Whether you have tens or hundreds of vehicles on the road with your name on them, how they represent you matters. In a world where things are constantly warring for our attention, even when we are behind the wheel, it is important to know your employees are taking care of the vehicle you have entrusted to them. Telematics in general and the technology behind commercial dash cams have come a long way in the last ten years, and companies are discovering new advantages every day.
Types of Dash Cams
There are three main types of fleet dash cams that are available for companies who are considering implementing this feature. As described on Life Wire, the three types are Basic dash cams, Advanced dash cams, and Interior/Exterior dash cams. Knowing what your fleet’s issues are will help you decide which is the best option for you.
Basic dash cams are the most affordable option and are the easiest to set up, but will only provide you with an external front-facing picture. The middle-of-the-road option would be an Advanced dash cam. These have some advanced features available such as GPS tagging and audio. These still only record the exterior front-facing angle.
The top-of-the-line, most expensive option are the Interior/Exterior dash cams. This dash cam has two cameras, one facing the inside of the vehicle and one facing the windshield. Regardless of which option you choose, they all come with their own advantages and benefits.
Advantages of a Basic Dash Cam
Most insurance companies will provide a discount for having any type of fleet dash cam. It shows them you are investing in the safety of your fleet, and it means as much to you that your vehicles stay safe as it does to them. This dash cam will show what was happening at the time of an incident. It will show if the vehicle was in the correct lane and can show how fast the vehicle was going. Did the driver swerve to miss an object? Was the driver following too close? These are all questions a basic dashcam can help answer. Basic dash cams also protect the employer against fraudulent insurance claims and can help deter theft.
Advantages of an Advanced Dash Cam
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, the additional features of an advanced dash cam allow for audio recording and GPS tagging. Audio can help you understand what might have been going on during an incident even though you cannot see the driver. Was your driver eating, talking on the phone, or otherwise distracted? All of this data can prove invaluable in the event of an accident.
Advantages of an Interior/Exterior Dash Cam
These are the priciest option, but arguably provide the most advantages when managing your fleet. Typically, when drivers know they are being surveilled, it cuts down on undesirable activities such as distracted driving or breaking any rules you have in place. These cameras can be catered to what your company needs. Perhaps you want the camera on and recording at all times, or maybe you only want it to record a certain amount of time around an incident. This type of dashcam allows fleet managers to make those types of decisions. Examples of events that would trigger recording would be swerving, a hard brake, speeding, a collision, or following too close. With cameras facing the driver and the road, you can show what your driver was doing at the time of any incident.
There are even options to allow for motion-detected activity when the vehicle is parked. This video evidence helps your insurance company tremendously when accidents happen.
Conclusion
The possibilities for how commercial dash cams can help your business really depend on the issues you are facing. We covered the tech trends in the trucking industry earlier this year here, and discussed the benefits of a dashcam for the companies in that space. In every case where dash cams are concerned, they are helpful in terms of analyzing driving performance and finding ways to improve. Realizing there is always room for improvement and wanting that improvement is really the only motivation you need to take the next step in finding the dash cam that is right for you.
