NETS Issues 2012 Fleet Safety Benchmark Survey

The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) 2012 fleet safety benchmark study revealed that the safest fleets have written policies restricting the use of mobile devices and check mobile phone records after all collisions, regardless of severity. Traffic crashes remain the number one cause of workplace death and injury, costing employers in excess of $60 billion annually, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The 2012 Strength In Numbers fleet safety benchmarking study is, according to NETS, the largest examination of fleet vehicle safety ever conducted by the organization. The latest study involved a collective fleet of 521,000 vehicles and 9.8 billion miles traveled. Nearly fifty percent of participating companies were in the Fortune 500.

Other fleet safety practices found by the study to be common among the companies with the lowest fleet crash-rates include:

Tracking completions of on-going driver training on a fleet safety scorecard
Conducting commentary drives (ride-alongs) with new-hires and high-risk drivers
Communicating fleet safety messages via senior-management presentations at meetings

All survey responses were reported anonymously, with a number assigned to each company to rank its fleet against other study participants.

NETS’ annual fleet safety benchmark study includes the collection of miles driven and collisions by type of vehicle and by country. Injury data are collected for the U.S. and the UK. Respondents also are surveyed on more than twenty-five fleet safety program elements. Examples include: cell phone policies, training and post- crash review processes, and the use of in-vehicle monitoring technology. NETS members, representing the pharmaceutical, electric utilities, oil and gas, insurance, food and beverage, and other industries, meet annually to discuss the benchmark results and other key road safety topics.

For more information on the Strength In Numbers fleet benchmark program or to become a participant, visit the NETS website at www.trafficsafety.org