In 2009 there were 285,987 DOT reportable accidents of which there were:

1. 2,987 Fatal accidents
2. 51,000 Injury accidents
3. 232,000 Property damage collisions

The dollar amounts associated with these accidents equals $36,788,159,418.00 (using costs from 2005) and if the inflation rate from 2005 – 2009 is added in that represents $37,387,806,416.00. That’s right, 37 billion dollars. Based on the 2005 numbers the per/accident cost are as follows

1. Fatal accidents $3,604,518
2. Injury accidents $195,258
3. Property damage collisions $15,114

Using a simple formula of all DOT accidents divided by the total dollars each accident carries an average of $86,856.50 per accident. I just want you to keep this very simple math in mind for later. It is also important to remember that this does not include any other accident statistics that fleets that are not considered DOT recordable. Now let’s discuss this new information.

In a recent ATRI Study that came out a couple of months ago we were provided with the first hard evidence of the likelihood of an increase in crash percentage based on past violations. In a nutshell ATRI looked at a 3 year history of driver violations and tied those violations directly to the number and type of accidents that driver had. The findings are very interesting.

Let’s look at the increase in accident likelihood based on the top ten violations:

# 1, 3, 5, & 6 are all lane change related. Why is this information important? It is the first time that hard data is starting to emerge that shows that technology (EOBR’s) and others will help you be safe.

Just out of the top ten is hours of service violations, with those violations it was found that a driver is almost 50% more likely to have an accident. In an independent study done for one of the primary providers of EOBR’s, their customers/drivers were 60% less likely to be placed out of service in a roadside inspection verses the national average. (Based on 30 months of SafeStat information in 2008.)

For the last 10 years EOBR providers have been preaching ROI (Return on Investment) as a selling point, as they should. But now the ability to track, capture, and measure all this data gives you a looking glass into your driver’s behavior. ECM data, integration with partners that do speed monitoring against posted speed limit, lane departure warnings, collision avoidance, and other solutions are a way of the future. EOBR’s are doing a lot more than just driver hours of service, even though that is now the current focus. I think this study will continue to gain traction in the industry because we can start to build formulas based on real percentages.

What’s next? Smart carriers will make business decisions based on facts and driving behaviors such as if they should keep an unsafe driver on the payroll. The only way that carriers will be able to do this is by embracing technology, training their drivers, explaining the benefits, and measuring the results.

On a personal note, I believe in this stuff, I believe in what CSA is trying to accomplish. I also believe that most carriers want to do the right thing. Six months before I left my last fleet to take on a new challenge in the industry that I dearly love, I lost the only driver in my 20 plus years in the industry I ever lost. The truck that pulled out in front of him had to enter the highway in a higher gear because he had lost all low gears. An inspection that took place on that vehicle at the scene found 14 other vehicle violations. This is a truck and driver that should not have been on the road. How does an EOBR make that go away, it won’t completely but it will give carrier management, enforcement officers, and the driver himself better information to make the best decisions possible.

Will an EOBR make your truck safer? The answer is you will really never know without investing in the solution. A better question is, how many $86,856.50 per accident can you afford before you decide what the right thing to do is? How many trucks could you be receiving valid information on for that same money? You decide.

Be safe everyone, I’m out.
Jim