for example, you can send safety alerts to drivers of upcoming mountain passes, so they can reduce their speed or put their hazard lights on. The right alerts also take critical zones into account, like speed violation zones, to alert drivers to slow down. Not only can this prevent speeding tickets and violations, but it can also thwart an accident brought on by speeding.

Furthermore, many drivers have issues with finding available parking. The last thing any over-the-road driver wants to deal with after a full and exhausting workday is a scavenger hunt for truck spaces. With the right technology, drivers can utilize enhanced alerts to stay informed on available parking in specific state rest areas.

Guiding and coaching individual drivers helps your entire operation

Efficient driver safety alert technology works best when it gives you the visibility you need into relevant data. You can pull data from the alerts you send out — like how a particular driver reacts to safety notifications or how your entire driver pool is complying with the alerts — to enhance your established driver coaching program further.

You can also gain the most insight into driver performance to reward and retain your best-performing drivers and provide assistance to good drivers who may need some coaching. You can see if drivers are slowing down when they receive ‘slow down’ alerts and which drivers perform best based on your pre-established indicators. With robust alert technology, you can gain the near real-time visibility you need into driver performance and thereby leverage historical data for future trips. Alert technology is a beneficial companion to every driver.

To gain the benefits listed in this blog post and more, check out Drivewyze Safety+, now available for resale at Omnitracs. You can also watch this helpful demo video here.