Drivewyze is customizing commercial truck safety with a new service that allows fleets to create proactive driving alerts and context-based driver coaching through real-time driver notifications.

The new Drivewyze Safety+ system, which requires no additional in-cab hardware and is delivered through the Drivewyze software platform, was released to more than 2.2 million electronic logging devices (ELDs) Oct. 14. The new service builds on the existing Drivewyze Safety Notifications service — which warns drivers, through audible and visual cues — of approaching areas where caution is required. Safety+ also includes new back-office tools for fleets to create customized driver alerts, plus offers safety analytics to monitor driver behavior and improve driver coaching.

Based on Drivewyze’s context-based driver coaching technology, Safety+ leverages real-time in-cab notifications and driver behavior at high-risk areas and analyzes driver performance to identify superior drivers and those that need more coaching. Safety+ is available as a stand-alone safety service or integrated into a fleet’s existing driver safety platforms. 

The trucking technology company hopes the alerts will help make North American roadways safer and carriers more productive by preventing unsafe driving practices from happening, Charlie Mohn, the Drivewyze director of product innovation, told FleetOwner during a virtual demo of the Safety+ system this week. 

Fleet managers can create custom alert zones for their drivers by flagging areas on maps within the Drivewyze system.Photo: Drivewyze

In a two-year study with J.B. Hunt, which involved the fleets’ thousands of trucks, alerts for high rollover curves led to a 17% reduction in those drivers’ speed. Drivewyze data also showed that unsafe drivers identified by Safety+ were 400% more likely to be in an accident than their peers, Mohn said. 

“That led us to think that there’s something here,” Mohn said. “Two things that fleets were really asking for: One is more coverage, more zones — and not just the standard zones that we curated based on national data — that fleets could customize on their own… The other big thing was just information from a coaching perspective on what drivers were doing in high-risk areas and how that data could be used to affect change. And thus Drivewyze Safety+ was born and it really comes down to four high-level features.”

Those four new features are:

• Risk zone alerts: All of the Drivewyze alerts were developed in relationship with state and provincial safety agencies. It enabled the company to curate a unique set of high-value safety zones — more than 2,500 high-risk areas in all that typically give truckers problems. More sites will be added each month, the company said.
• Proactive speed alerts: Based on cumulative citation history from law enforcement, these alerts warn drivers that are driving too fast in known high-citation areas to slow down — improving driver behavior and averting a possible speeding ticket.
• Custom zones: Can be configured in the Drivewyze HUB portal, fleet managers can identify and geo-fence their own high-risk areas or other areas of importance to deliver custom in-cab messaging.  “It can alert drivers of known areas with high-crash rates, violations, or security-related risks within the fleet,” said Heath. “Or it can remind drivers about restrictions when entering yards, road closures, even deliver temporary notifications along fleet routes. Our customers have complete control over custom alerts, and unique in-cab messaging.” 
• Dynamic parking alerts: Initially available in nine states, with more expected to come on-board soon, these alerts provide in-cab messaging with the actual number of parking spots available, in real-time, so drivers can decide to continue on to the rest area, or look for alternative parking.

Drivewyze Safety+ also provides drivers with the full suite of safety alerts included in the standard Drivewyze Safety Notifications service. Those include alerts for high rollover, low bridges, and mountain corridors (giving notifications to use low gears, check brakes, while also providing alerts on upcoming runaway ramps), and more.

“I can’t recommend Safety+ enough,” said Derek Ohata, C.R. England’s senior director of compliance, which has been testing the new features in advance of public release. “Not only does it allow me to take control of in-cab safety messaging, it gives me access to fleet-wide and driver-specific safety insights and proactive driver-coaching tools.”

Drivewyze Safety+ is available through Drivewyze ELD partners or on tablets and smartphones and is available as a standalone service or as part of a bundle with Drivewyze PreClear weigh station bypass service. Information from Drivewyze Safety+ can be integrated into existing safety programs via a full set of reporting APIs.