More Drivers, Greater Risk: The Rising Importance of Driver Risk Management and Screening
Companies managing driver workforces, whether regulated or non-regulated, face challenges like rising insurance premiums, costly litigations, high employee turnover, and risky driving behaviors. Ensuring driver and public safety is crucial, and a proactive approach to managing these risks is essential.
Whether you are responsible for managing a regulated or non-regulated driver workforce, ensuring the safety of your drivers and the public at large is of paramount importance. With escalating insurance premiums, costly litigations, high employee turnover rates, and the potential for poor or distracted driving behavior, companies need a proactive solution for managing driver risks.
There are more drivers on the road than ever before. In 2000, there were around 190 million licensed drivers in the United States. Now, in 2024, there are projected to be nearly 240 million. With more drivers on the road, making the right hiring decision is crucial and plays a vital role in mitigating risk. That’s why having a thorough background screening program is essential.
SambaSafety’s analysis of more than 40 million motor vehicle records (MVRs) from 2020 to 2023 reveals a concerning trend: more than 11.7 million unique licenses had at least one recorded violation. Meanwhile, distracted driving has surged, overtaking drunk driving as the leading cause of accidents. In 2022 alone, distracted driving claimed the lives of 3,308 people, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
But driving behavior isn’t the only rising concern for businesses managing vehicle fleets. Here, we will look at data from SambaSafety’s 2024 Driver Risk Report and HireRight’s 2024 Transportation Spotlight Report to highlight how rising insurance costs and challenges in hiring and retaining drivers emphasize the increasing importance of managing driver risk through ongoing monitoring and comprehensive background checks.
Rising Insurance Premiums and Litigation Costs
Since 2020, auto insurance claims have jumped 14%, with the severity of these claims increasing by a staggering 36%. In response, insurance companies are raising premiums and tightening their underwriting standards. A significant auto insurance trend that is leading to escalated rates is "nuclear verdicts," where jury awards surpass $10 million. Fleet managers often find themselves struggling to meet these massive payouts, as insurance policies rarely cover such high amounts.
SambaSafety’s 2024 Driver Risk Report shares that auto insurance has become a leading factor driving inflation, with rising distracted driving and speeding contributing to the issue. Insurers and policyholders, including fleet management organizations, must adopt a collaborative approach focusing on proactive risk management across industries. In response, many organizations are enhancing their risk control services, including comprehensive background screening methods.
Challenges in Hiring and Retaining Drivers
Hiring and retention challenges further complicate fleet management. With around four million baby boomers retiring each year, finding qualified drivers has become increasingly competitive. Labor shortages also remain a significant concern—65% of human resources (HR) professionals noted labor shortages as one of their top three challenges of 2023. Data from HireRight’s 2024 Transportation Spotlight Report found that 48% of survey respondents expect their DOT-regulated workforce size to grow this year and 25% report they are understaffed in their recruitment departments.
Clearly, businesses are struggling to hire and retain drivers, with retention being the biggest challenge for talent acquisition in the transportation industry. In 2023, 25% of survey respondents reported voluntary separation rates between 1-5%. The issue is even more pronounced for "first year of service" turnover, with 36% of respondents experiencing attrition rates within the same range. Organizations are leveraging compensation strategies and employee satisfaction tactics to keep employee retention rates steady.
However, while hiring difficulties can’t be ignored, ensuring that the drivers you do hire are safe on the road is just as vital.
Closing the Visibility Gap in Driver Risk
Effectively managing driver risk requires a comprehensive, data-driven approach. Unfortunately, companies often struggle with fragmented systems that fail to provide a clear, unified picture of risk. Managing data from MVRs, telematics, Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores, and claims can feel overwhelming and lead to significant gaps in visibility. Critical violations and risky driving behaviors can often go unnoticed, leaving companies exposed to liabilities and financial losses.
The key to solving this problem may lie in harmonizing these data sources. By integrating continuous MVR monitoring, telematics aggregation, CSA monitoring, and driver training data into one holistic platform, companies have a 360-degree view of each of their drivers and overall company risk. This can help them shift from reactive to proactive risk mitigation strategies. This unified approach closes the visibility gap, allowing businesses to spot risks before they result in accidents or costly litigation.
In addition to these solutions, background checks can help companies verify candidates' information and meet their pre- and post-hire screening requirements, such as those stipulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT). It’s essential not only to understand who you are hiring but also to ensure their skills and experience align with your organization.
Faster Interventions and Ongoing Education
Awareness alone isn’t enough — action is also important to reduce driver risk. Combining continuous monitoring with tailored driver education can help transform unsafe driving behaviors.
According to SambaSafety, companies had a 77% reduction in violations after 12 months of using monitoring and training, and a 57% increase in retention by prioritizing driver training.
Online training platforms can enable faster interventions by allowing companies to assign specific courses based on real-time monitoring alerts. This targeted training helps drivers quickly improve their habits and return to the road safely.
The benefits of this approach are clear: quicker interventions, reduced risk, and a stronger safety culture within your company.
The Power of an End-to-End Solution
HireRight has partnered with SambaSafety to offer a comprehensive suite of driver risk management solutions on a single platform, including driver license monitoring, CSA monitoring, telematics aggregation, and driver training.
By combining data from these solutions, companies can identify high, medium, and low-risk drivers in real-time and analyze whether overall risk is going up or down at both a micro and macro level and proactively address issues quickly and efficiently.
Now you can let technology transform the way you use data to manage risk, giving you the key insights you need to make proactive, well-informed decisions.
Proven Results
SambaSafety’s efficacy study of over four million drivers shows the impact of continuous monitoring:
After 12 months of monitoring, violations decreased by 32%.
After 24 months, that number rose to 42.5%.
Companies have also seen a $50K reduction in administrative costs.
For a deeper dive into the trends shaping the future of driver risk management, check out the 2024 SambaSafety Driver Risk Report. The report analyzes SambaSafety's extensive repository of telematics, MVR, and CSA data, offering key insights into the evolving landscape of driver risk and how it impacts hiring practices, compliance, and insurance costs.
For insights into hiring trends, talent acquisition, retention, and background screening, explore the 2024 HireRight Transportation Spotlight Report. This report is based on survey responses from HR professionals in the trucking industry.
Release Date: October 8, 2024
Dr. Todd Simo
Dr. Todd Simo currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer and Managing Director of Transportation at HireRight. He came to HireRight with a decade of experience in the medical consulting arena. Prior to HireRight, he was the Medical Director of an occupational health clinic in Virginia and owned a consulting firm providing medical director service to multiple companies located throughout the country. In that capacity, he established multiple customer specific health and drug screening services. In his current position, he oversees HireRight's medical department.