Business Fleet, November/December 2020

medium duty drivers face a different set of circumstances than typical passenger vehicle drivers or long haul truck drivers Straight line truck operators must contend with narrow streets and loading areas construction zones daring and distracted passenger vehicle drivers pedestrians and more to reach multiple delivery locations in one day Utility fleet operators contend with sometimes unkept service roads in remote areas and operate machinery that requires a lot of knowledge to operate safely These types of drivers need very specialized training Make sure your safety provider has the right modules for your fleet or has set up partnerships with other training providers to cover any gaps in their training catalog Dunkerley said The best preventive measure is avoiding the accident in the first place But in the event of an accident while it may seem counterintuitive ensuring all accidents are reported can help reduce costs as well Having visibility to all accidents even if repairs arent necessary will give fleet managers a look at the full breadth of their potential risk and with that visibility they may be able to leverage additional strategies to reduce accidents Maybe theres a better vehicle for an application maybe the upfitting needs to be addressed or tailored training is needed for a certain subset of vehicles Whatever the case may be if the accident isnt reported you lose the opportunity to learn from it said Sara Sweeney senior product manager for Wheels EFFORTS IN PREVENTION Once youve worked to reduce the amount and severity of accidents its time to focus on preventing them in the first place While a lofty goal for sure its the true goal for every fleet preventing accidents from occurring And as the adage goes you cant track what you dont measure so a good first step is to establish and track some basic fleet accident management key performance indicators KPIs The move from being reactive in dealing with accidents as they come to proactive accident prevention strategies includes monitoring trends KPIs and looking for outliers for risky driving behaviors Once the key performance measures are established trends and improvements can be made by recognizing good behaviors as well as prescriptive action such as driver safety courses and additional corrective action where needed said Joseph Voors client partnership manager national for Mike Albert Fleet Solutions Another way to work toward preventing incidents is being clearly aware of how they most often occur Typically the drivers of medium and heavy duty vehicles are blamed for accidents simply because the mentality of most feel truckers are more aggressive and thus the cause of most incidents This is not an accurate assessment After an investigation of the actual accident incident events many truckers are found to be a more conscientious group as they have a different level of responsibility and greater exposure than a typical daily driver said Brian Colvin VP of operations for CCM Also depending on the type of industry segment the ratio of accidents increasing compared with mileage per day increases is not equal at some companies A key factor that cannot be dismissed is companies with set schedules and specific driving routes and mature workforces have had a lower stabilized percentage of accidents Companies with extended schedules increased routes and high employee turnover experience accident rates of three or four times more than the stabilized group Colvin added Current statistics are also showing that preventable accidents are declining However there are a significant number of comprehensive claims that may be reported incorrectly thus skewing the overall figures Animal strikes potholes and road debris are on the increase as well so its important to keep focused on the road conditions construction zones and geographical locations More training in these specific areas should be considered said Shive of Donlen Driver training continues to play a large role in the reduction of preventable accidents But keep in mind that at least for the current fleet manager there is still a human being behind the wheel Even with all the proactive measures we take we cant forget that human error is the cause of more than 90 of all collisions The most important thing is that there are documented policies and practices in place to best mitigate the losses said Michelle Lewis manager accident management services for Emkay BF WWW BUSINESSFLEET COM 18 BUSINESS FLEET November December 2020 SAFETY Driver behavior is a key component in accident management and incident reduction Research released by the American Transportation Research Institute ATRI in June verifies that the number of large verdicts against trucking fleets as well as the size of the awards has increased dramatically ATRIs research is partially based on a newly created trucking litigation database that provides detailed information on 600 cases between 2006 and 2019 with 26 cases awarding more than 1 million in the first five years of the data and close to 300 similar cases in the last five years This issue has had a stifling impact on motor carriers and industry stakeholders well beyond those involved in a truck crash said Rob Moseley founding partner with Moseley Marcinak Law Group According to the research from 2010 to 2018 the size of verdict awards increased 517 annually at the same time that standard inflation and healthcare costs grew 17 and 29 respectively ATRI surveyed and interviewed dozens of attorneys insurance specialists and motor carrier experts to generate a qualitative analysis to explain why the litigation landscape has changed as well as provide recommendations for modifying pre trial preparations litigation strategies and mediation approaches The report also shows how large verdict awards impact both safety and insurance Runaway verdicts are increasing in both size and numbers This study documents a frequency in excessive awards that while not surprising tells us that the trial system has gotten completely off track Foundational changes are needed in the way we determine non economic and punitive damages said Clay Porter partner at Porter Rennie Woodard and Kendall REPORT 51 ANNUAL INCREASE IN NUCLEAR VERDICT AWARDS PHOTO GETTYIMAGES COM ALUXUM