Driver performance monitoring

Understanding and improving the behaviour of drivers allows businesses to save money, reduce maintenance and downtime, and improve safety. Ensuring good driver performance ensures your business vehicles operate efficiently.

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Introduction

Monitoring driver performance is crucial for any business that operates company vehicles. Not only does good driving behaviour improve road safety, but it also reduces fuel costs, lowers vehicle wear and tear, and enhances operating efficiency. In summary, ensuring good driving performance reduces risk, cuts costs, and drives better operations.

With our Kinesis vehicle tracking system, driver performance is given an overall score out of 100, based on four key behaviours: speeding, harsh acceleration, harsh braking, and harsh cornering.

Understanding and improving these behaviours can make a significant impact on your fleet’s performance and profitability. We've outlined below the importance of considering each driving behaviour and taking action to tackle poor performance.

Speeding

What is it?

Speeding refers to driving above the posted speed limit for a specific road or area. Ultimately, this is illegal, but driving at excessive speed also is one of the largest contributors to incidents. At high speeds, the risk is increased.

Why is it important?

  • Increases the risk of accidents, potentially leading to costly repairs and insurance claims.
  • Causes higher fuel consumption, impacting operational costs.
  • Contributes to faster wear and tear on vehicles.
  • Affects the company’s reputation if vehicles are identified as speeding.

How to improve:

  • Provide training on understanding speed limits and their importance.
  • Make speed adherence part of company policy. Reward and incentivise drivers based on their speeding performance.
  • Provide driver access to their telematics data to show where speeding events have been recorded.
  • Review infringements with drivers during debriefing and review sessions.
  • Apply speed limiters to company vehicles.

Summary

Ensuring speed limits are adhered to is about understanding and empowerment. Ensure your drivers understand the impact of speeding, both in terms of costs, but primarily in terms of risk - both to the company and to themselves personally.

Harsh acceleration

What is it?

Harsh acceleration occurs when a driver suddenly increases speed in an aggressive manner, by hitting the accelerator pedal too heavily, rather than achieving a gradual and more controlled increase in speed.

Why is it important?

  • Leads to higher fuel consumption, reducing efficiency.
  • Increases strain on the engine and other vehicle components.
  • May cause discomfort to passengers or cargo instability.
  • Can result in a loss of control, increasing the risk of incidents.

How to improve:

  • Educate drivers on the benefits of smooth and gradual acceleration.
  • Use the Kinesis system to highlight instances of harsh acceleration and identify trends.
  • Encourage forward planning to avoid the need for sudden speed increases.

Summary

Harsh acceleration causes significant wear and tear to the vehicle engine, as well as components such as tyres, leading to increased costs. It also uses fuel far less efficiently, again impacting costs. Finally, harsh acceleration often comes with less control, so the risk of incidents is greater.

Harsh braking

What is it?

Harsh braking involves applying the brakes abruptly and/or with excessive force. Sometimes it is unavoidable in the event of an emergency or sudden hazard emerging, however harsh braking can often be reduced through better anticipation.

Why is it important?

  • Increases wear on brake pads and tyres, raising maintenance costs and increasing vehicle downtime.
  • Can result in avoidable accidents if vehicles behind fail to stop in time.
  • Indicates reactive driving rather than proactive driving.

How to improve:

  • Train drivers on maintaining safe following distances to avoid last-minute braking.
  • Use the Kinesis system to monitor and provide feedback on harsh braking incidents.
  • Promote anticipation as a key driving behaviour, such as scanning the road ahead for potential hazards.

Summary

The biggest factor when it comes to harsh braking is anticipation. This can be improved by driver coaching and training, to ensure drivers are scanning the road ahead and their surroundings for potential risks, or upcoming stops, whether that be cars potentially pulling out or traffic lights up ahead that may change.

Harsh cornering

What is it?

Harsh cornering happens when a vehicle takes a turn too quickly, causing instability. This once again increases the risk of incidents and causes stress to the vehicle.

Why is it important?

  • Increases the risk of rollovers or losing control of the vehicle.
  • Contributes to excessive tyre wear and suspension damage.
  • Causes potential harm to passengers or damage to cargo.

How to improve:

  • Provide training on the importance of reducing speed before entering a turn.
  • Use telematics data to identify drivers who consistently corner harshly.
  • Review harsh corner incidents with drivers as part of education and training.
  • Encourage drivers to prioritise safety over speed in all situations.

Summary

Once again, avoiding harsh cornering incidents comes down to anticipation and speed. Identifying a corner up ahead, and driving at the appropriate speed, ensures control and reduces risk. A more pleasant one for the driver and passengers, and a safer one for any cargo!

Summary

Monitoring the performance of drivers is vitally important for building safer, more efficient, and cost-effective fleet operations. Good driving behaviour means reduced risk and money saved on maintenance and fuel!

The Radius Kinesis system helps businesses by providing simple and actionable information on driver behaviours, allowing you to identify areas for improvement. Proactive action can then be taken, such as training and guidance.

Driver performance can be assessed over a longer period of time, as well as on a single day - perhaps a colleague is having a bad day and driving erratically. This can be identified and action taken.

With the ability to adjust the weighting of each behaviour, businesses can prioritise the metrics most important to their goals. For example, if speeding is a major concern, it can be given greater emphasis in the overall performance score.

By monitoring and addressing speeding, harsh acceleration, harsh braking, and harsh cornering, businesses can reduce risk, enhance operational efficiency, and promote a culture of safe and responsible driving.

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