{"id":10983,"date":"2021-05-04T16:49:29","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T14:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=10983"},"modified":"2021-05-04T16:49:58","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T14:49:58","slug":"data-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2021\/05\/04\/data-6\/","title":{"rendered":"The Data Gap: How technology can improve driver training"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past few years, the march of technology has entered the trucking industry, with a sudden influx of vendors offering products powered by big data and machine learning. Here’s how data and technology can tackle driver training moving forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

We live in a world defined by data. Everywhere you look, you see stories about how AI, machine learning, algorithms, and real-time analytics are used.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s been a growing trend since the infamous story of\u00a0<\/span>Target\u2019s algorithm determining which of its customers were pregnant\u00a0<\/a><\/span>back in 2012.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the past few years, the march of technology has entered the trucking industry, with a sudden influx of vendors offering products powered by big data and machine learning. ECMs, ELDs, trailer sensors, and a variety of other internet-of-things devices collect a lot of data, and the prevalence of good mobile service makes it easy for that data to be saved to the \u2018Cloud.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, there\u2019s a lot of information being compiled, and a variety of ways to parse, analyze, and act on the insights being revealed by that data. In the battle to improve safety and operating efficiency, the trucking industry has increasingly powerful weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is, except for one area of business \u2013 driver training. Instead, most fleets are continuing to use the same tools as they did 20 years (or longer) ago to track training information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As someone who spends a lot of time talking to trucking companies, and exploring their different programs through\u00a0<\/span>Best Fleets to Drive For<\/a><\/span>, it always surprises me when I see that contrast. Fleets may have all the latest tech on their trucks and many modern systems to assist with safety, but in this one area very few have changed their processes in the past decades.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Driver training today<\/span><\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s driver training departments regularly use a range of different tools to deliver content (classroom, online, simulators) but the tracking of that activity still routinely relies on paper. For example:<\/span><\/p>\n