Anyone who has read my blogs or those of my colleges who represent people and families who have suffered harm at the hands of negligent truckers and trucking companies, know that there are several reckless behaviors in the industry which arise frequently and place us all at risk.  Examples include driving while excessively fatigued, aggressive driving and distracted driving. 

In my searches, I recently came across a private company based in California, “Telogis, Inc.”, which appears to be trying to address this situation with its various technologies which are marketed to the trucking industry.

One of the company’s  products, entitled “Telogis Driver Scorecard” (reportedly part of the company’s larger fleet management software system), is billed as a means for trucking companies “to manage and communicate the behavioral factors that directly influence driver safety; allowing for configurable scoring for fleets to improve safety programs as well as to provide communication of safety initiatives to staff, management, and insurance providers”.    In the company’s March 6, 2012 press release, the company states:

“Driver scorecard reports on activities critical to driver safety: hard braking, hard acceleration, excessive speeding, speeding vs. posted speed limit, after-hours use, and seatbelt use.  Reports are configurable to show daily, weekly and monthly trends.  InSight alerts can also be programmed for real-time feedback to supervisors”.

According to Telogis’ product manager, Sean McCormick:

“If you’re simply monitoring driver violations, that doesn’t tell the whole story because a driver may still be exhibiting risky behavior. . . . By implementing the Telogis Driver Scorecard, you can enhance your safety initiatives with real-time, actionable information leading to greater total safety along with a reduction in costs associated with bad driving.”

While I cannot comment on the effectiveness of these technologies, I do applaud the effort and encourage trucking companies to explore these and other similar technologies if they are serious about safety.  More information can be found at the company’s website: http://www.telogis.com/press-releases