Fleets turn to AI to extend the reach of driver coaching

The useful part

Safety managers at Bennett and Halliburton described at Vision 26 how videos deliver personalized, timely driver coaching fleetwide. Bennett said AI coaching reaches 100% of drivers, while Halliburton tracks viewership, expanding safety guidance and strengthening liability defenses. Fleets are using generative AI to act on growing dashcam and telematics data beyond reactive coaching focused on serious incidents.

How it works

• Some fleet operators, however, are expanding the scope of their coaching programs through artificial intelligence and automated safety guidance.
• Safety managers at two large carriers discussed how they are using AI tools to provide more timely guidance to their drivers during technology vendor Motive's Vision 26 summit this summer.
• Motive last year introduced AI Coach, which delivers personalized feedback to drivers through videos with safety score updates and recaps incorporating driving footage captured by its dashcam system.
• "You were essentially drowning in data, trying your best to prioritize it, trying your best to see what you needed to see," Whitson said.
• "How do we get more drivers coached in an efficient manner to be able to propagate that safety culture all the way through the system?" he said.

What to take from it

That was difficult for fleets, though, because they couldn't have a trainer ride with every driver at every moment. Driver coaching is an essential part of any fleet safety program, but transportation businesses have long struggled to provide consistent feedback to their entire driver base due to limited time and resources. has been actively testing those AI capabilities, which have helped the company take a more comprehensive approach to driver coaching, said Jared Whitson, the fleet's senior director of safety and compliance.

Example or evidence

• "But there was always this sense of, 'What am I missing?' " While the company was already catching "the worst of the worst" cases, it was only a fraction of the potential opportunities to improve driver...
• "I can now touch 100% of my drivers," Whitson said during a May 28 panel discussion at the Motive conference.
• to driving further improvement in safety performance, liability protection is another important factor.
• 38 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America.

Details worth keeping

Fleets turn to AI to extend the reach of driver coaching. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics) Key Takeaways: Fleets that extend coaching to all drivers and better utilize the data they are collecting on driver performance are in a stronger position to defend their safety practices in a highly litigious operating environment, Whitson said.

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