ELD provider measuring driver ‘anticipation’ performance

Blue Tree Systems, a provider of an electronic logging device and other telematics services, has introduced a new “Anticipation” feature within its driver-performance-scoring module. The feature measures the gap between acceleration and brake usage, and is intended to provide operators/fleets a way to coach themselves or their drivers on better brake usage to reduction wear and tear on brakes and operate more efficiently and safely.

The Anticipation measurement shows how well a driver is anticipating the road ahead by monitoring their use of the accelerator and brake pedals, the company says. It measures the time taken before the brake is pressed after the driver lifts his foot off the accelerator. When these events are banded together, large numbers of events of short duration (e.g., of less than one second) indicate a reaction to an event, rather than a controlled braking event. Reduced brake usage reduces wear and tear on brake-system components such as linings, pads, drums or rotors, resulting in better vehicle braking efficiency and fewer defective brakes.

A good anticipation score shows a more fuel-efficient driving style. This image represents a poor score.

Anticipation is also a strong safety indicator, Blue Tree believes. Poor anticipation scores show drivers more likely to have an accident. A poor score indicates the driver is not anticipating that he may need to stop in a few seconds, instead of reacting too late to an event.

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Within Blue Tree’s platform, drivers are compared with similar drivers on their Anticipation scores. This feeds into Blue Tree’s Driver Performance scoring, which can be seen in the cab by the driver for real-time results or at the end of the day – full analysis and reporting are available in FleetManager.com, Blue Tree’s portal, through which some users are setting performance-pay bonuses based on customizable scoring metrics.

The new feature adds to Blue Tree’s ability to collect and report fault codes from all electronic braking systems. Maintenance managers can see this information both live and historically using detailed reports.