MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu here saved almost $66,000 on repair, liability and workers’ compensation costs in the trucking operation at one of its distribution centers during the first year of a pilot for an onboard camera system.
The system, installed in 100 tractors at the DC beginning in December 2010, helped to reduce “risky driver maneuvers,” as well as ill-advised habits like cell-phone use and eating while driving, said Supervalu’s Dale Peleski, regional director, risk control. Supplied by DriveCam, San Diego, the system offered a payback in eight months for investments in equipment, implementation fee and ongoing fees, he said.
Peleski described the DriveCam pilot at a session at the 2012 Supply Chain Conference sponsored by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute. Also at the session, Rob Jones, safety manager, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Kansas City, Kan., described using a similar on-board camera system from SmartDrive Systems, San Diego.
With one camera facing out and one facing the driver, the DriveCam system is always on but only sends video clips triggered by specific events, such as hard-braking, rapid acceleration, bumps in the road and collisions; the clips, processed by DriveCam for Supervalu, encompass eight seconds prior to the event through four seconds following it.
In some cases the video serves to “exonerate” drivers involved in accidents, Peleski said. “Good drivers really want this,” he added, though “you do have perhaps riskier drivers who aren’t too happy [about it].”
Supervalu also used the video clips to coach drivers on better driving practices.” Coaching is the key to changing behaviors” such as distracted driving, cell phone use, eating while driving, speeding and running red lights, Peleski said. “If you reduce this behavior, you reduce collisions.” Moreover, Supervalu found that 39% of the driving risks are caused by 10% of the drivers, “so if you impact the top 10% with training, you can make a huge difference,” he said.
Supervalu and the union for its drivers agreed that drivers would be not disciplined for driving infractions “for a certain period of time,” during which they would be coached on how to change driving behaviors, said Peleski.
Peleski reported that Supervalu’s safety scores improved under the video system, which was having a positive impact on its Department of Transportation collision rate. Moreover, over the course of the first year, “we have had no incidents involving a third party,” he said. He expects to see additional improvements over the next few years and, given that the initial capital costs were incurred in year one, projected that savings would double in year two.
The DriveCam system also has a fuel management component that provides feedback on fuel efficiency based on better driving decisions; Supervalu is testing that component at a different DC.
The SmartDrive camera system described by Jones of Associated Wholesale Grocers, which has been using it for about a year, is similar to the DriveCam system, although the former records video clips for 15 seconds prior to and after triggering incidents. “We use the system to determine what needs to be coached or disciplined,” he said. “We are seeing big reduction in [undesirable] driving behaviors.”
