Adam Kahn, president of Netradyne’s commercial fleet team, joins this episode of Great Quarter, Guys to lay out the company’s method of driver training through positive reinforcement and digital engagement.
Kahn believes technology can fill a vital role in driver coaching and performance management. He explained how exhausting it would be for fleets to have safety meetings with each of their drivers on a weekly basis, something many in the industry propose. That’s where Netradyne comes in.
Netradyne’s Driveri fleet safety solution leverages the power of advanced artificial intelligence to identify signs, signals, pedestrians and other objects in real time to contextualize every safety event. Its cameras capture data that is transformed into performance metrics that provide fleets actionable feedback to either reward driving behavior or identify areas needing improvement.
“Technology can now step in and ask the driver to put down the cellphone, slow down, stop at a stop sign, create distance,” Kahn said, adding that simple conversations can prevent big problems. “If I can have the information analyzed in the vehicle, we can now start having digital conversations with the driver.”
Netradyne rewards good performance rather than just punishing bad behavior. Kahn said this model of driver training fits well within today’s risk management landscape, where the vitality of one’s safety culture means everything.
He explained that plaintiffs’ attorneys today look beyond individual truck accidents for signs of negligence. Known to the industry as the “reptile theory,” attorneys are notorious for driving nuclear verdicts by going after the way in which the motor carrier instills driving practices in its fleet.
“Fleets are very proficient in understanding what happened and deconstructing and reconstructing an event that happened, but that’s not what people are being sued on,” Kahn said. “What people are being litigated against is when they have an inadequate safety culture.”
Kahn said drivers are more receptive to performance feedback when receiving small, real-time corrections, as that allows them to continue their day with an opportunity to show signs of improvement.
“We’ve seen a tremendous invert of the results where drivers are actually very curious about how they can be recognized for good driving,” Kahn said, describing the eagerness drivers feel in receiving feedback, given the solitary nature of the job. “There are aspects of isolation and when you’re working hard and you get the opportunity to get praise, I think it’s very motivating.”