New technology offering from Convoy has a sharp focus on safety

With an eye on establishing the safest carrier network possible for its shipper customers, Seattle-based digital freight network Convoy said today it has introduced a new predictive crash model that takes a multi-tiered approach through machine learning and automation, in an effort to qualify safe drivers.

The company explained that this offering identifies the safest carriers into its network, resulting in 16% fewer accidents than the industry average, as per FMCSA data, by processing millions of records on a daily basis, in order to better gauge, or correlate, the relationship between carrier safety events like speeding violations or vehicle maintenance, as well as related crash data.

What’s more, Convoy also explained that by providing shippers with access to a safer carrier network, the subsequent results include an increase in on-time deliveries and shippers’ cost savings, a byproduct of lower claim rates and fewer cargo incidents. That comes into focus more sharply, when considering that commercial vehicle crashes are a large driver of cargo loss, which is at $50 billion on a global basis, according to Convoy. And it added that it deals with a cargo claim less than once per 2,000 loads, whereas the industry average is roughly once per 100 loads. 

In an interview, Lorin Seeks, Convoy Director of Quality and Compliance, presented various factors for rolling out this new offering.

“One of the biggest challenges in the industry is the lack of a national hiring standard. Without a standard, brokers and asset carriers who broker loads, are left to their own devices to figure out how to assess carrier safety in the hiring process,” said Seeks. “In addition, it’s widely acknowledged that the measurement system coming out of the FMCSA [CSA], which is used to vet carriers for safety, is limited in its effectiveness.”

Examples of CSA’s limited efficiencies, cited by Seeks, include:

• the CSA program was designed for use by enforcement authorities to flag unsafe carriers for intervention and was not meant to be predictive or for carrier selection by the private sector;
• over 90% of carriers are un-rated, so if a broker is only using overall ratings they are almost completely blind to carrier safety; and
• BASIC scores were removed from public view in 2015 and are widely acknowledged to have significant flaws and limited correlation with crash risk

“We knew we needed to address these challenges,” he said. “Our digital freight network uses machine learning and automation to efficiently connect shippers and carriers—we felt confident we could apply our expertise processing really granular data to the problem of carrier safety, an approach that is fundamentally different from what’s used by the industry. What we created—our new model—has been operating in the background, in test mode, for the past six months. It’s gone through extensive testing, with actual crash data not just theoretical data, to measure the performance and efficacy of the new model. We’re excited to officially roll this out to our nationwide network.”

As for the chief benefits of this announcement, Seeks pointed to safer roads nationwide. For shippers, he cited access to a network of trusted, safe motor carriers helps to mitigate risks for compensatory payments, rising insurance costs, and supply chain disruptions as the main benefits.  

“If a motor carrier is in an accident, it's unlikely that their freight will arrive on time,” he said. “Additionally, following an accident, there are claim forms to fill out that are time intensive and cause frustration for a shipper. In the event that cargo is damaged, there are additional costs and time spent re-packing, re-routing, and delivering a new load. Lastly, shippers benefit from all-around better service when working with safer drivers, who also tend to be the most efficient, on-time, and professional.”