‘Big brother’ helps improve truck driver behaviour

As consumers increasingly
buy into the concept of
driver behaviour related – or
pay-as-you-go – insurance
policies, questions have been
raised about its feasibility for
heavy commercial vehicles
(HCVs).
To ascertain if there any
studies being conducted in
SA on this insurance product,
and whether we could see
usage-based insurance
for HCVs appearing on
the SA scene at some time
in the near future, FTW
approached Marty Epstein,
head of Telematics for
Discovery Insure – which is a
major player in pay-as-you-go
insurance for cars with its
VitalityDrive product.
“In studies on telematics
usage in heavy commercial
vehicles, the closest research
we’ve completed is on fleets
of passenger-type vehicles
and minivan taxis,” he said.
“Both studies showed that –
just by putting in a tracking
device – driver behaviour
improved significantly. And,
if you add to that a reward
system and proper feedback,
then drivers perform even
better.”
But Epstein is currently
researching what a fleet-style
solution may look like for a
commercial entity.
“We are looking not
only at driving behaviour
(such as aggressive and
distracted driving) but also
fuel efficiency (emissions
impact), tracking and routing
solutions as well as warning
systems for long-haul
truckers when they get tired
or drowsy.”
However, he suggested that
the pay-as-you-go product
was probably not a key area
of interest.
“The interest is more
around how we can offer
solutions to companies that
have trucks to make them
the safest they can be – and
avoid accidents, obviously,”
Epstein added. “Also to
provide reporting tools to
risk managers that empower
them to reduce risk.”