How Canada Cartage Is Improving Safety and Reducing Cost Through A Connected Fleet

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that 90% of accidents involving cars and commercial trucks are typically caused by the car. Common causes include cars driving in a truck's blind spot, unsafe merging, or turning left in front of a truck. In accidents, the determining factor often boils down to the car driver's word against the trucker's.

In 2022, Canada Cartage equipped our fleet with Omnitracs' SmartDrive® in-cab camera systems. These cameras provide an unbiased record of events surrounding an incident, protecting against wrongful blame, unnecessary demerit points, increased insurance premiums, and protracted legal battles.

We also use the SmartDrive® system for driver coaching. The system triggers video recordings when an action such as hard braking, quick acceleration, speeding, U-turns, erratic lane changes, or following too closely is detected. Once triggered, an email with an MP4 video clip of the incident is sent to the driver’s supervisor and our safety and compliance team. This footage, along with the telematics data captured during the event (speed, engine throttle, braking) is used to customize safe driving training programs, enhancing overall road safety. Similar to a sports team reviewing game tape footage, drivers and their supervisor can review videos of their driving performance to call out great performances, or identify and correct errors.

Canada Cartage has invested millions of dollars in fleet technology to help improve road safety, accountability, and ultimately lower insurance premium costs for us and our customers. Our SmartDrive® camera systems are an important component of this strategy, providing concrete evidence in the event of an incident and serving as an educational tool to refine driving skills, ultimately leading to safer roads for everyone.