Trucking fleets need convincing driver safety can drive revenue, survey

Although trucking fleet owners see safety as a priority, most also see it as a cost center rather than a revenue generator, according to survey research conducted by Researchscape International, an independent market research firm, and sponsored by Motive, a trucking safety technology company.

The survey of 1,100 fleets found 95% said safety is a priority, but when ranking their priorities, said their top three were, in order, increasing revenue, minimizing expenses and then improving safety.

"Our real takeaway from this for fleets is if you focus on safety, if you don't think of it as a cost center, but actually as one that can drive revenue, you can hit all three of these goals by really focusing on safety," said Abhishek Gupta, senior director of product and head of fleet management products at Motive. 

"One of the key things that you get when you invest in a safety program is accident reduction," he added. "Second is the cost savings from those accident reductions and third is the ability to use that cost savings in a number of different ways, including giving your drivers higher bonuses and higher retention plans. If you think of safety more as a profit piece, as something that can actually drive revenue for you and not a cost center, you will actually be able to move the needle on your organization's priorities through the use of safety." 

Asked to rate their investment in safety during 2022, 51% of fleet owners said they invested the right amount, 9% said they slightly or drastically overinvested, 32% said they slightly underinvested and 8% said they drastically underinvested. Asked about when they plan to implement new safety tools, 71% said in 2023, 18% said in 2024 and the remaining respondents said in 2025 or later, or not at all.

Respondents were also surveyed about what safety actions they have taken, indicating these most often:

• Driver safety scoring and benchmarking – 46%
• Driver incentive programs – 45%
• Driver coaching programs – 42%

In-cab alerts of unsafe behaviors also ranked just under 40%, and deployment of dash cams at just over 30%. 

The survey asked about the benefits the fleet owners see from implementing dash cams, with 57% citing visibility into driver performance, 54% reporting fewer unsafe driving behaviors, 45% citing insurance savings and 43% saying fewer accidents.

"The ROI on the dash cams is pretty significant," Gupta said. "It's at a point where you're talking about saving, almost getting a 4 to 10 X return, depending on the cost of the accident, versus what you're having to pay for them."

Investing in AI to prevent crashes has helped fleets reduce accidents, according to the survey. 19% of small fleets (less than 20 vehicles) reported avoiding at least one accident; 58% of mid-size fleets (up to 99 vehicles) reported avoiding one to four accidents; and 21% of large fleets (100 or more vehicles) avoided 10 to 14 accidents.

"As you grow in size, these benefits continue growing," Gupta said. "For a small business, that one accident can be the difference between keeping your business live or continuing to grow your business so you can become a midsize fleet. For our largest fleet, the 10 to 14 accidents that they reduce, that in itself is pretty significant for the driver retention problem."

Insurance carriers are recognizing the value of partnering with trucking safety providers to promote devices and offer discounts, as Motive recently did with Sentry Insurance.

"The impact that we want to drive here is that mindset shift is really important," Gupta said. "Companies have the tools at their disposal to be able to achieve that."