Mike Hitchcock
By Mike Hitchcock, ICSA Safety Consultant
By now, everyone should know that event recorders help reduce the severity and frequency of crashes and protect carriers from false claims. You should also know that Event Recorders (front-facing cameras) can save you significantly on fuel and maintenance costs. Consider these benefits:
Following too closely: After many thousands of miles of driving it’s easy for professional drivers to become comfortable with a two-second following distance. However, following this closely requires the driver to constantly switch between braking and accelerating. When I was an active CDL driver, I used to think in terms of actual cost every time I hit the brakes to adjust my speed. I also realized that every time I hit the brakes, I followed the braking by adding throttle to get back up to speed. In both cases, I was adding needless wear and tear to the brake pads and wasting at least a quarter of a gallon of diesel. In addition to increasing the risk of a crash by following too closely, constant braking and acceleration are adding to your maintenance and fuel costs.
Most defensive driving courses teach drivers to add following distance of more than four (4) seconds and to run at the back of the pack. That practice saves fuel and brakes, much like adaptive cruise control. Try adding another second to your following distance and see how much more relaxed your day goes. You’ll save money and won’t work as hard.
Control your speed: One equipment manufacturer of class 8 trucks will tell you that fuel consumption for speeds over 55 mph averages at least 1/10 of a gallon more for every 2 mph over 55. Increasing speed over 67 mph can increase your fuel consumption by 1/4 of a gallon per mile for every 2 mph of increased speed! That’s HUGE. Cruise control can help save you money, but not if you set your speed too high. And an event recorder can let you know if your driver is driving at speeds too high for conditions.
Your event recorder, as well as other safety equipment on your truck, is there to protect you, your safety and your bottom line. Monitoring events and alerts daily will make good drivers even better. These events and alerts are yours to manage. No one has a perfect record and that’s not what event recorders are used for. Using event recorders can help you fight complacency, improve performance and add to your bottom line while reducing losses.
I encourage each of you to reach out and complete the event recorder training and know your system. Log-in to the SmartDrive eLearning Portal and take the training and use password: SDResources. If you have questions after completing the training, please reach out to your Safety Consultant.
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