The number of commercial fleet operators that have adopted written policies pertaining to employee use of cell phones while driving on-the-job increased 31% in the past nine months — from 62% in May 2011 to 81% in February 2012, according to a survey of 570 fleet managers conducted by ZoomSafer.

The survey finds that the number of companies claiming to enforce their established cell phone use policies increased 70% in the past nine months, from 53% in May 2011 to 90% in February 2012. This increase suggests that commercial fleet operators are reacting to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) new rule prohibiting commercial drivers from using hand-held mobile phones while driving.

Although efforts to enforce compliance with cell phone use policies have increased significantly among commercial fleets, the survey found that such efforts have been exclusively reactive until recently. The most common enforcement methods include "Random Safety Audits" (71.9%), "Post-Crash Discipline" (51.8%) and "Peer Reporting" (49.6%). Furthermore, less than one-third of respondents were "very confident" that their companies' current enforcement methods are sufficient to ensure compliance with FMCSA cell phone regulations.

Another important finding in the analysis is that while most fleet managers lack confidence in current enforcement methods, 27% plan to investigate cell phone use analytics and 21% plan to explore smartphone software solutions within the next 12 months to automate employee compliance with FMCSA cell phone rules.

"This survey shows that while the majority of commercial fleets are taking steps in the right direction to adopt policies prohibiting employee use of cell phones while driving, huge concerns still exist over how to effectively enforce compliance," said ZoomSafer CEO Matt Howard. "Judging from the results of this survey, it seems that everyone knows that telling drivers to put down their phones is simply not enough — therefore, risk-conscious companies are seeking technology solutions to actively promote safe and legal use of cell phones while driving."

Results were collected online from 570 corporate managers via emails, newsletters and websites. The results have a margin of error of +/- 5% with a 90% confidence.

To download the full survey analysis please visit: http://zoomsafer.com/fmcsa-cell-phone-survey-analysis.

For a feature on creating an effective cell phone policy for your small business fleet, click here.