By any measure, it was a large project. Con-way Freight, the less-than-truckload subsidiary of Con-way Inc., set out to deploy a suite of in-cab systems on 8,600 tractors based in 282 locations in just four months.
“After a comprehensive evaluation, including analytical reviews and pilot programs, we decided to add several solutions at the same time,” says Tom Clark, the company’s senior vice president of operations. “We’re early in the journey with these new technologies, but we are confident that the systems will reduce incidents and improve safety and fuel efficiency.”
Rolled out under the name Drive Safe Systems, Con-way Freight chose two primary technologies for simultaneous fleet-wide deployment. To give it more visibility and data about safety-related events, the company selected the DriveCam solution from Lytx Inc. that provides feedback to help drivers recognize and correct unsafe behaviors. The windshield-mounted units record activity eight seconds before and four seconds after hard braking, turning or rapid deceleration events. The recording and supporting data is then uploaded via cellular networks to a cloud-based software application where it is retrieved and reviewed with drivers in coaching sessions.
Additionally, the fleet installed on-board performance management technology from Vnomics Corp. That system takes input on vehicle, road, load and environmental conditions and gives the driver real-time feedback in areas such as shifting and acceleration to achieve optimal fuel economy.
DriveCam data at Con-way Freight is shared with drivers to both recognize exceptional performance and to provide coaching to identify improvement opportunities. “It’s a fundamental shift in our approach,” Clark adds. “Before, we reacted after the fact by analyzing accidents and why they occurred. Now, we’re focusing on coaching to adjust behaviors, remove risk, prevent incidents and improve safety. Early results show a decline in the number of safety-related events and their severity.”
The new systems at Con-way Freight join existing technologies that have been factory-installed in every new tractor in the fleet since late 2009, including Meritor Wabco OnGuard collision avoidance and roll stability control solutions and the Iteris AutoVue lane departure warning system. “The collision avoidance system with adaptive cruise control has had a dramatic effect on front-end crashes in our operation,” Clark relates. “Incidents in our trucks with the system went down over 50%.”
For its recent deployment, Con-way Freight needed to implement the solutions as rapidly as possible to maximize benefits while also minimizing the disruption to daily fleet operations. To meet this need, the carrier contracted Velociti to provide project and inventory management, staging and configuration, installation, testing and verification, and post-installation support services.
Velociti, a technology deployment provider, assigned more than 80 account and project managers, field technicians, system engineers, and quality control, staging and call center agents to oversee the project. Velociti also worked with the technology suppliers to establish installation guides, manufacture custom mounting brackets, and create placement templates to ensure consistency.
“We find that our investments in tested and proven safety technologies provide measurable payback not just in reduced operating costs, but in significantly improved performance,” Clark states. “Our drivers, the roads we share with the motoring public and the freight we carry are all safer because of it.”
