How Enforcement Inspection Data Can Improve Operations

Thanks to sensors, telematics devices, and of course, ELD’s, fleets now have a plethora of data available to them at any given time. However, the sheer amount of data you now have access to can be overwhelming — unless you have a solid system in place to help you interpret and act on it. If all this information is used correctly, carriers have the ability to operate more efficiently than ever before.

For example, if we were to look at enforcement inspection data, managers can assess fleet performance by looking at:

• The number of times your drivers are taking detours and avoiding inspection facilities and weigh stations,
• Whether or not your drivers are being pulled in for inspections and how often this may be occurring,
• The types of citations or inspection violations issued at specific facilities along your driver’s normal routes.

What Enforcement Inspection Data Can Reveal

Enforcement inspection data can highlight trends and reveal common issues that require immediate action such as:

• The need for maintenance at specific terminals — especially when you consistently notice more than one truck exhibiting this behavior.
• The impact of geographic locations on truck performance. For example, mountainous terrain could exacerbate the improper use of brakes and therefore contribute to a higher brake violation rate at inspection facilities in or near these types of areas.
• Many of your drivers receiving similar citations or violations at specific terminals or geographic locations.

This type of information can help you determine whether the problem is correlated with inadequate driver training or if they are related to geographic location, equipment failure, or terminal maintenance. For example, it may be that your drivers don’t know how to handle their equipment in a given environment or that, perhaps, they need different types of equipment to better meet the driving demands of a specific geographic region. 

As you can see, the possibilities for insight into how to operate more efficiently is endless. And, we encourage you to take advantage of all the data you have available to you to improve your fleet’s safety, driver health and wellness, organizational performance, hiring practices, and bottom line.