There’s no question that dashboard cameras, or dashcams, benefit commercial fleets. They protect your drivers from unfair claims, promote accountability on the road, and help curb issues like drowsy and distracted driving. Azuga offers the best dual-facing dashcam on the market, called the AI SafetyCam. This article will discuss all of the benefits that this camera can bring you.
No. 1: Enhancing Driver Safety and Performance
As always, a fleet’s top priority is safety. Every fleet wants its drivers to be safe for the benefit of both the driver and the business. These are three ways that a dashcam can keep your fleet safe.
Identifying and Correcting Unsafe Driving Habits
Trucking dash cams with artificial intelligence, like Azuga’s SafetyCam, can track unsafe behaviors on the road and in the cab and alert the driver and fleet manager as needed. It can track hard braking, speeding, rapid acceleration, and swerving. They can even detect distracted driving behaviors, such as:
- Eating and drinking
- Using the phone
- Smoking
- Wearing a mask
- Yawning or fatigue
- Face not visible
- Not focused
- Camera obstruction
Distracted driving claimed over 3,000 lives in 2019 alone, and nobody wants their fleet to be involved in a distracted driving accident. Luckily, dash cams can help prevent these accidents. The more trucks have them, the safer fleets will be.
Encouraging Responsible Driving Behaviors
To maintain safe behaviors, it is essential to implement a fair accountability system. Safe drivers will appreciate the acknowledgment and reward of their alert and responsible driving. They will also enjoy the protection of their jobs in the event of an incident.
On the other hand, drivers who need correction can be addressed with quick and focused coaching. Tracking and rewarding good driving behavior is the first step, and dashcams help. Azuga’s AI-driven dashcam can review driver footage and assign scores to drivers based on their behaviors, rewarding good drivers and prioritizing other drivers for coaching. These cams can even send footage of dangerous behaviors immediately so you can reach out to the drivers making mistakes as soon as possible, which maintains safety and efficiency on the road.
Reducing the Risk of Accidents and Associated Costs
Nobody needs to tell you that accidents cost fleets thousands of dollars. Accident costs start at $16,500, and that’s without any injuries. Adding on the cost of employee and vehicle downtime and how it affects the business’s productivity, the impact is practically incomprehensible. That, along with safety reasons, is why avoiding accidents is critical for fleet businesses, and dash cams help make it possible to do so.
No. 2: Protecting Company Assets and Reducing Liability
Another essential goal for fleet managers is protecting the fleet’s assets. Dashcams are crucial in this regard as well. Here are some ways dashcams can protect your fleet business and its assets.
Providing Evidence in Case of Accidents
The most common reason fleets use dash cams is because they serve as witnesses when accidents occur. 70% of accidents are not the fault of fleet drivers, and dash cam can prove it. Nobody wants their business to face wrongful consequences for an accident that isn’t their driver’s fault, so having tangible proof of their innocence is valuable. This is especially true in cases where insurance fraudsters target fleet drivers for hefty payouts.
Deterring Theft and Vandalism
Commercial vehicle theft is a significant problem. In 2019, the FBI recorded over 720,000 motor vehicle thefts nationwide. When a commercial fleet is the target of theft, the company loses much more than the money spent to repair or replace the stolen vehicle. They can also lose out on productivity, disappoint customers, and potentially lose cargo, assets, or other expensive equipment simultaneously. Fortunately, dash cams can help minimize these losses by alerting you to theft and assisting law enforcement in tracking down the criminals responsible.
Azuga’s AI-powered SafetyCams even offer a parking mode. When enabled, the camera will wake up automatically whenever it senses motion in the vehicle. So if a thief breaks in, you’ll have video evidence of the entire event, even if the offender never starts the vehicle. Not only does the dash cam record break-ins, but it can also tell you where your vehicle is going so that authorities can recover your lost asset quickly.
Minimizing Fraudulent Insurance Claims
Many insurance fraudsters target fleet drivers for their scams because they can receive hefty payouts. This is why you need dashcams as your witness; they provide footage of the road and the driver, showing a complete view of everything that happened. This means you will not have to spend money on a payout for an accident that isn’t your fault.
