GIRL POWER
Drive Report brings girl power to driver behaviour management

In an industry dominated by men, commercial road transport is often criticised for its lack of subtlety and finesse. Unroadworthy trucks, shabby buses and rogue-like taxis characterise everyday road traffic in South Africa, where congestion and collisions are the norm, rather than the exception. Clearly, the men managing these fleets need help, and the answer may well reside in employing women to keep closer tabs on driver behaviour.

In his keynote address at the recent opening of the Permanent International Association of Road Congress’ (PIARC) international road safety seminar, South Africa’s Minister of Transport, Sibusiso Ndebele stated: “Africa has the most dangerous roads in the world. Unless we do something about it soon, by 2020 we will find that road crashes will kill more people than those who die from HIV and Malaria put together.”  
He added that: “Approximately 1.3 million people die each year on the world's roads, and between 20 and 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries. The Global Status Report on Road Safety in Africa indicates that 62 percent of the reported road crashes occur in 10 countries. One of these is South Africa. Vehicle crashes cost the South African economy in 2008 approximately R56 billion.”
Drive Report is one of South Africa’s leading Driver Behaviour Management companies, committed to reducing road fatalities by changing the way commercial vehicle fleets are managed through the deployment of ground-breaking driver-monitoring technologies.

According to Louis Swart, Managing Director of Drive Report, “The only way we can make our roads safer and less dysfunctional is to improve the way we drive. It’s all about improving driver skills and behaviours.”

Launched in 2001, Drive Report links South Africa’s vast national network of cell phone users to a dedicated 24/7 call centre, allowing them to report any untoward or unsafe driving of fleet vehicles marked with the highly visible Drive Report sticker, displaying the well-known 0860 555 999 number.

“All reported incidents are logged by Drive Report and processed through its powerful driver-profiling software, giving fleet managers a comprehensive on-road behaviour analysis of every driver in the fleet,” explains Swart. “With real-time response to on-road incidents using SMS and email messaging to key management personnel, Drive Report gives fleet operators the power to pro-actively reduce incidents of dangerous driving and vehicle abuse while transmitting a strong message of social responsibility to other road users.”

Over time, the data gathered by Drive Report enables fleet managers to pinpoint where their drivers need counseling and coaching, Swart continues. “It’s about being proactive and engaging in ongoing driver-skills development. We know that women make excellent teachers and certainly, in the commercial transport industry where skills shortages are rife, a diligent, empathetic and nurturing approach to driver training and retention is sorely needed.”

With demand for his company’s products and services on the rise, Swart recently appointed a young woman, Mariette Joubert, to act as chief Risk Consultant at Drive Report and promote the concept of proactive driver skills development.

“The position involves a host of duties that go well beyond simply selling the Drive Report concept,” adds Swart. “Our risk consultants, apart from having sharp marketing skills, must be passionate about road safety, the promotion of defensive driving skills and how to deliver the right sort of information to our clients to enable them to make their fleets safer and more efficient.”

Joubert, 26, was schooled on the East Rand and has notched up an impressive record working as a marketing representative in both vehicle fleet-owning organisations and personnel recruitment.

“My first job was with Budget Rent-a-Car as a counter sales manager. It was here that I learned the ins and outs of handling accident claims and how to effectively deal with vehicle abuse,” she says. “I then spent four years with Hoxies Foods, a distribution company that owns its own truck fleet. As a team leader, I had to resolve a number of issues including stock theft, ‘mystery damage’ to vehicles and the hiring of vehicles to customers who make use of the fleet’s trucks on occasion.”

After leaving Hoxies Foods, Joubert spent a year at Fempower Personnel, servicing the staffing requirements of many of South Africa’s leading commercial transport fleets.

“I dealt with logistics managers on a daily basis and gained a great deal of insight into what their needs are when it comes to employing the best drivers,” she adds.

Joining Drive Report in early 2009, Joubert has drawn on her experience to help expand the company’s client base and enhance its reputation as a specialist ‘change agent’ in the realm of driver behaviour.

“At face value, Drive Report can be mistaken for being merely a telephone number on a sticker stuck to the back of a bus or truck. I was somewhat skeptical at first as to the viability and salability of Drive Report in the fleet market. These doubts were soon squashed when I was shown the extensive back-end support infrastructure at Drive Report, which includes the 24/7 call centre and the Drive Report web server’s driver profiling software, which offers clients secure online access to reporting and statistical data that gives fleet managers a better understanding of how their drivers are performing while on the road in company vehicles,” explains Joubert.

In less than a year, Joubert has undergone intensive product training and traveled the country extensively, delivering her Drive Report sales presentation to scores of fleet managers. “The response has been exceptional and I’ve signed up over 1000 new vehicles onto the Drive Report service,” she says. “The benefit of having the motoring public acting as ‘co-driver’ to every fleet vehicle is readily appreciated by my audience. With fleet drivers on their best behaviour, fuel consumption is reduced as is damage to the vehicles. Most importantly, accidents are prevented and our roads are made safer.”

With over 320 vehicle fleets on its books, Drive Report has its bold sticker displayed on some 10 000 vehicles around the country and Joubert has more than a little ambition to take the company to even greater heights, targeting not only local fleets, but those conducting cross-border transport too.

“Drive Report also acts as the after-hours call centre for the National Traffic Call Centre and has, over the last nine years, accumulated a massive amount of nation-wide driver-related data that now serves as vital intelligence for any operator seeking to improve fleet efficiency and safety. In the months ahead, pressure on fleet owners from government to conform to new road traffic legislation like the points demerit system, AARTO, will make the information Drive Report delivers all the more valuable and my job all the more rewarding,” Joubert concludes.