Understanding the Decision
As a Safety-first company, P&S Transportation has been incorporating DriveCams into our fleet since 2013. There are many reasons that DriveCams have proven to be beneficial to drivers and carriers alike. In this blog, we will discuss what these devices actually are, how they really work, and the many different benefits we are seeing from them. They provide valuable coaching opportunities on common driving habits. They likewise often reduce or eliminate the need for litigation in court. And they have repeatedly shown that our P&S flatbed drivers are among the safest on the road.
Understanding the Device
Our Lytx DriveCams mount near the top and center of the windshield and have both forward facing, and inward facing lenses. The lenses capture audio as well as video. A properly functioning device will display a solid green light on the right side, until it is triggered to record an event. At that time, it will rapidly flash from green to red, during which it is recording an event based on any of the following triggers – a hard braking, a hard acceleration, cornering, or a collision. It can also be manually triggered by pushing either of the blue buttons.
How it Records
The device is on a constant loop that lasts 8 seconds, until a triggering event takes place, during which it saves the previous 8 seconds, as well as the following 4 seconds, creating a 12 second clip. The display lights will stay solid red until the saved event downloads to DriveCam, which usually takes place overnight. Events can be manually downloaded sooner, if needed. During this download, the lights will flash red. Do not be alarmed – it is not recording.
Event Scoring
Events are first processed by DriveCam specialists. The specialists note what triggered the event, and then score it for any possible behavior that is deemed “coachable” or “risky.” If there is no behavior deemed coachable or risky, the event will be cleared out and will not be sent to our Safety department. If there is a coachable behavior, it will be sent to one of a few of our designated Coaches, depending on your home terminal.
Coachable Behaviors
Coachable behaviors include use of a handheld cell phone, not using a seatbelt, following too close, speeding, late response, obstructing the inside lens, judgement errors, or any number of other risky behaviors. Coaching on recorded events will take place in a timely manner.
In the articles to come, we will discuss in more detail each type of triggering, and each type of coachable behavior. Remember, the overall objective by implementing DriveCams is to reduce time and cost of litigation, as well as develop better driving habits, and therefore improve our overall safety on the roads.
We welcome your thoughts on DriveCam below.