LOUISVILLE, KY. Fast return on investment (ROI) has put safety technology sales on a roll, contends Richard Beyer, director of technical sales for Bendix LLC.
“What's critical is that most big fleets are self-insured for accidents and damages under $1-million,” he told FleetOwner. “So when a rollover accident costs $100,000, that all comes out of a fleet's bottom line.”
Beyer said the “magic number” for achieving an ROI for safety equipment is 18 months. Right now, he said payback for Bendix's Electronic Stability Program (ESP), which helps prevent rollovers and loss of control-related accidents, is hovering around 12 months because of the self-insurance issue.
The average cost of installing the ESP system on a tractor is about $2,000. However, that price difference may not matter as truck makers make ESP and similar systems standard equipment on their vehicles.
“Volvo and Mack, for example, have made ESP standard with no delete option— and there's been no resistance to that from customers,” added Joe McElesse, Bendix's president & CEO. “I understand the issue of sticker shock with fleets, especially when you add in the cost of emissions technology, but getting payback in a year for that [ESP] investment changes. Safety sells because dollar one of any accident now starts in a fleet's pocket.”
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