Why Danella Companies was Ready for a Video-Based Safety Program

Danella Companies is a Pennsylvania-based provider of world-class construction services to a broad range of utility and railroad customers. Like other commercial fleets, Danella faces a number of issues affecting its bottom line—rising insurance premiums, growing expenses associated with claims, compliance with strict and complex safety regulations, and maximizing asset and driver utilization.

Company leadership was in favor of the adoption of video-based technology to maximize safety, mitigate litigation risks and minimize accident-related financial losses across the entire fleet, ranging from small pick-up trucks, cars and SUVs to tractor trailers, step vans, and dump, box and bucket trucks.

 

Why the SmartDrive® program is the Smart Choice for Danella Companies

In the first three months following adoption, Danella saw critical improvements in key driver safety indicators, including a 79 percent increase in driver seatbelt usage, 40 percent reduction in speeding, 33 percent drop in unsafe following and a 29 percent decrease in handheld device usage. Overall, the fleet experienced a 79 percent improvement in its safety score complemented by a reduction in litigation expenses, better driver retention and greater operational efficiency.

 

79
Safety Score Improvement
40
Reduction in Speeding
79
Increase Seatbelt Usage
29
Decrease in Mobile Device Usage

The company’s decision to equip every vehicle in its fleet—from those driven by construction project managers to those driven by heavy equipment operators—has led to significant safety enhancements, which, in turn, have resulted in fewer collisions, reduced litigation costs and enhanced profitability.

 

Maximizing the Value of their Investment

Danella effectively and proactively engages drivers to ensure their buy-in and enthusiasm for the SmartDrive program and the resulting ongoing safety enhancements. As a result, the drivers have friendly internal competitions to achieve the best safety scores – a testament to their acceptance of the program and commitment to continuous improvement.

“Interestingly, we’ve found that the biggest benefit of the SmartDrive system is the driver education that comes with it—SmartDrive serves up the right business intelligence insights we need to guide our proactive and constructive coaching.”
– Dave Pancoast, Safety Director at Danella

Having long promoted a culture of safety at Danella, the deployment of the SmartDrive platform further enhances and extends the safety programs already in place, while also exonerating drivers and positively impacting the bottom line. Danella continues to leverage the full value of the SmartDrive solution, from video data capture to expert risk analysis and scoring, driver involvement, coaching and continuous program refinement.

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