Nashville's M&W Logistics Group, Inc. will deploy the Lytx Driver Safety Program across its entire 145-vehicle fleet, the provider of video telematics, analytics, safety, and productivity solutions for commercial and public sector fleets has announced.

M&W Logistics Group, a family-owned and operated third-party logistics provider, has always put safety first, according to the company, receiving first- and second-place fleet safety awards from the Truckload Carrier Association, American Trucking Associations (ATA), and Tennessee Trucking Association for the past five years.

"The majority of our customer base is made up of clients we've been serving for many years, who have stuck with us because of the quality of our services and our philosophy of treating every customer like family," said Chris Woody, safety manager at M&W Logistics Group. "The same is true within our fleet; we work hard to make our drivers feel like family, and this includes getting every driver home safely at the end of their shift."

Though they worked with another video telematics company for several years, after a thorough evaluation, Woody and the M&W team decided to switch to Lytx. 

Lytx's new modular product offerings appealed to M&W Logistics Group, allowing the company to create a custom package of Lytx capabilities personalized to its fleet.

M&W Logistics Group views its implementation of the Lytx Driver Safety Program as an extension of its commitment to the health and safety of its team. The company first installed a video telematics system after a serious collision several years ago, and a recent trial with Lytx quickly revealed how much more the technology could offer as compared to their previous solution. Combining video capture of dangerous driving behaviors with advanced analytics derived from the company's database of more than 100 billion miles and professional human review, Lytx's Driver Safety Program offers relevant coaching insights to help M&W improve driving safety.

For M&W Logistics Group, the program revealed how often its drivers were using cell phones and following vehicles at unsafe distances, both of which are linked to an increased risk of a collision and are difficult to detect without video.

Woody noted a distinct change in the trucking industry in the past few years; while 30 years ago, companies were concerned with efficiency above all else, fleets are more accepting of video, and are now putting safety ahead of speed — and addressing it with the help of fleet solutions like those from Lytx.

Recognizing this cultural shift in the industry and understanding unsafe behaviors don't change instantly, M&W Logistics Group, has developed safety programs that focus on positive coaching and reinforcement, rather than punitive measures. M&W Logistics Group offers good drivers a safety bonus every four weeks, as a way to recognize the hard work put in to change unsafe behaviors and reward safe driving throughout the year.