So, before signing the dotted line on dashboard cameras, it is very important to be intentional about how to bring in these great assets for fleet safety and present them to your drivers. There are many ways to do this correctly, and we have six tips to help guide your thinking.

1. Lead with Transparency

2. Explain the Technology

3. Ask for Driver Feedback

4. Recognize Good Driving

5. Lead with Visibility

6. Empathize

Lead with Transparency

One of the most important steps in getting buy-in on anything is to be transparent. As a fleet manager, it is crucial to always lead with transparency whenever introducing a change to existing operations. And in this case, when adding dashboard cameras, transparency with drivers is critical. Gather your drivers and make sure to explain the “why” behind your decision to introduce dashboard cameras; be sure to emphasize that it is to increase safety and help the drivers in their day-to-day operations. Being transparent allows you not only to gain more trust from the drivers themselves —because they are kept in the loop before any changes are implemented— but to be proactive as a fleet manager in crafting the narrative behind the decision for driver cameras and the benefits they bring to fleet operations as a whole. Without this transparency, drivers may let their thoughts run astray and receive the news much more negatively than they should. Being transparent allows for the opportunity to erase any negative assumptions that drivers may have before the cameras are installed.

Explain the Technology

As a follow-up to being transparent with drivers, using that transparency to explain the technology is extremely helpful in gaining buy-in from drivers. Oftentimes, drivers —and people in general— think of cameras as security devices that patrol their every move. Of course, that will have a negative connotation considering drivers can spend 10+ hours on the road in a given day. Feeling “spied on” would make anyone stressed, tense, and annoyed during their shift, which is the last thing a fleet manager wants for their fleet drivers. However, all these worries can be easily dispelled by simply explaining to them what the technology actually does. Positioning Universal’s PosiVision EdgeTM AI Camera uses cutting-edge technology to record only “critical events” that can endanger the safety of the driver. Likewise, for collision-threatening events, the camera is able to trigger an in-cabin alarm to help the driver avoid a collision. To build on that, these recordings of critical events often help drivers when an accident or other event happens because it provides video footage of the driver doing their job correctly. Explaining the technology and these facts about how the devices actually work will help minimize driver concerns and aid them to understand that the cameras look out for them and their safety more than anything else.

Ask for Driver Feedback

To build on leading with transparency, allowing space for driver feedback before device installation is a great way to gain more buy-in. Being transparent before the decision is made shows you respect your drivers and value them, and asking for their feedback and opinions before the decision goes that much further in showing you respect and value their opinions on the operations of the fleet. Everyone wants to be heard when a decision can affect their day-to-day, and asking for their feedback and opinion will help win over drivers, as they are now included in that decision-making process. Asking for feedback from the people who are actually on the road provides invaluable information that can be used to make the most informed decisions.

In addition to asking for their input before installation, feedback from drivers should continue to be consistent after the adoption of the new technology. Having consistent opportunities for drivers to voice their opinions, and just as important, respecting their opinions, is crucial to keeping drivers motivated and positive about the change. And as mentioned before, it is simply a great opportunity to improve the dashboard camera program.

Recognize Good Driving

Another important step in gaining driver buy-in is to ensure that the program is dedicated to recognizing good driving and positively rewarding it, not just on calling out bad driving and punishing drivers for their errors. This program should be centered around incentivizing good driving and appreciating all the great work your drivers do each and every day. Having great features like driver scoring should be used as a tool for achieving positive goals. By rewarding and focusing on the positives, your drivers will feel less worried about being monitored by the cameras. And if a driver is performing poorly, the mindset should still focus on the aspects that driver does well, and then integrate opportunities for improvement within that framework. As with any program, people respond better to positive goals to strive for, not baselines to barely meet.

Lead with Visibility

One great feature about having these videos stored in the cloud is that many people can see them, wherever they are. Fleet managers can use that to their advantage when it comes to dashboard cameras by actually showing the drivers their footage while on the road. This gives drivers the opportunity to see areas of improvement for themselves and make those changes accordingly. For example, if a driver is flagged with multiple stop sign violations, just seeing video footage of the occurrences lets them know to stop a little longer before proceeding. It is just like watching film in sports. Every great team does it.

Empathize

The last tip to getting drivers to buy in on a dashboard camera program is very simple: empathize with them. As mentioned before, people want more than anything to be respected and valued, and doing things like asking their opinion and being transparent really helps them feel that. Being empathetic to the situation and their concerns drives home the idea that you are all one team, and every voice is not only heard, but respected and valued. As a fleet manager it is critical to show that you understand your drivers’ concerns and truly want what is in their best interest. Showing empathy to the drivers will confirm that, and ultimately make drivers much more comfortable with the decision to adopt the new technology.

Conclusion

All in all, using transparency, positive thinking and empathy are all terrific ways to get drivers to buy in on a program like the use of dashboard cameras. While they can initially seem a nuisance, these devices are ultimately there to help drivers feel more comfortable and safer on the road, not less. So, as a fleet manager, you can utilize these tips to drive that point home and ensure that the change will be a positive one for the safety of the fleet as a whole.

As an overview, the AI Camera records live video footage of both the truck cabin and the road while the ignition is on. However, instead of uploading up to 12 hours of footage every day, for every vehicle in a fleet, the critical events feature filters the footage that is actually uploaded to the fleet management cloud network. As the name suggests, the filtered footage only includes events that are denoted as critical — events that fleet managers want to be aware of and which could threaten the driver’s safety. These serious situations include:

• Crash/Impact

• Harsh Acceleration, Braking, & Turns

• Tailgating & Collision Risk

• Reckless Driving

• Stop Sign & Red-Light Violation

The AI Camera can detect these situations in real time, and when it does, it records the event and uploads the footage to the cloud for fleet managers to see and respond to, if necessary. Also, each uploaded event is tagged according to its category, allowing for managers to easily filter through what critical events they want to look at.

