Under the motto 'rewards work better than punishment', telematics specialist Geotab has partnered with behaviour change platform Vitality. By improving their driving behaviour, drivers can earn points and receive rewards. Initial figures show that the behaviour programme reduces the risk of collisions by 15 per cent. Ralf Urlings of Geotab: "As many as 58 per cent of Dutch drivers have considered changing jobs. By driving wellrag to reward we want them to enjoy their work more again."
Geotab does not yet enjoy great name recognition in the Netherlands, but is a major player in telematics worldwide. Or connected transport, as the company prefers to call this market. "We process 80 billion data points every day. These come from 4.7 million vehicles, all connected to the MyGeotab platform. Worldwide, we now serve 55,000 customers," says Ralf Urlings, who is the point of contact within Geotab for partners in the Benelux and German-speaking countries. "We do not supply our solution directly to end customers, but work with local partners. They know the market and their customers best."
The 4.7 million vehicles Urlings talks about are far from all trucks and vans. Geotab also provides solutions for passenger transport and field services, for example. One of its best-known customers in the Netherlands, for example, is installation company Hoppenbrouwers, which has more than 1,200 vehicles on the road. "Actually, we offer support for everything that has wheels, from cargo bikes to 40-tonners and everything in between," Urlings states. "Increasingly, these are vehicles with electric motors instead of internal combustion engines. This is appreciated by our customers, who are increasingly using other equipment besides their heavy diesel trucks, such as light electric vehicles for around town."
Ralf Urlings, Geotab
Competition from vehicle manufacturers
Founded 25 years ago in Canada, Geotab crossed over to Europe over 10 years ago. At that time, this continent was already a pretty crowded market with dozens of on-board computer suppliers. The fact that Geotab is not only focused on freight transport is what sets the company apart from these suppliers, according to Urlings. "Many parties focus on one segment of the market, whether it is cargobike management, van trip registration or on-board computers for trucks. We offer solutions for the entire market," Urlings explains.
More and more competition is coming from the vehicle manufacturers themselves, who deliver their vehicles with built-in on-board computers and associated fleet management system. "We are happy to hitch a ride on this and have now signed contracts with 14 major vehicle manufacturers. This allows us to bring in data from Renault, Volkswagen and Mercedes vans and BYD trucks, among others, via the MyGeotab platform. That offers a godsend for companies with vehicles of different brands."
Rewarding good driving behaviour
This spring saw the launch in Europe of Geotab Vitality, a joint venture between Geotab and behaviour change platform Vitality. The collaboration is aimed at improving driving behaviour and reducing road accidents. "Our platform already has artificial intelligence that we use to analyse drivers' driving behaviour. To this end, we measure, among other things, how hard drivers brake and how fast they drive through curves. Based on this, we calculate each driver's risk of collisions. Companies use these insights to coach drivers, but often this is done by punishing them for bad driving behaviour. Geotab Vitality makes it possible to reward them for good driving behaviour."
Vitality has launched a programme called Vitality Drive to encourage good driving behaviour. Drivers can score points and are encouraged week by week to improve their score. If they achieve certain scores, they receive rewards. "This can be anything, think of a voucher from Bol.com or Zalando," Urlings explains. "Insurers who deploy this programme see the number of claims drop by around 55 per cent. The number of traffic deaths is demonstrably decreasing. Rewarding simply works better than punishing."
Stress leads to more danger
Through the joint venture with Vitality, drivers of Geotab vehicles can now participate in this reward programme. According to Urlings, this is good news not only for insurers and fleet managers, but also for the drivers themselves. "We recently conducted our own survey of commercial vehicle drivers. As many as 93 per cent of Dutch drivers indicated that their driving behaviour is negatively affected by stress, while 61 per cent think it increases danger on the road. As a result, 58 per cent have considered looking for another job. They experience stress on the road, but do not dare ask their employer for help and thus do not get the problem solved. Through coaching and rewarding good driving behaviour, we want to ensure that these drivers enjoy their work more again."
City traffic in particular leads to a lot of stress. Different traffic flows compete for priority in the city. The behaviour of road users is often unpredictable, leading to congestion and delays. And an increased chance that the tight schedule will not be met. "We obviously cannot reduce the amount of fatbikes and scooters, but we can make drivers feel better about getting into their vehicles. If the data show that a driver drives more calmly and performs better, we would like to reward him for that."
With 15 per cent decreased
In February, Geotab Vitality was already launched in North America. In Europe, a beta version of the application is currently running, available to all Geotab customers. Urlings: "In North America, within two months of its introduction, we have already been able to see a 15 per cent reduction in the risk of collisions. For us, that is proof that the programme works."
