Are you a fleet operator? Then efficiency and security must be top concerns in your business. Cargo security and driver safety are real issues in trucking and you want the best dash cam for fleet vehicles. The transport industry is rapidly growing in technology, making truck camera systems a new popular. These systems add a crucial level of safety and ease your fleet management. You have many options for truck camera systems for your business. Dash cameras for trucks improve efficiency and safety in many ways, such as monitoring the driver’s conduct on the road, tracking maintenance issues, and planning routes effectively. A truck camera system documents any occurrences from which you can make improvements. In this article, I will explore how a fleet dash cam improves the efficiency and security of your trucks. I will also address the types of truck camera systems, the benefits, and choices for your fleet.
Types of Truck Camera Systems
Duo-facing dash cams
These are mounted on the windshield, and have a second lens in addition to the camera facing the road ahead. The second lens records the in-cab activities, such as driver behavior. If you want to implement a modern video-based driver safety program, dual-facing dash cams are the ideal choice for you.
Interior Cameras
You can mount truck fleet dash cams in various places within the vehicle or trailer to improve cargo and driver safety. The truck fleets use interior cams to monitor cargo and minimize theft. They help you monitor the in-trailer activity with real-time visibility to enhance security.
Backup cameras
Truck camera systems may also include backup cameras mounted on the rear of the truck to record the road behind. Sometimes called rearview cameras, they guide the driver to see objects when reversing as they are paired with an in-cab monitor. They also help assess the danger of cargo theft from the truck’s rear end.
Exterior cameras
Exterior cameras are often mounted to capture 360° of the truck’s external surroundings. They are particularly good to prevent sideswiping accidents on your fleet. It reduces truck damage and subsequently maintenance costs, thus increasing your fleet efficiency.
Benefits of Fleet Dash Cams
Reduced Liabilities
Investing in fleet dash cams helps in monitoring driver conduct and reduces dangerous behavior on the road. You will have fewer accidents which result in significant liabilities as a fleet operator. Property damage, legal claims, injuries, and fatalities result in liabilities. A truck camera system records all angles of video and audio evidence of incidents such as fraudulent claims, accidents, and near misses. You may use the recordings as a fleet operator to determine the cause of incidences and initiate improvements, protect your business from fraudulent claims, and resolve disputes.
Reduced Accidents
Negative driver behavior such as harsh braking, micro-sleeping, harsh acceleration, and overspeeding increase the risk of a truck getting into a crash. Such behaviors also reduce truck efficiency, undermine the safety of other road users, and increase maintenance costs. A truck dash cam improves driver accountability and subsequently, your fleet safety. A truck camera system has been found to reduce driver distraction by 80%, reduce liabilities by 25%, lower speeding by 65%, reduce collisions by 60%, and increase seat-belt utilization by 70% in fleet operations.
Efficient Fleet Management
Efficiency in fleet management is key for the success of trucking operations. Recordings provide valuable data and insights on how you can optimize your operations. Dash cams for trucks are enhanced with GPS technology, speed monitoring, and location data which helps you plan routes for convenient deliveries on schedule. They help you use data to track truck maintenance, driver behavior, and fuel consumption. With such data, you can strategize on how to reduce fuel and maintenance costs while improving performance and delivery times.
Reduced Insurance Costs
By capturing accidents and traffic incidents on your fleet, truck dash cams provide proof of the fault for the insurers and help reduce the payouts. Your fleet also improves in safety by the dash cams deterring risky driver behavior, while providing video evidence to identify problems and initiate remedies.
What to look for in truck camera systems
File Quality
The video and audio quality resolution are crucial factors when purchasing the truck dash cam. You want to clearly see all the action on the road and in the cabin and trailer. An HD video resolution is critical when viewing the footage, and a wide-angle lens camera with high dynamic range (HDR) for clearer details.
Smart Features
The best truck camera systems today have smart features and AI capabilities to ease operations and reviews. Choose a truck dash cam that has GPS data, an electronic logging device (ELD), and reporting integrations. The best dash cams for trackers combine analytical interpretation with AI footage to detect route problems, reschedule routes and evaluate trucking tendencies and how they affect the efficiency and security of your fleet.
Ease of Installation
You want to improve efficiency in your fleet, and one way to do it is by having truck dash cams that the drivers can easily install. Adhesive installation options are often good for ease of installation and maintenance procedures. You also want a truck camera system with guaranteed support from the manufacturer to improve your fleet’s security and efficiency. You should also select truck dash cams which have an app for ease of monitoring for the fleet operators and the drivers.
Storage
Choose what works best for your fleet between memory drives and cloud storage options when selecting your truck dash cams. Cloud storage is a vital integration to consider to eliminate the risk of data loss and the hassle of manual retrievals. You can choose the Internet-enabled truck dash cams which enable data backup, hence bigger sizes and longer periods of footage storage.
What is the bottom line?
As a fleet operator, truck camera systems are an indispensable tool for operational efficiencies and optimized safety standards. You can reap numerous benefits of the truck dash cams beyond mere monitoring to cost and maintenance improvements. Utilizing dash cams for your fleet also increases your clients’ satisfaction through data-driven decision-making to improve service delivery. They help promote safer trucking practices by improving accountability among drivers. The best dash cams for trucks provide advanced analytics for realistic recommendations on how to improve. Driver coaching is also enhanced by truck dash cams as the fleet operators use evidence-based training based on video documentation. What’s more? Ensure you have clear guidelines and policies for your fleet to enhance a revolutionized security and efficiency truck camera system. You surely need a truck camera system for your fleet to optimize security and safety for more profitable services.
Jeena Alfredo is a passionate digital marketer at The Business Goals. She is working with other companies to help them manage the relationship with The Business Goals for the publications.
