Truck Fleets Missing Opportunities to Cut Accident Costs, CEI’s Luann Dunkerley Tells Executives

Trevose, PA, January 27, 2012 – The trucking industry may be missing opportunities to reduce the cost of accidents by millions of dollars.  That’s the message Luann Dunkerley, CEI’s manager of business development for truck fleet services, told a gathering of private truck fleet executives in Jacksonville, Florida last week.

 Ms. Dunkerley made the remarks at a meeting of the National Private Truck Council Institute’s safety committee on Friday, January 20. A veteran of the trucking industry, including a career of more than 20 years at Ryder System, Inc, Ms. Dunkerley was named to the Institute’s board of governors last year.

Ms. Dunkerley said that even among the most advanced truck fleets, a significant percentage of collision repair expenses aren’t traced to documented accidents.  “A number of fleets don’t track incidents for small damages, but they can add up to a big number,” she said, citing the example of one major fleet that doesn’t track damages below $325.

According to figures released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in 2009 property damage-only collisions cost commercial vehicle operators $5 billion, or about $15,000 per accident. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” she said.

Dunkerley said that keeping cumulative records of minor damage, like broken mirrors or cracked bumpers, could alert fleet managers to change to equipment more resistant to damage.

Other challenges to accident cost control that truck fleets face, she said, include:

• Assigning repairs to distant collision repair shops with whom the carrier rarely does business. “Those shops don’t know you, and don’t always provide the best service,” she said. The result can be longer repair times, higher costs to rent replacement vehicles, low-quality repairs and “surprise supplements” for costly repairs not covered in initial estimates.

• Failure to pursue recovery for damages caused by at-fault third-party divers.  While nearly 75 percent of all truck crashes are caused by other drivers, the daily urgency of running a truck fleet often keeps staff from vigorously pursuing collections from at-fault drivers, Dunkerley said. 

“Truck fleets need to begin the recovery demand process immediately after an  accident, and continue pursuing it until they collect,” she said.  “Our experience shows that you can collect more than 90 per of what you’re due on well-documented claims in as little as three weeks to three months.”

Dunkerley suggested that outsourcing to third-party companies that specialize in accident management, with formalized reporting procedures, managed repair networks and dedicated loss recovery departments, is a potential solution to staff-strapped trucking fleets.

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About the National Private Truck Council

The National Private Truck Council is the trade organization of private motor carrier fleets, which account for more than 2 million, or 82 percent of the medium- and heavy-duty trucks registered in the United Sates.   Its members include a broad cross-section of America's Fortune 500 companies, including Wal-Mart, ConAgra, Kraft, General Mills, Nestle, Pepsi, Bridgestone, Frito-Lay, and hundreds of other manufacturers, distributors, retailers and public service agencies.

The NPTC Institute sponsors the Private Fleet Management Institute, which offers a curriculum that leads to the Certified Transportation designation.  It also hosts an annual national safety conference, conducts and publishes industry research, and spreads awareness of safety, regulatory compliance and general industry issues through seminars, webcasts and publications. 

About The CEI Group, Inc. (CEI)

CEI is a leading provider of technology-enhanced vehicle accident, driver safety and fleet risk management services.  Its provider network consists of some 4,000 collision repair shops in North America, and includes nearly 900 truck collision repair centers.  Its customers include self-insured, commercial, institutional and government fleets, directly and through alliances with fleet leasing companies.  CEI also provides vehicle direct repair program outsourcing to leading property and casualty insurance companies.

Founded in 1983, CEI has headquarters near Philadelphia, PA, and field sales offices in Trevose, PA, Tulsa, OK, and Williamsburg, VA. In 2000, CEI launched the DriverCare line, which includes fleet risk management services, MVR ordering and compliance, training and a safety newsletter. For more information about CEI, visit www.ceinetwork.com.