The CEO and President of a large trucking company gave a presentation earlier this month saying that driver-facing cameras are necessary safety tools because “at the end of the day a driver will do what they want to do.”
CEO: Driver Facing Cameras Are The Only Way To Ensure Compliance With Safety Policies
Tom Kretsinger Jr. of American Central Transport gave a talk at the 2016 Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) meeting in which he vehemently defended the need to monitor truck driver behavior with cameras to ensure they are always following safety protocols. Kretsinger argues that there is no point in having safety policies if there is no way to enforce those policies. And he feels that the only way to enforce safety policies is to keep an eye on his drivers.
Kretsinger cites statistics to back up the use of the cameras. During the presentation it was noted that truck drivers make 163 decisions per mile on average — many of them split-second decisions. He also made the interesting claim that 95% of crashes were caused by “driver-related human behaviors.”
Cameras May Be Intrusive, But CEO Believes They Are Worth It
He admits that the cameras are intrusive but believes that the safety benefits are worth it: “Yes they don’t like them. But continuous improvement is what this is all about. [Cameras] tell us who to coach: the ones who text, who use the cell phone, who drive unbelted.”
Kretsinger says that through monitoring drivers and providing “coaching” on unsafe behaviors, he believes that he can prevent accidents before they happen and stop citations before they are ever written.
Sources:
Fleet Owner