Every fleet—regardless of specific industry served, size, or location—has a few common goals. For example, every fleet wants zero accidents, zero theft incidents, high driver retention, and high customer satisfaction. All of these tie into safety. Safety, as we all know, has far reaching results—that’s why it’s a concern that resonates not only through your entire organization, but through every fleet.
We live in an era of technology and one-touch access to infinite stores of information, but with great power comes the possibility of even greater liability. In today’s world, it is no longer good enough to claim safety is a company’s top priority; you may have to be able to prove it.
In a recent article, plaintiff lawyer Jeff Burns states, “Unless you have an insurance power of $25 to $50 million, most motor carriers are one catastrophic crash away from closing their doors.” What an impactful statement! It can be hard to believe that business can take such a drastic turn in a matter of moments, but that is why it is essential to set your business up for success.
There are a lot of facets to fleet safety. However, we want to focus for a moment on how safety can impact drivers (and their cargo) every day—along with two Purkeys products that can help.
Protect Your Drivers
Distracted driving is a serious hazard on American roadways. Unfortunately, it’s not a hazard to which truck drivers are immune. In fact, you may even be contributing to their distraction without meaning to. A study of real-world driving found that using a dispatching device while driving increased a driver’s changes of being involved in a safety-critical event by nine times.
Further, distracted driving translates into an avoidable risk. When a driver is on the highway, things can happen fast. Keeping drivers informed without distracting them from the road can be accomplished using Purkeys’ Aware.
The Aware audio interrupter is an advanced audio interface management system that integrates with a vehicle’s existing speaker array. With a simple, 30-minute install into the back of the radio, the Aware transforms the cab of any truck into a wireless speaker system capable of broadcasting text-to-speech messages.
The Aware can override current audio playing or even turn the speakers on if they’re off, to ensure the message is delivered audibly, efficiently, and most importantly, safely, to drivers. The Aware works with your existing communication system (PeopleNet, Omnitracs, Platform Science, etc.).
Protect Your Cargo
Every year in the United States alone, $15 – $30 billion is lost to cargo theft. Purkeys can help reduce cargo theft risk with the SafeFreight. The SafeFreight has a key switch activation mechanism near the rear door of the trailer. The driver can easily turn a key switch to arm or disarm the alarm. If the rear door is opened without disarming the lock, a loud alarm sounds, alerting the driver of a potential threat and scaring the would-be thief away. In addition, the alarm will also sound if the driver tries to drive away without properly locking the rear door. These precautions ensure that cargo is protected from both theft and oversight.
For more information on keeping your fleet safe, contact us!
