Tap Into Crowdsourcing to Make Your Transportation Fleet’s Routes Safer

Popular trucking routes change all the time, and sometimes it’s difficult to understand why. It could be that increased pull-over inspections in Indiana are making truckers choose another interstate to avoid the slow-down, or different weight maximums are opening up previously barred highway systems to heavy trucks. While keeping up to date on regulatory trends is also part of managing a transportation fleet, knowing the underlying factors doesn’t always make the behavioral impacts clear. Instead of relying on guesswork and previously established routes, large trucking fleets are turning to crowdsourced maps and navigational software to make routes safer and shorter.

What does route management have to do with semi-truck insurance?

Finding safer routes for your drivers reduces your potential number of claims, and purchasing tools that reduce your company’s risk can earn you a reduction on premiums. While fleet management software that tracks drivers is not new to the industry, it has its limits. Usually, this software is used to manage future internal policies or to analyze individual drivers’ records. However, new interfaces through the nationally mandated electronic logging devices (ELDs) could create crowdsourced maps of freight yards to build a system of directions that shows favored routes, traffic delays, and special routes for different freight. It would also highlight relevant data in different regions about live weather changes, accidents, and information relevant to truck drivers that doesn’t make its way to Google’s maps or individual carrier navigation systems. Just like live data is becoming more and more important in regulating inventory and being prepared to meet demand, using live data to adjust routes and give truck drivers advanced notice can shave minutes and hours off of routes. Drivers with shorter, less stressful routes are safer drivers. Also, shaving off those wasted minutes can help your company avoid potential penalties from overdriving, a record of which would make your company a greater risk to insure.

Even fractional reductions in drive time are becoming more and more important in the industry as fleets face tighter control and oversight through ELDs monitoring drive time, so make sure you and your fleet stay current on route changes and technology that can give you the minute-by-minute adjustments. Go to J.E.B. Insurance Services, LLC. to find more safety tips and insurance information.We provide commercial truck insurance in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Caroline, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa & Nebraska.

David Ott

David Ott