Survey Shows Many Safety Similarities Between Light-, Medium-Duty Fleets

A new annual fleet safety survey conducted by Work Truck and sister media brand Heavy Duty Trucking has revealed when it comes to safety, light- and medium-duty fleets appear to take similar approaches. We’ve collected some of the top findings and broken them down for easier reading here.

Survey Respondent Details

Of the 157 total respondents, 39% stated they had Class 1 or 2 trucks in their fleet, while 35% claimed to own Class 3/4/5 trucks. Another 32% said they run Class 6 trucks.

The top three fleet types in the light-vehicle category were construction/mining, government fleet, and for-hire trucking fleets. For medium-duty, the top two were the same, with wholesale coming in third.

Top respondents for light-duty fleets classified themselves as corporate/executive management, including owner/operator; fleet manager/administrator; or operations management. For medium-duty, the top two were the same, with maintenance/shop management placing third.

Above all, the results indicate there isn’t much difference between light- and medium-duty fleets in terms of safety measures.

Insurance Costs

How have vehicle and liability insurance costs changed in the past year? The top answer for both light- and medium-duty was “increased 1-10%.” This was followed by “largely unchanged” and “don’t know/not sure.”

	Increased 1-10%	Largely Unchanged	Don’t Know/Not Sure
Light	28%	27%	20%
Medium	29%	21%	20%

Safety Strategies

In a long list of potential safety strategies, the top three answers for both light-duty and medium-duty fleets were well-maintained vehicles, written safety policies and procedures, and driver training.

	Well-Maintained Vehicles	Written Safety Policies	Driver Training
Light	76%	72%	62%
Medium	72%	71%	65%

Safety Technology

The top three answers in regard to safety technologies used for both light-duty and medium-duty fleets were backup cameras, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning. Adaptive cruise control was tied for the top third answer for medium-duty fleets.

	Backup Cameras	Forward Collision Warning	Lane Departure Warning
Light	54%	40%	39%
Medium	52%	43%	39% (tied with adaptive  cruise control)

When it came to safety technologies fleets plan to implement in the next year, the top three answers for both light-duty and medium-duty fleets were don’t know/not sure, none of the above, backup cameras

	Don't Know/Not Sure	None Of the Above	Backup Cameras
Light	28%	20%	17%
Medium	26%	19%	17%

Safety Training

For safety training techniques, the top three answers for both light-duty and medium-duty fleets were hands on/behind the wheel, in-person classroom, independent video/online training.

	Hands On/Behind the Wheel	In-Person Classroom	Independent Video/ Online Training
Light	72%	68%	39%
Medium	74%	71%	41%

When are drivers given safety-related training? The top three answers for both light-duty and medium-duty fleets were when first bringing them into the company (onboarding), when new equipment or technology is introduced, or after there has been an accident or incident.

	Onboarding	New Equipment/  Technology Introduced	After Accident
Light	84%	62%	49%
Medium	85%	61%	54%

Accidents

Naturally, when asked about accidents, medium-duty fleets reported a slightly higher percentage of at-fault crashes during calendar year 2020.

	0-24%	Does Not Apply	Don’t Know/25-49%
Light	31%	12%	10%

 

	1-24%	0%	Don't Know/Not Sure
Medium	36%	23%	15%