Field service companies often resort to “dense scheduling”, says Greenroad, yet many overlook road safety.
It reckons field service technicians spend on average more than one-third of their working hours on the road yet few have undergone any specific driver training – and improving driver behaviour is “an afterthought”, it says.
David Rodriguez, GreenRoad’s senior VP, says: “By putting field service engineers who lack professional driving training behind the wheel, many companies are exposing themselves to the risk of dangerous, costly and reputation-ruining collisions.
“There is always the temptation for field service engineers to cut corners and depart from safe, smooth, fuel-efficient driving to meet their busy schedules.”
GreenRoad says its driver behaviour app combines all the advantages of the proven wired-in software as a solution (SaaS) system with portability. It can be readily deployed in fleets where technicians use their own, or leased vehicles -- with no hard-wiring required, there’s no downtime for installation.
Drivers can download, install and run the app on a smartphone or tablet. The app will then monitor the vehicle movement, picking up unsafe driving manoeuvres such as sharp cornering, harsh braking or sudden acceleration, and alerting the driver.
Data is analysed and reported to fleet managers, allowing trends to be viewed, along with driver performance across the fleet.
It also incorporates a tracking application, so managers can see where drivers are and whether they are moving or stationary.
Rodriguez adds: “Mobile technology is set to overtake traditional wired-in telematics as the technology advances and its advantages become apparent.
“Almost every field service engineer has a mobile device – whether smartphone or tablet – that will support the GreenRoad driver behaviour app.”