So, how exactly does the AI Camera recognize these events, and why are they important? In this deep dive, we will break down each critical event and answer these questions.

Crash/Impact

For crashes and impacts, the importance of having footage of the event is easy to understand. These situations represent direct threats to driver safety, and require immediate action from fleet managers, especially in more severe accidents where the truck driver might be unresponsive. Because of the “critical events” feature, the fleet manager is notified immediately when an impact occurs, which is vital. Likewise, having the footage is invaluable for post-crash procedures. In many cases, having dash camera footage has saved companies from immense liability lawsuits, as they provided evidence that the driver was not driving recklessly. This footage also can be important to help provide context to crashes and provide better instruction to drivers in similar, future situations. For example, say a crash happens while a driver tries to navigate a slick road. Having footage of what they were going through —tight turns, other potential cars they tried to avoid, etc.— can help fleet managers understand exactly what happened and better prepare for the future.

To detect crashes, the AI Camera works with its coupled device, the FT7500, to identify objects and recognize harsh changes in acceleration. By utilizing those two measurements, the devices can flag an event and determine if a collision has occurred.

Harsh Acceleration, Braking, & Turns

Much like crashes and impacts, harsh driving events —including sudden acceleration, braking, and turning— pose significant threats to drivers and can indicate a dangerous situation on the road, whether from outside circumstances, or from risky driving practices. For both of those reasons, these events are considered critical and must be uploaded to the cloud and tagged for review. It is important to have this footage because it can help give context to the fleet manager about the driver’s conduct. Let us consider the footage below. Without the AI Camera, only the harsh braking and swerving would be identified, but the fleet manager would not know why it happened. In this instance harsh braking and turning saved the life of an animal crossing the road and is in fact an example of safe, aware driving.

For this critical event, the FT7500 gateway solution utilizes its accelerometer to identify the situation, and trigger the AI Camera to record and upload the footage.

Tailgating & Collision Risk

Tailgating and collision risk events are considered critical because they can lead to crashes with other vehicles. Tailgating is an unsafe driving practice and leads to many accidents. By uploading the relevant footage and allowing fleet managers to see the occurrences of this practice, supervisors can establish better programs and driver training to help prevent the issue. Likewise, a relative absence of these events can let managers know that this is not a pressing issue for their fleet, or one that requires attention for only a few drivers, not the entire group. The same goes for collision risks.

The FT7500 alone cannot detect events like these, but the AI Camera Solution allows for these more difficult events to be picked up. Let us start with collision risks. The AI Camera accurately identifies objects on the road, both moving and still, and can calculate distances from the object to the vehicle. If the object is moving, the speed of the moving object is also calculated by measuring how much the distance is decreasing or increasing based on the vehicle’s current speed. Finally, the solution can calculate whether the vehicle can safely brake in the current situation. If it can’t, the event is triggered. Tailgating operates very similarly and relies on the AI Camera detecting consistent proximity to an object.

Reckless Driving

Reckless driving is another critical event category, and much like tailgating and collision risks, this is a behavior where video footage and notification can improve future driver training and safety programs. If a driver engages in reckless driving, it is important for fleet managers to address the behavior immediately to keep their fleet as safe as possible.

Reckless driving is recorded by the camera and its edge AI technology identifies bad behavior. This can be swerving, drifting, drastic speeding, etc. The advanced object pickup of the AI Camera allows it to identify reckless behavior and then flag and upload the instance in question.

Stop Sign & Red-Light Violations

Finally, stop sign and red-light violations are especially important critical events for fleet managers. These violations pose significant threats to fleet safety and can prove costly to fleet operations. Many of us don’t always respect stop signs and come to a full stop — especially in neighborhoods and areas with low traffic. While in most cases this does not lead to any adverse consequences, it is a common road infraction. And for large fleets these infractions can lead to operational nightmares. By being alerted each time a stop sign or red-light violation occurs, fleet managers can be better prepared to address the issue and build out proactive programs to minimize these occurrences.

The detection of these violations shows another facet of our AI Camera technology. Not only does this camera have impeccable object pickup, but it also can identify the importance of the objects it sees. The AI Camera recognizes if the vehicle is approaching a red light or a stop sign and the FT7500 sends a report if the vehicle does not come to a complete stop. For stop signs, if the vehicle does not stop completely, the critical event flag is triggered. For red lights, if the vehicle moves before the AI Camera detects the light turning green, the critical event is triggered.

Conclusion

Having the ability to upload and alert fleet managers of critical events is critical to achieving the safest fleet operations possible. As you have seen many of these events are impossible for fleet managers to recognize without the help of the AI Fleet Camera Solution. And the critical event feature of Positioning Universal’s AI Camera allows for streamlined access to high-resolution video footage of events that actually need attention.

This not only makes fleet operations vastly more efficient, but also greatly reduces video storage costs. Likewise, it reassures drivers that the only footage that will be uploaded to the cloud is footage that can affect their safety on the road. Overall, the AI Fleet Camera Solution’s ability to detect, flag, and upload critical events makes it a complete and thoughtful solution that vastly improves fleet safety and reduces fleet costs.