The lifeline of SA’s economy

Trucking plays an important role in our distribution network and it is one of the lifelines of our economy.

We rely on trucks and truck drivers to deliver and transport goods and products. Without them we would never be able to move items from one destination to the next, let alone make products or goods available to the market.

Wayne Rautenbach, Head of Trucking at Hollard says resilient men and women transport essential goods to every part of the country, 365 days a year. “Taking into consideration the numbers of hours they spend behind the wheel, and the issue of driver behaviour in terms of harsh braking and speeding, it is essential to highlight the importance of risk management in this sector.”

The Highway Heroes campaign

Regent Insurance launched The Highway Heroes initiative in 2015 to highlight the important role truck drivers’ play in the country’s economy.

The Highway Heroes campaign, which will be Hollard-branded from next year following Hollard’s acquisition of Regent earlier this year, is about creating awareness of the challenges truck drivers confront on our roads, and to encourage good driving behaviour to make roads safer.

The campaign, in the form of a competition, celebrates truck drivers who display the best driver behaviour in their day-to-day duties. This year, the number of entries – 890 – was nearly five times that of the first year, 2015, showing how big the competition has become in the industry.

This year’s Highway Hero is Phillip Mhlaolo Mtembu, who drives for Sasolburg-based Elite Dynamics. Phillip was named the 2017 champion at an awards ceremony held at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit recently, beating out stiff competition in the process – including the 2015 winner and the 2016 runner-up.

Statistics and driver behaviour

FAnews spoke to Rautenbach about the Highway Heroes campaign, and the positive effect it is having on the trucking sector.

Rautenbach said, “When considering new clients that are routed to our 24-hour monitoring bureau, the statistics conclude that speeding and fatigue driving incidents are on the rise within the industry. There could be various reasons for this, but in the 2016/2017 financial year we have noticed that owing to the weak economy and lower margins, drivers sometimes end up working longer hours.”

Below is an example (six months rolling stats for one heavy commercial vehicle from January to June 2016) of an existing bureau client that started actively using the value-added benefits i.e. driver training, reporting, etc. The criteria is based on the speeding event count (any speeding event over 85km/h for longer than 15 seconds); harsh braking event count (any harsh braking event based on unit standard settings determined by the tracking supplier); fatigue day (any driving event between 05h00-19h00 >300km for longer than four hours) and fatigue night (any driving event between 19h00-05h00 >150km for longer than 2.15 hours).

The trend clearly shows how the daily/weekly and monthly driver scorecards, combined with monthly consulting, have resulted in this client being a lower risk within the Bureau.

As for the Highway Heroes campaign, the statistics below include similar criteria as the above statistics. This year’s top 10 drivers performed exceptionally well in the last seven weeks of the competition, based on the numbers below. The average event count for the top 10 Highway Heroes over seven weeks of monitoring show:

How is data used?

“South Africa does not have enough safe stops, and we have found this to be a large contributor to the drivers not stopping as often as they should. There has also been a major increase in tyre thefts, especially in security areas, including fenced-off toll plazas. Truck owners are also governing their trucks at 90km/h, disregarding the 80km/h speed limit within South Africa,” emphasised Rautenbach.

“The data we gather is used to assist clients in reducing their risk. We aim to improve driver behaviour, which in turn reduces accidents. Should a client show a significant risk profile improvement, the data can be used to negotiate better insurance rates,” he continued.

“The benefits are clear: better driving means fewer accidents and losses, and thus fewer claims and less downtime. Better risk management and fewer claims translate to better insurance rates. And, of course, fleet owners also enjoy the financial benefits of lower maintenance costs, less tyre wear and better fuel consumption. Importantly, driver wellness and motivation are also improved by our initiative,” he said.

“By creating awareness and educating our drivers on an on-going basis, we are improving the lives of the drivers, their families and fellow South African road users. We recognise them as skilled professionals and continue to promote safety and excellence in the trucking industry,” concluded Rautenbach.

Editor’s Thoughts:
Like Rautenbach said, this competition has significantly reduced the number of claims submitted by participating fleet owners, which makes a big difference to the trucking industry. Do you believe South Africa, in general, could benefit from campaigns like this to promote safety on the roads? Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts [email protected]

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