Effects of Behavior-Based Driver Feedback Systems on Commercial Long Haul Operator Safety

There are large economic and societal costs to commercial motor vehicle crashes. A majority of crashes are precipitated due to driver-related factors. Behaviorbased systems that influence drivers with feedback from safety managers can help reduce driver-related risk factors. These systems harness the experience and knowledge of managers along with advanced driver telematics that monitor and record driver behaviors to positively influence driver safety. Safety solutions that focus on modifying driver behaviors thus hold promise for improving the safety record of commercial trucking. In this study, one such feedback system was examined by analyzing data from a commercial trucking fleet, treating the system deployment as a natural experiment. This made it possible, without experimental intervention, to compare drivers before and after system introduction, and to compare drivers that were subject to this system with those that drove with no supervisor feedback. Adverse event data were obtained for drivers in the fleet and weekly event rates were calculated taking into account driving exposure (in miles). Results show that drivers improved after receiving safety feedback and significantly more so than drivers that did not receive feedback.