Raves and reviews
Western Express Cuts Accident Rate Dramatically
“Improving truck safety has many different layers, and Drivewyze Safety+ has been a major contributor to our success.”
Daniel Patterson, Western Express’ Director of Safety
Uses Drivewyze Safety+ as Part of Its Solution
Western Express is an asset-based truckload carrier with more than 3,600 power units and 8,500 trailers. Based in Nashville and founded in 1991, the company runs more than 371 million miles annually and operates a diverse fleet that runs flatbed, van and logistics. The company has six hubs and runs coast-to-coast, mostly irregular routes.
The company’s website says it best: “Our mission is to serve the needs of our customers by providing innovative transportation solutions that exceed their needs, while maintaining a profitable business and personal growth of our associates. We strive to do all within our power to keep our associates, our customers, and the public safe.”
The Challenge
Since most of the miles driven by Western Express drivers are irregular routes, there is the challenge of unfamiliar roads, bridges and new customer locations. Each presents its own test as drivers typically see something new every day. While accident rates for Western Express are better than the industry average, the company is committed to continuous improvement when it comes to safety.
The company has three pillars in safety: Awareness, Continuous Training, and Technology. “Those three have to work together,” explained Daniel Patterson, Western Express’ director of safety. “Having them in place pays dividends for our drivers and our company. But moving forward, we were hopeful new technology and training could improve our safety program even further. So, we set an optimistic goal of a 15% reduction in accidents per million miles over a two-year period.”
The challenge for Western Express, as Patterson explained it, was, “What will make the most impact for us? How will drivers respond to that technology? And, what kind of results will the company see?”
The Solution
Regarding technology, a big part of Western Express’ strategy is using Drivewyze Safety+. According to Patterson, proactive in-cab notifications for upcoming road hazards; the ability to create custom safety notifications; and a portal to track driver behavior and then coach drivers based on results, have helped the company immensely.
When it comes to the custom geo-fencing capabilities of Safety+, Western Express has created more than 350 custom zones, 300 of which are at customer sites.
The company is also using forward-facing cameras and technology to help govern speed on interstates, and when approaching a low bridge.
The Results
Patterson didn’t reach his initial goal of a 15% reduction in accident rates; he blew past it. In 24 months, the company achieved a 22% improvement in its accident rate. It has meant lower claims costs, repair bills (Western has its own repair facility), insurance rates, and better customer service – the company has won numerous Carrier of the Year awards from its customers.
With Drivewyze Safety+ and its rollover notifications (which alerts drivers 1000 feet before curves and intersections with significant rollover history), Western Express has seen a 20% reduction in speed when a driver is notified. “Through Drivewyze analytics, we’re 1.6 mph below average in speed as compared to other fleets getting Drivewyze safety notifications,” said Patterson. “That validates to us that the notifications work.”
“We can then deep dive to see where the issue is. We can even identify patterns based on the lane, or the customer. This information is powerful and allows us to implement added safety measures – such as custom messages to our drivers — to corral the problem.
Daniel Patterson, Western Express’ Director of Safety
To illustrate, Patterson said that speeding has been curtailed thanks to the Drivewyze Safety+ geo-fencing technology. “Roads are mapped, and trucks are governed based on the speed limit in all areas. Year-over-year, we’re down 20% on speeding citations.”
Looking further at causes of major accidents – what Patterson calls the Big 11 (including incidents caused by rollovers, speed, bridge hits, distraction and fatigue), Western Express has seen notifications and speed controls help the company tremendously. “We travel in New York frequently,” said Patterson. “New York is well known for having low bridges (on average, the state has more than 300 bridge strikes per year). Before we started getting low bridge alerts from Drivewyze, and a complimentary technology, we were hitting a bridge every few weeks. This not only cost us money for repairs, but we also had to pay municipalities for damages. Today, bridge strikes are virtually non-existent.”
Another area where custom geo-fencing became a solution for Western Express was in developing its own severe weather notifications. In 2022, the company began geo-fencing areas around the country that were experiencing harsh weather that could impact driver safety and deliveries.
“We had heard of the idea from another major fleet that uses Safety+,” said Patterson. “So, our regional teams put together weather alerts and we focused on the major interstates – giving our drivers a heads up on incoming snow for example, or where chains were being required,” recalled Patterson. “All these winter weather alerts we put together helped our drivers – they appreciated the notifications. In the summer, we gave out heat advisories, which was really important for our flatbed drivers. We wanted them to stay hydrated and not have any heat-related health incidents.”
Western Express mentioned the custom alerts to Drivewyze – which spurred Drivewyze to team up with a national weather service to develop Weather alerts for its customers. “Now that there is an automated service available, we’ve gone that route,” said Patterson.
“Drivewyze took what we and others were doing manually and built it out exponentially. It’s something that has an impact on reducing accidents, while making life easier for drivers behind the wheel.”
Daniel Patterson, Western Express’ Director of Safety
Patterson said that in flatbed hauling, each customer has its own protocol. “We will have instructions in our load notes, but with Drivewyze, we can create geo-fenced reminder messages that ensure our drivers follow customer protocols. Some might require our drivers to wear hard hats or have steel-toed boots when on site. We have one customer that requires ice cleats to be worn in the winter. And, load securement is critical, so we may create messaging for difficult loads. All of this helps us reduce injuries from slips, trips and falls. What’s more, if a customer has a drop box for a bill of lading, we can remind the driver of this as well. These custom notifications really help our drivers and helps us stay in compliance with customer requirements.”
To further help Western Express monitor driver fatigue and distraction – plus provide visual proof of any at-fault accidents – the company uses forward-facing camera technology. “This is yet another important part of our technology,” said Patterson.
According to Patterson, drivers have responded well to all the technology Western Express has put into place. “It’s all come together nicely,” said Patterson. “Improving truck safety has many different layers, and Drivewyze Safety+ has been a major contributor to our success. You don’t want to stack alert upon alert to where they become ‘noise’ to a driver.
Drivewyze does a great job of understanding that and puts notifications where they can make the most impact. When a driver gets a notification, you want a reaction. And, through our portal, we can see that reaction. This helps with driver coaching and makes for an overall safer driver. And with a safe driver, everyone wins.”
Daniel Patterson, Western Express’ Director of Safety
For more information on how Drivewyze Safety+ can help your organization, please contact marketing@drivewyze.com or please call 1-888-988-1590
