Trucking Podcast: Loss Prevention Topics

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A graphic screen with Tim Dooner speaking to us from his desk in the center with the What the Truck?!? logo behind him. Across the top it reads, Subscribe, with the logos: YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TikTok, and X. Along the left side is a list of topics titled Today's Show. Above is a small dog peeking out the window of a semi truck. Below is a QR code and logos: Chevron and Renewable Energy Group.

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TIM DOONER: But right now, let's visit with Anthony Slamar, Risk Control Transportation Specialist at Northland Trucking Risk Control. Anthony,

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The screen splits to show Anthony Slamar speaking to us from his office. Logo: Northland Insurance. The list of topics changes to, On Deck, Anthony Slamar, which is highlighted, Telematic Safety, Down with the Ship, and W-T-T Gear.com.

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how's Friday treating you?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Hey, it's pretty good. How are you doing?

TIM DOONER: I'm doing really, really well. It's funny, you know that topic I led the show with? We're 20 years difference. Well, a big change has been telematics, how they're viewed in safety. That's one of those things that would shock drivers.

But you don't have to be asleep for 20 years to maybe not be up on all this stuff. You could just be asleep for a year. Let's get people up to date on some of these things.

What have we got here? Telematics isn't new. It's come a long way. Talk to me about what that transformation has been like.

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. So telematics, it's been around for 20-some years. It's definitely changed. It's definitely evolved over the years. At Northland Insurance, we've been around for many, many years.

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TEXT: Anthony Slamar, Risk Transportation Specialist, Northland Trucking Risk Control

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And like a lot of trucking companies, or like a lot of companies in the trucking industry, we've seen some pretty big changes in how telematics has evolved to not really just help companies with performance, but also help them with safety.

And it's really important to get an understanding of what that telematics system can provide for you and then use it to not just improve your overall safety, but also your performance, as well. It's really easy. At first when we got these programs, this technology, it was a little overwhelming. Companies might not have been exactly sure what to do with it. But over the time, companies have really kind of taken this and really, really improved their organization.

TIM DOONER: Interesting. So that's been the biggest change, companies are getting more aware of this. How has that had an impact on the use of telematics?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, great question.

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The Telematic Safety topic is now highlighted.

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So when we look at the impact of telematics, it's really easy to say to ourselves, whether you're the dispatcher assigned to monitor this data or you're the safety director assigned to monitor this data, it's easy to say to yourself, I have this new tech, I now have to manage it. How do I manage it? How do I work with it?

How do I use it to improve the organization? And over the years, it's really added a lot of information to help trucking companies improve. 

Information such as harsh braking events, speeding, location, hard cornering. So these are some of the examples of the impact that it's had on the industry. Another example would be dash cams, which can be useful in the event of a crash. Also, some companies may incorporate a driver-facing camera for drivers who are having issues with risky behavior, such as cell phone use, distracted driving, things like that.

TIM DOONER: Interesting. Well, those are all clear uses. But let's go a little bit deeper. What are customers saying about actioning those kind of things, those uses of telematics?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, so we talked to customers on a daily basis about telematics. And we've heard a lot of positive feedback. A lot of companies are using this to better their organization. They've looked at the data. They're understanding how to approach it, how to use it for coaching and for retraining of drivers and addressing that information with drivers. So it helps that driver on the road avoid some of that risky behavior.

TIM DOONER: So they're taking that information and customizing it based on their specific fleet, their specific use case. Can you give us an example, though? How has that come together?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, for sure. One example that comes to mind is a company we were working with who had some issues with rear end collisions, intersection accidents, that type of thing. So they looked at the data, they looked at their trends. They realized where they had an issue with particularly harsh braking events or hard braking events, however you want to call it. 

And they really focus their coaching and their training efforts with that, with their drivers within the organization. And over about a year, they noticed a substantial reduction in these rear end collisions, intersection accidents. So that's just one success story of many.

TIM DOONER: One success story of many. Well, we'd love to hear more success stories. And it seems like this is one of the ways to get us over there.

But it could be overwhelming, right? It can be overwhelming going on this journey, going on the telematic thing, especially when you're trying to fix every single issue at once. How do trucking companies map out a plan to do what we just talked about over there and take those learnings to get the most out of that data?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Outstanding question. Really good question. When we meet with a company, we talk about telematics, we're going to ask them, how are you using this information? Who's responsible for managing this data? Who contacts the driver if there's an issue?

And to help companies with that, we encourage them to look at trends. So look at what kind of losses you're having. Start from there.

For the example we just talked about, if you're having a lot of issues with rear end collisions, we have some harsh braking events that we could probably be looking at. And then from there, look at your telematics data. You might see a trend there related to harsh braking. And then that's a great starting point to work with your drivers on, to try to improve your safety posture out there on the road.

And a lot of times what companies are doing is they're using this data or this metrics for performance bonuses. So for a financial reward, either sometimes quarterly, sometimes on an annual basis. Pretty much all telematics companies are going to provide what's generally known as a driver scorecard. And so this will offer you information on a driver behavior based on whatever time frame you set up.

And these systems, you can customize these systems how you want. There's a lot can do with them. So you can look at a driver's trend 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, things like that. And that can provide a lot of information.

And so I have companies who will use that. And they'll look at those percentages. And they'll base financial bonuses to incentivize the drivers to help them. And that what that really does is also provides positive reinforcement, some encouragement. So we're not just using telematics to constantly tell a driver what they're doing wrong, we're also using it to show that driver what they're doing right out there on the road.

TIM DOONER: Fleet safety, fleet health, it's not that different than driver health and safety, a topic I'm getting into later. Positive reinforcement. Always helpful. My coach, Mark O'Mara, always on Friday, posts out the wins that people have done. But however, data can sometimes be misinterpreted, sometimes it can be a double-edged sword. Speak to that.

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah. So this is a really touchy subject in the issue of telematics. And I'm glad you brought this up. We always encourage companies to look at this data.

Keep in mind, in most instance, or many instances, you are paying per truck per month. Those costs really add up. So you don't want to just ignore this information. You want to use it for positive reinforcement, for driver coaching, to address trends, and ultimately prevent crashes. 

But in some instances, this information can be used against the company. So at Northland, we have a lot of attorneys. We have a lot of legal representation. We pay attention to what's going on in the legal world as far as the trucking industry is concerned. And we've heard of instances where a plaintiff's attorney will subpoena the telematics records.

And so this is important to understand. If you are using telematics, you want to use this information. Let's make up a fictitious driver's name. Let's say, John Smith gets involved in an accident and the truck he's using has telematics. That data can be subpoenaed.

And this is why we encourage companies to address risky behavior that they might see. And let's say there's a pattern of our pretend driver, named Mr. Smith. He has, let's say, a large amount of hard braking events over the last 90 days. The plaintiff's attorney can ask the company then, what did you do to address this driver, this behavior, or these hard braking events with the driver?

So this is why we really want to encourage companies. Again, you're paying per truck per month. These costs they add up. And that's why you really want to use it to its fullest potential.

TIM DOONER: Thank you so much, Anthony. Where do people go to learn more from you?

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, hey, thanks for having me back again. It's always a pleasure to be here. And you can check us out on LinkedIn. We put out a ton of great information on the trucking industries. And you can also check us out on Northlandins.com.

TIM DOONER: Thank you so much. Take care. Happy Father's Day. Have an amazing weekend.

ANTHONY SLAMAR: Yeah, you too. Thank you.

TIM DOONER: Take care.