ADT and SFARA launches comprehensive fleet safety & compliance

Applied Driving Techniques (ADT) has teamed up with Sfara Inc to develop a comprehensive fleet safety and compliance offering that will solve driver behavioral problems rather than simply diagnosing them. The smartphone-enabled solution will use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to deliver targeted training directly to drivers in a respectful and considerate manner.

“One of the recurring issues over the last fifteen years with driver safety tools is that too many simply identify problems, without actually helping to tackle them,” explains Erik Goldman, CEO of Sfara. “This leaves the fleet manager with the daunting challenge of managing driver action, delivering training and monitoring performance, so we recognised the need for a different approach. In partnership with ADT we have brought together complementary technologies to introduce a paradigm shift in fleet telematics.”

The integrated solution will incorporate innovative features such as Triggered Training™, which uses proprietary technology via the Sfara Companion smartphone app to detect risky driver behaviours and provide a real-time audible alert. Additionally, details of any triggered event will be shared with ADT’s system, so patterns can be determined and, where necessary, tailored messages or e-training modules sent automatically to the driver. Simply put, it will provide a risk mitigating solution to the driver faster than traditional fleet telematics deliver the problem to the fleet manager, who in turn can take a more hands-off approach for minor infringements and focus on higher risk, persistent offenders.

Andy Phillips, Global Managing Partner with Applied Driving Techniques commented: “Traditional fleet products generate an overwhelming amount of data that needs to be deciphered through lengthy reports listing problems, with the fleet manager left to figure out the solution and deliver it to the driver. This is not only a time-consuming process, but also creates potential confrontation that does nothing to foster positive relationships within an operation. The single biggest in-vehicle determinant of safety remains the driver, so having the ability to reduce collision rates and insurance premiums, while also increasing productivity, without fleet manager intervention is incredibly powerful.”

Driver respect has become a key issue in employee-employer relationships, which is impacting retention and performance levels. Although a significant aspect of this relates to privacy, most traditional fleet solutions have process that generate concerns for drivers given they transmit and store every trackable and measurable action. To address this issue, the fleet safety and compliance solution from ADT and Sfara will include built-in safeguards that make drivers more comfortable with the technology – based on the principles of a “Just Culture” – to improve adoption rates and buy-in.

The solution will also take advantage of Sfara’s on-device data processing, which eliminates the need for an always-on tracking stream that is transmitted for review and storage. As a result, only relevant events will be reported, complying with GDPR data minimisation. Drivers may also clock-out at the end of the day by going “incognito” or if a journey includes a taxi, ride share or other method of travel, drivers can mark a trip as “non-scorable” ensuring that no data is sent to employers during this period. This means the control of data flow is placed in the hands of the driver.