Reversing Poor Safety Records: Identifying Best Practices to Improve Fleet Safety

Matthew C Camden,Jeffrey S Hickman,Richard J Hanowski

doi:10.3390/safety8010002

Abstract

Commercial motor vehicle safety is of utmost importance, as crashes involving commercial motor vehicles often result in significant property damage, injuries, fatalities, and financial loss for fleets. However, fleet managers are often unsure what strategies other fleets have used to successfully improve safety. To identify best practices, researchers completed case studies with nine commercial motor vehicle fleets that successfully improved their safety performance. A content analysis was performed, and the successful strategies were organized into the Haddon Matrix. Results showed that there was no one single strategy that fleets used to improve safety. Instead, fleets relied on a comprehensive approach focusing on pre-crash countermeasures, including addressing hiring practices, driver training, fleet safety culture, safety technologies, scheduling, and maintenance. However, an enhanced safety culture and advanced safety technology were identified as critical components to their safety improvement. Results from this study may help fleets understand what their peers have used to successfully improve safety and which strategies may not be as helpful.

Highlights

Each year, thousands of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) fleets struggle to improve their safety records
The specific strategies varied across fleets, all of the fleets focused on safety-focused hiring criteria, driver training for new and existing drivers, and implementing policies and programs to improve safety culture
Six of the nine carriers indicated that an improved safety culture was critical to their success. This finding aligns with the results reported in Bergoffen et al [15] and Corsi and Barnard [3], who previously found that management culture was significantly related to safety

Summary

Introduction

Thousands of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) fleets struggle to improve their safety records. Over the previous five years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) added an average of 2783 fleets to the high-risk list [1]. These fleets had two or more scores in FMCSA’s Safety Management System at or above the 90th percentile for at least one month and had not received an on-site investigation within the previous. Insurance companies may target fleets for safety improvement interventions Often these interventions include an initial warning letter to notify the fleet of high crash rates (in comparison to other fleets), in-person safety audits, the creation or revision of a comprehensive plan to improve safety, and/or shutting down the fleet’s operations. With so many options available, some fleets may have trouble knowing which strategies to implement, and they could benefit from knowing how other fleets have successfully improved safety

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion