Welcome to our Connect & Learn webinar series, where we provide in-depth tutorials on how to best use the Connected Worker® by Parsable for specific industrial standard operating processes (SOPs) and procedures, with real-world examples from our customers. In the episode above, our very own Markus Linsin, Global Value Consultant and all-around customer advocate, walks us through his experience working with customers to digitize, connect and transform pre-trip truck inspections. Take a look! Or, read the summary below.
What Are Pre-Trip Truck Inspections?
Pre-trip truck inspections play a critical role in keeping drivers and fellow commuters safe on the road, while ensuring operations continue to run efficiently. With the right tool for the job, this simple process can help promote a safe working environment (even on the go), reduce overall operational costs and drive fleet improvements.
Promote a Safe Working Environment – On the Go
No one would argue against safety being priority #1. But, does that manifest into action?
Pre-trip truck inspections can help drivers identify potential incident causing issues, which can lower the likelihood of an accident. Accidents are costly and potentially life changing for everyone involved.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has found that:
- The average cost of all large truck crashes is about $91,000 per crash.
- A crash with injuries costs almost $200,000 per crash.
- The average cost of a large truck crash involving a fatality is $3.6 million per crash.
Without the appropriate training and programs in place, there is a huge, costly risk to the driver, commuters and the business every time a truck departs. There are additional, hidden costs that may be associated with accidents, too. Compliance Navigation Specialists (CNS) has found that some of these hidden costs can include:
- Lost customers
- Lost sales
- Lost productivity
- Cost to hire or train replacement workers
- Loss of, or damage to, third-party property
- Vehicle replacement
- Damaged equipment downtime (check out these interesting stats on downtime)
- Accelerated depreciation of equipment
- Tarnished public perception
- Charges from government agencies to replace or repair property
Organizations cannot afford to risk accidents.
Reduce Overall Vehicle Operational Costs
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) conducts an International Roadcheck, a 72-hour inspection and enforcement safety event that identifies and removes unsafe commercial motor vehicles and drivers from roadways, each year. In 2019, nearly 20% of the vehicles inspected were removed from roadways due to critical vehicle inspection violations. That means 20% of vehicles were not able to reach their final destination.
What would the cost to your operation be, if 20% of your trucks could not perform?
Per the CVSA, the top five out-of-service vehicle conditions were:
- Braking systems
- Tires and wheels
- Brake adjustment
- Cargo securement
- Lighting devices
Each of these conditions can be caught and addressed quickly with a consistent completion of a pre-trip truck inspection. CVSA aside, consider the costs associated with roadside repair after these conditions deteriorate while on the road.
Vehicle maintenance is a considerable expense, but roadside repairs can cost anywhere between three to five times more than repairs completed in the shop.
None of that factors in the cost of a violation. Violations can be costly, both in terms of penalties (ranging from around $1,000 to almost $200,000 depending on the issue) and the impact of placing a truck out of service – not only does that drive the need for repairs but can also impact customers.
Why Use Digital Technology for Pre-Trip Truck Inspections?
Continuous improvement isn’t just for the production floor. All operations can benefit from the impact of collecting data, analyzing trends and taking action based on insights. However, with the way most pre-trip truck inspections are completed today – on paper – there is little to no opportunity to make data-backed, real-time decisions based on the results of the inspections. When you’re relying on paper or even static PDFs, it may not even be clear that the inspections are even being completed, falling victim instead to the too-prevalent habit of pencil whipping so many people are guilty of perpetuating. Additionally, information captured is isolated to a sheet of paper, rendering what could be valuable, insight-producing data useless.
Some assets may fail frequently, some drivers may conduct more thorough inspections than other drivers, and the time of day could play a factor in performance. Without the appropriate, structured data to provide a comprehensive look into what’s happening, organizations miss out on the opportunity to identify, investigate and improve trending issues. This leads to situations in which leaders are forced to respond to problems each day, instead of being able to proactively leverage historical data.
Go In-Depth: How Parsable Improves Pre-Trip Truck Inspections
Consistent, verifiable completion of pre-trip truck inspections can help drivers catch issues before they become costly, business impacting problems. The common, paper-based approach is just not enough to drive compliance and accountability, because it lacks visibility and traceability. With Connected Worker, pre-trip truck inspections can first be made digital, which will improve completion rates and surface critical failures more quickly. After moving to digital, pre-trip truck inspections can be integrated into critical processes and workflows to shorten response times and make adjustments to the fleet as needed, in real time. Connected Worker provides drivers and fleet managers with the visibility and traceability needed to drive accountability for pre-trip, post-trip and everything in between. It can promote a safe working environment (even on the go), reduce overall operational costs and drive improvements to the fleet.
To learn more about how Connected Worker by Parsable can improve the safety, efficiency and quality of pre-trip truck inspections, request a quick demo today.
