Shearings improves the passenger experience by giving drivers ownership of safety

Shearings improves the passenger experience by giving drivers ownership of safety

Shearings, the UK’s largest escorted tour operator, wanted to improve driver performance and safety. Driver behaviour is important to them: 65% of their base are repeat customers, so a good passenger experience is crucial. With increasing traffic density and a culture more inclined to file claims, Shearings needed a way to ameliorate the problems their drivers were experiencing.

When incidents occurred, communicating with drivers was not easy as they are often on the road for days at a time, making in-person meetings challenging. In some incidents, especially in continental Europe, a language barrier can make it difficult for authorities to establish what has happened, making It hard to know who is at fault. Shearings had tried installing dash cams in its vehicles, but managers didn’t have time to spend countless hours reviewing video footage. Training and coaching helped, but it still wasn’t enough.

Executives concluded it was time for a transformation. The first step was to modernise their safety technologies with a video telematics solution capable of protecting the company and its drivers. Combined with a structured coaching workflow, managers and drivers began to build trust and worked together to reduce risky behaviours and improve accountability. The result was a dramatic shift in Shearings’ safety culture and a dramatic reduction in collisions.

Bringing Drivers on the Safety Journey

Shearings knew they needed to do something different and started a 20-vehicle trial of Lytx^® Driver Safety Programme in June 2016. During the trial, there was a compelling incident: a coach’s emergency braking system was activated and this led to an unbelted passenger being unseated.

Footage of the incident was available within a couple of minutes, and Shearings’ staff were able to begin working toward a resolution promptly “Without video evidence, it would have been more difficult to resolve the case properly; often drivers’ recollections of incidents can differ from the video captured when incidents happen so quickly”. This incident was catalytic in the decision to adopt the Lytx Driver Safety Programme as a solution and also helping Shearings to implement stronger safety procedures to ensure that passengers were more compliant with their own seatbelt use.

Shearings knew that getting buy-in from their drivers was key to success. The drivers need to be invested in the safety journey, or the programme doesn’t work. Managers communicate to their drivers in a positive way, making it clear that the cameras are there to help them. They even give the drivers access to the system so they can review their own events and become more accountable for their own actions.

Once Shearings’ leadership started this communicative process, everything fell into place: the drivers became more self-aware and began to monitor themselves. They are now proactive and call in to talk about incidents before management is even aware of them. This change in driver behaviour greatly aids communication between management and the drivers, who are touring Europe and often away from headquarters for a week or more.

The technology quickly showed how it can protect drivers from disputed claims. One accident in Europe occurred when a van crossed in front of a Shearings coach. Hard braking triggered the Lytx DriveCam^® Event Recorder to flag footage of the event. The footage was available quickly enough for police to review it on the scene and see that the coach operator was not at fault.

The commitment to the safety journey is so powerful that it has spilled into drivers’ personal lives: they now even drive their own cars differently, improving safety even when they are off the clock.