DS Waters Cut Losses

Case Study: DS Waters, leader in home and office water delivery, reduced at-fault accidents and dramatically cut claims losses

Situation

DS Waters of America Inc. produces and distributes bottled water products throughout the United States under the brand names Belmont Springs, Hinckley Springs, Kentwood Springs, Crystal Springs, Sierra Springs, Sparkletts and Alhambra. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., DS Waters is a leader in home and office water delivery with a focus on three- and five-gallon and one-half liter single serve bottled water products. The company bottles water at more than 25 manufacturing facilities, employs 5,000 people in more than 30 states and manages a fleet of 3,000 vehicles and drivers.

Committed to the safety of its employees and the general public, DS Waters determined to reduce vehicle accident rates and related claims costs across its fleet while increasing visibility of vehicles and their freight once they left distribution centers for customer sites. Michael Belcher, director of safety at DS Waters, selected DriveCam's comprehensive Driver Risk Management Solution to help DS Waters identify and improve risky driving behaviors across its fleet.

Solution

Belcher had heard about DriveCam, a global Driver Risk Management company, in a previous role and was aware of DriveCam's record of success in helping enterprises reduce vehicle damages, workers' compensation, personal injury and claims costs by as much as 50 percent.

DriveCam's demonstrated results are based on predictive software and analytics capabilities, tens of thousands of actual events demonstrating risky driving behaviors combined with deep transportation and safety experience. DriveCam's palm-sized, exception-based video event recorder is mounted in vehicles behind the rearview mirror and captures sight and sound inside and outside the vehicle. Exceptional forces trigger the recorder so it captures those critical seconds immediately before and after an event.

"Prior to deploying the DriveCam solution, we had made some strides in knowledge building and were gathering information on driving behavior through "1-800" feedback stickers on our vehicles, but we needed and wanted to go beyond that," said Belcher. "We needed to delve deeper into what that feedback meant, determine the root cause of accidents and take preventative measures to reduce collisions. DriveCam had proven results and could help us identify and improve the specific behaviors putting our drivers, our products and other motorists at risk."

Belcher secured executive approval to test the DriveCam solution in DS Waters' Belmont, Mass., and Oceanside, Calif., sites. The pilot phase began in April 2006 and the solution quickly was deployed across 62 test vehicles. Prior to installation of the video event recorders in vehicles, Belcher and his team led a comprehensive education campaign designed to help drivers understand the solution and allay any concerns they might have as to its purpose. Specifically, Belcher spoke to how the solution works, how it would be used and how it would benefit drivers. In addition to facilitating meetings and conference calls with drivers and supervisors, Belcher distributed brochures highlighting the DriveCam solution and promoted the pilot in DS Waters' internal newsletter.

Because the DriveCam solution captures actual risky driving behaviors such as hard braking, tailgating and distracted driving when the video event recorder is triggered as opposed to simply when an accident occurs, DS Waters fleet supervisors were able to coach drivers to improve behavior before it resulted in accidents.

"One of the first trends we identified with the DriveCam solution is that employees we thought were good drivers because of their accident-free driving records often were the ones speeding, running red lights and behaving most aggressively behind the wheel," said Belcher. "It was apparent that while they had not been involved in any accidents to date, they were truly "accidents waiting to happen" and required coaching to improve their risky driving behaviors."

Impact

DS Waters' December 2006 pilot results were astounding:

• DS Waters' Belmont site experienced 13 vehicle crashes in 2006 versus 43 in 2005
• DS Waters' Oceanside site had two accidents in 2006 across 14 total vehicles versus 14 accidents in 2005; both accidents were judged to be non-preventable
• Belmont liability losses (auto claims only, not including property damage or administrative costs) dropped to $13,200 in 2006 versus $82,100 in 2005
• Oceanside auto liability losses totaled $0 in 2006 versus $16,705 in 2005
• Oceanside drivers, known for having one of DS Waters' highest "1-800" driving complaint rates, received only four complaints since the solution was deployed

By capturing risky driving events on the video event recorder, supervisors were able to identify drivers in need of coaching. They also spotted drivers in violation of DS Waters' dress code, seat belt and cell phone usage policies and were able to correct these behaviors as well.

"We had no idea the volume of cell phone use was so high," said Belcher. "We knew our drivers were using them, but we didn"t realize to what extent."

The DriveCam Solution also helps reduce product damage, including bottle cracks, by encouraging DS Waters' employees to operate delivery vehicles smoothly.

Belcher reports that drivers have been receptive to the coaching they have received and appreciate the objective evidence saved on the recorder, especially in accident situations where previously they had relied on memory and witness testimony to reconstruct the incident and determine fault.

By electing DriveCam to manage the solution on a fully outsourced basis, DS Waters personnel will be free to focus on their core competencies. A dedicated DriveCam account team will work directly with Belcher and DS Waters to manage and monitor the program on the organization's behalf and deliver consistent, timely review of saved events so supervisors can deliver drivers the coaching they need. DriveCam also will provide DS Waters in-depth, unbiased reports illustrating the effectiveness of the solution and comparing frequency and severity of events across the organization.

"When I joined DS Waters as director of safety, I made a commitment to reduce vehicle accident rates across our fleet, but had limited resources to do so and needed to find something that would give me the biggest bang for the buck. I wanted a holistic driver risk management solution that offered more than just training," said Belcher. "DriveCam enables DS Waters to reinforce the safe driving habits we have instilled in our drivers and make them stick."