Automotive Fleet, March 2016

Analytics AUTOMOTIVE FLEET I MARCH 2016 42 But there has been dramatic growth in the depth of data recorded and a change of focus from reactive to proactive By integrating data from multiple areas of driver performance fleets can train drivers on behavior improvements prior to being involved in an incident This has been proven to greatly reduce the number of accidents and violations in a fleet said Sloan of Donlen Analytics have evolved as data capture has greatly expanded remedial training options are numerous and the data is more actionable according to Peters of Element Today remedial driver safety training is more effective as we can target specific training to the historical driver events such as assigning a distracted driving module to a driver with a rear end accident event Deep data dives can be conducted with the availability of countless data points such as a drivers job type and tenure age past event history vehicle type and geography of job area etc Peters said The evolution of targeted training does not treat all drivers equally as was the case in the past Now we can assign training based on these data points addressing very specific behaviors And one of the ways fleet managers have found the ability to be proactive is through the large number of data points captured today which help determine the root cause of an accident Included within this data is vehicle speed direction traveled traffic volume law enforcement crash investigation information road sensor information road design information telematics internal company education campaigns and vehicle manufacturer crashworthiness data By leveraging todays available data fleet managers are provided proactive solutions to help reduce or better yet prevent an accident before it occurs said Lewis of EMKAY And tracked metrics can be just about anything a fleet manager can think of Today fleets use data to measure and track every nickel that can be tracked and trended regarding every aspect of fleet operations and performance with the goal of reducing costs In accident management metrics include average downtime average cost of repair and appraisal value which all affect decisions as to whether to repair categories and repeat offenses as well as the day and time of week accidents occur Its a means of capturing a baseline and using this information to make changes Whether its a public or corporate concern fleet managers have really learned a lot about what the costs of accidents are he said The use of safety and accident management analytics has rapidly evolved in a relatively short time period according to Lewin of Wheels Inc Weve moved beyond the staples of MVRs and safety training and are looking more granular into data to help determine a drivers overall risk score Not responding to recall notices not completing preventive maintenance or even having an excess of parking violations are examples of the risk related information now being aggregated and analyzed We are also helping determine if certain vehicles in a fleets selectors or specific job functions are prone to more incidents than others Lewin said While technology has provided more data points and the ability to dig deeper into data than ever before fleet managers are still typically using analytics reactively Evaluations of a drivers risk level or profile historical MVRs and accident reports are conventional methods employed These of course require a driver to have incurred an incident although most at risk drivers are not always drivers with poor history according to Brad Jacobs director of Strategic Consulting Services for Merchants Fleet Management But the main focus continues to be on the reduction of incidents The analytics manifest into general areas such as what happened or where has the incident rate trended with focus on evaluating impacts of field management processes and identifying areas of opportunity While looking at these traditional measures remain common driver behavior data from telematics has become more mainstream Visibility into poor driving behaviors and the ability to augment the behavior in the field has never been more attainable than through the data and technology Jacobs said by categories such as rental collision towing loss ratios and accidents per million miles according to Dan Shive VP of Risk Management Services for LeasePlan USA In the beginning there was always more focus on maintenance leasing and cost savings from manufacturers So although there was a desire to have knowledge there was generally not much effort in how to change behaviors until the last decade or so Shive added Fleet analytics have evolved from their early focus on simply managing the accident transaction Data was minimal and consisted primarily of cost and cycle time reports There were some fundamental accident types but they were seldom linked with MVR input and usually left to the fleet manager to interpret Safety training was either broad brush based on opinion or to simply do something but lacked direction said Doug Peters advanced analytics product leader for Element Fleet Management Safety Accident Management Analytics Today Most subject matter experts agree many of the basics of safety and accident management analytics remain the same today as they did in their infancy Today the same analytics are used as in the very beginning combined with state MVRs and additional data from such advanced technology as in vehicle telematics GPS and 1 800 numbers to report driver behavior But with the additional data points available we now have a broader picture of collisions beyond accident claims and a profile of every driver combining data from all of these sources said Lanzilotta of Fleet Response Shive of LeasePlan USA agreed The basics remain quite similar today But the evolution of analytics further looks at accidents as they relate to drivers by age risk JACOBS Merchants Fleet Management LANZILOTTA Fleet Response PETERS Element Fleet Management SHIVE LeasePlan USA