Eicher onbekend/overigPicture 4 of 10 |
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Eicher onbekend/overig | Picture made by Alex Miedema
Photo of an Eicher unknown/other, built with closed body. The road to safe and productive freight transport in India India has one of the highest numbers of fatal road accidents in the world: over 230,000 Indians lose their lives in traffic every year. About 65 percent of fatal collisions are caused by trucks. Besides the dramatic personal suffering, the collisions also affect the productivity of transportation companies. Research led by Dr. Debjit Roy of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) shows how truck drivers and managers in the transportation industry can make truck traffic safer. About 65 percent of all freight transport in India goes through congested roads. Due to congestion and poor infrastructure, even on highways, the average speed of a truck is 35 kilometers per hour. It is therefore a challenge to drive productively and at the same time safely. Also in India, as in many European countries, there is a shortage of truck drivers. It is estimated that India has only 750 drivers for every 1,000 trucks. Transport companies and truck drivers are thus under high pressure to keep everything running and often have to drive through the night. Dr. Roy analyzed data from a transportation company that was convinced that their productivity would decrease if they stopped driving at night. However, the study found that drivers who drive less at night as well as being safety conscious were more productive. How do these disturbing statistics arise? In addition to poor infrastructure, safety problems also appear to be caused by drivers' personalities, failure to follow traffic rules and drivers not getting enough rest between trips (Roy et al.). Truck drivers have to make do with the often tight schedules of customers and their managers who expect them to be productive. Debjit Roy: "We first wanted to understand what factors affect drivers' safety and productivity in order to improve their safety, productivity and working conditions." Small steps toward safer driving behavior Using empirical techniques and big data, the impact of drivers' personality and management's attention to safety on safety was determined. They then examined how to improve safety and productivity. The researchers found that small changes in various parts of operations can have a positive effect. They suggested changes in recruiting drivers, scheduling trips and determining who needs training. They also determined which leadership style is most effective for transportation company managers. The relationship between drivers' personality and performance was examined by collecting data from large Indian transportation companies. The researchers used three different sources from the transportation companies: their GPS databases of driving time and speed driven from over 1,000 trips, the ERP databases that provide insight into key business processes, and the 100 truck drivers who performed these trips completed a questionnaire (De Vries et al.). Who is unsafe? Surprisingly, the results showed that highly dutiful drivers, in particular, were more likely to drive unsafely, and that drivers who were more conscious of their safety performed trips faster. They also found that long trip productivity increased when managers emphasized safety more and directed it accordingly. So even when trucking managers are at a great distance from the driver, they can positively influence employee work behavior. Better for truck drivers With these new insights, the working conditions of thousands of truck drivers can improve, especially vulnerable drivers who make long trips on difficult roads. Debjit: "After the study was completed, the company reduced the number of night trips. The number of accidents was reduced and driving time was not increased. Drivers were also less likely to be fined for speeding." The company says it will incorporate the recommendations from the study into their hiring process. "We hope that drivers and their managers will also adopt the other interventions from our study so that driving conditions improve and lives can be saved and productivity will also increase," says Debjit.
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