Technology and safety in transportation: the truck driver's perspective

Survey reveals safety technology devices preferred by truck drivers

Technology in the transportation industry has not only optimized processes but has also significantly enhanced safety for both vehicles and truck drivers. Fleets continually implement safety equipment to ensure their personnel avoid risky situations. Truck drivers, who use this technology daily, attest to its effectiveness and functionality on the road.

Safety equipment used by truck drivers ranges from simple alarms to real-time telematics. According to a survey conducted and published by CCJ Digital, there is one device that all truck drivers agree is most effective: forward-facing security cameras.

According to the survey results, over 60% of participating truck drivers highlighted that a forward-facing camera is crucial for improving driver safety. They noted that camera systems capturing other motorists are especially useful, as they perceive drivers of four-wheeled vehicles as the greatest threat to their safety.

Among both company drivers and leased owner-operators, forward-facing cameras were cited as the most beneficial technology for enhancing safety. In second place, with 31% each and largely driven by fleet drivers, were collision mitigation systems and lane departure warning systems.

Technology to improve truck driver safety, what are drivers’ favorites?

The rest of the technology evaluated by truck drivers to enhance safety ranked as follows, based on preferences and opinions from drivers surveyed by CCJ Digital:

Forward-facing camera – 61%
Collision mitigation system – 31%
Lane departure warning system – 31%
Electronic logging device – 28%
Lane keeping/lane centering – 19%
Speed limiter – 8%
Telematics – 6%
Driver-facing camera – 5%

Unlike the functionality and high rating of forward-facing cameras, truck drivers surveyed believe that driver-facing cameras are a technology that, instead of improving safety, diminishes it. Both company drivers and leased operators share this opinion regarding this device, as well as speed limiters.

Although technology in trucking primarily seeks to optimize safety, many respondents have expressed that the reliance on these tools has diminished the traditional skills expected of professional drivers. The majority of drivers surveyed perceive that the introduction of new technologies represents a form of surveillance and control by fleets; 58% share this concern, while only 10% believe that these tools will make it easier for drivers to perform their jobs more easily and safely.