Reducing Insurance Premiums
Insurance providers appreciate knowing that you are keeping your fleet drivers safe because safe fleets are a lower risk to insure. Therefore, they often offer discounts to fleets that equip their drivers with dashcams. Trucks with dashcams are already less likely to get into an accident because they are held accountable at a higher level. Then, if they do get into an accident, they are more likely to be exonerated, and the insurance will not have to pay out. Insurance companies want fleets to use dashcams.
No. 3: Improve Driver Safety Training and Onboarding
The best way to ensure your drivers know the best practices on the road is to provide continual training. Dashcams can be a fantastic tool for creating training materials and building your training program. Let’s explore how.
Creating Driver Safety Videos
You can use the footage from dashcams for your own safety training programs. People learn better from real-life applications instead of hypotheticals, and with dashcams, you can provide those real-life situations.
Evaluating New Driver Performance
You can’t be in the passenger seat with your new drivers, but you must ensure they are doing well. You can rest assured that their performance is monitored with dash cam technology. If anything goes amiss, you will receive an alert right away.
Providing Ongoing Feedback and Coaching
AI dash cams allow you to perform in-cab coaching for your drivers. As mentioned, when drivers exhibit unsafe driving behaviors, managers will receive real-time alerts. This gives you a chance to deliver coaching when a problem occurs while it is fresh in the driver’s mind.
No. 4: Data Analytics and Business Insights
Data is beneficial for fleets when it comes time to make decisions. Your dashcam can help you gather the data you need to ensure you can make informed choices.
Identifying Trends and Patterns in Fleet Performance
Azuga’s system can generate reports showing you when your dashcam picks up unsafe driving incidents. With this data, you may see patterns of behavior that fleets must address. Tracking driver behavior over time helps immensely in eliminating dangerous habits.
Evaluating Driver Performance Metrics
Azuga’s fleet management software creates a safety score based on the information it gathers from your dashcam and telematics. This safety score can help you evaluate your drivers’ performance, which makes it easier to weed out bad habits and reward your best drivers for their hard work.
Implementing Data-Driven Decision-Making
You must be able to obtain data before making any decisions regarding your fleet’s safety. Having data on your side can help you build your safety program, determine training needs, and even determine which drivers you hope to promote.
No. 5: Streamlining Incident Response and Management
When you’re operating a fleet, safety incidents are bound to happen. Those that dashcams can’t prevent, they can help you manage.
Accelerating Incident Reporting and Resolution
Dashcams serve as proof of what happened in any incident. This documentation dramatically simplifies the process of resolving accidents and other safety incidents. Instead of spending hours in court, you can simply show your dashcam footage and easily exonerate your driver.
Facilitating Communication with Insurance Providers
Dashcams help you show your insurance provider that you are safely operating your vehicle. If an accident occurs, you can show them footage that proves your safe driving and can lessen the insurance consequences for the accident.
Integrating Dashcam Solutions with Fleet Management Software
To properly use any dashcam device, you will need the best fleet management software that goes with it. Let’s discuss some factors to consider when choosing your dashcam and fleet management software.
Choosing Compatible Systems
Whenever you install a dashcam, ensure it is compatible with your fleet management software. For example, Azuga’s dashcam integrates seamlessly with our AI SafetyCam. Utilizing compatible systems helps you get the most out of your dashcam.
Ensuring Data Privacy and Security
Data protection is more critical now than ever. Research the company you obtain your dashcam and fleet management software through to ensure they will protect your data.
Azuga’s Fleet Camera System
We’ve mentioned Azuga’s AI SafetyCam a few times in this article. Our dual-facing SafetyCam is a state-of-the-art AI-driven dashcam that simultaneously streams both the road and the driver. It has capabilities for real-time coaching and warnings when mistakes happen on the road — safety is the top priority!
You can even upgrade to SafetyCam AI Premium Service to have a team of professional risk analysts look over your footage and tag risky driving events, combining human and artificial intelligence to create the ultimate protection package. There are over one million Azuga dashcams on the road right now — join them in protecting yourself and your fleet. Schedule a dashcam demo of our software today, and check out some relevant blogs on our dashcam systems to learn more.
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