The logistics industry has been reshaped by a veritable technological revolution in recent years. Many fleets, however, are not taking advantage of the modern solutions designed to help them improve their safety and profitability.
New technologies are hitting the market daily, and these tools are capable of improving everything from driver selection to litigation outcomes. To experience these improved operational efficiencies, fleets — and their partners — just need to embrace the technology.
PCF Transportation is dedicated to helping its clients do just that. The company works with fleets to improve their operations — and mitigate their exposure to litigation — in a myriad of modern, tech-driven ways.
For example, PCF Transportation utilizes technology to analyze clients’ complete U.S. Department of Transportation violation history over the past two years. This allows them to quickly pinpoint vulnerabilities and spot drivers with repeat offenses.
“There is so much opportunity for our customers to use new technologies to help them manage their fleets,” PCF Transportation Practice Leader Todd Lykke said. “Just a few years ago, it would have been almost impossible to identify every violation and break down which trucks and drivers are having trouble.”
Once these issues are uncovered, fleets can work quickly to fix them. Often, that means having conversations with repeat offenders and offering customized training to fix identified problems.
In instances where drivers are unresponsive to training efforts, these technologies give fleets the evidence they need to terminate drivers who consistently create problems for the company. By identifying these drivers before a tragic accident occurs, fleets can protect themselves from nuclear verdicts.
“About 20% of drivers are creating 80% of the problems,” Lykke said. “If you’re a litigator and you can identify that the driver in an accident case has a poor record, it’s a slam dunk. Let’s not give the farm away. Let’s make it as difficult as possible.”
PCF Transportation’s tech-driven solutions are not just about identifying individual problem drivers, however. The company is also adept at helping fleets pinpoint — and resolve — systematic issues that may leave them vulnerable to increased litigation and unfavorable outcomes.
“We help identify the weak areas that a plaintiff attorney will identify and expose in court,” Lykke said. “Once we understand where the client is vulnerable from a litigation standpoint, we work on that issue.”
These weak areas could include poor driver selection and compliance practices, inadequate training programs, or outdated maintenance records. Fleets tend to fall into these negative habits in an effort to cut costs. In the end, this kind of neglect can end up costing companies a whole lot more than it saves them. PCF Transportation can help these fleets clean up their acts without breaking the bank.
In the spirit of keeping clients safe and up to date, PCF Transportation offers an annual safety and DOT compliance seminar. This event allows the company’s clients to have productive conversations with compliance experts at no cost to them.
The company also has a blog aimed at keeping clients informed about what is happening in the transportation industry — from nuclear verdicts to regulation updates — along with many other of their core industries.
These offerings align with PCF Transportation’s dedication to keeping its clients safe on the road and protecting them from nuclear verdicts. For the company’s efforts to be effective, however, fleet owners must also demonstrate a strong commitment to building — and improving — their safety programs.
“When companies buy into a safety program, it makes all the difference in the world,” Lykke said.
Despite the fact that companies often avoid creating robust safety programs on the basis of financial strain, fleet owners who dedicate their time, effort and resources to cultivating a culture of safety actually save more money in the long run.
Safe companies consistently benefit from competitive insurance rates, a benefit that cannot be overstated in an industry where sky-high insurance premiums have been known to drive fleets out of business.