Piedmont Disposal and Recycling reduces unsafe driving behaviors by 25% with Motive.

Challenge

Like many waste and recycling businesses, Piedmont’s drivers run short routes, picking up loads of waste from job sites and disposing of them before returning for another load. Working predominantly on city streets, Piedmont’s roll off truck drivers frequently have to back up in confined spaces, increasing the potential for accidents. 

“It’s a very congested environment,” Pardue says. “We have trucks downtown all day, every day. All our work involves backing up and working in small spaces, so it’s very high risk.” 

When Piedmont Disposal’s dash cams froze up, they failed to record video of unsafe driving behaviors, along with important data like vehicle speed. “It was pretty bad,” Pardue says. “Nobody got back to me about it. I would get somebody on the phone and they’d say, ‘We’re going to work on that.’ A month would go by, no response. Ultimately, our provider voided the contract because they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.”

With customers calling 24 hours in advance to schedule a pickup, Piedmont’s drivers don’t have much notice about routes they’ll run from day to day. Once on the job, they’re inclined to rush from one customer to the next. As safety manager, Pardue doesn’t just remind his team to slow down. He overstaffs every day to give them more breathing room. 

“A lot of companies do more work with fewer people,” Pardue says. “Not us. We use more people to do the same amount of work, because we want everybody to be safe. I tell my drivers, ‘I don’t want you to rush to clear the board. I don’t want you to be stressed at the end of the day.’ If I need eight people, I’m running nine so they’re not rushed.”

Pardue’s staunch safety mindset sprang from the mistakes he made as a 16-year-old at the wheel of a dump truck. “I worked for a company that said, ‘We gotta run, we gotta run,’” he recalls. “Growing up in NASCAR country, I was a big fan of racing of all types. My mentality was ‘If you’re driving a dump truck and I’m driving a dump truck, I’m gonna get one more load than you are.’”

Pardue’s driving roots go back even earlier than that, when, at 14, he accompanied his father to construction job sites and drove for the first time. At 16, he was driving dump trucks. By 27, he was managing the largest fleet of dump trucks in North Carolina. 

The lessons Pardue learned in his youth have served him, his employees, and his customers well at Piedmont with the focus now firmly on safety. But Pardue knew he couldn’t do it alone, and that the right technology would help them take a giant leap forward.

Solution

As a Smith System instructor for the past 15 years, nothing is more important to Pardue than safety. Since investing in Motive dual-facing AI Dashcams, Piedmont’s safety performance has improved substantially, thanks to the real-time alerts the AI Dashcams send whenever risk increases. 

“The AI Dashcams remind our team to slow down, back off, or pay closer attention,” Pardue says. “They reinforce the safety lessons we teach in our safety meetings. Working in safety, we have to break bad driving habits. We have to remind people that there are better ways of doing things. And that’s what the Motive AI Dashcams do.”

Pardue isn’t just an accomplished safety manager. He’s also a detail-oriented coach, leaving nothing to chance. When his drivers speed or follow the vehicle in front too closely, Pardue coaches them on the behavior the same day. He goes back to look at the video clip, scrutinizing what happened one minute before the dash cam was triggered.

“Did a car get in front of my employee and slow down?” he says. “Did we encroach upon the car? I want to know what happened leading up to the incident. And then the minute it happened, I wanted to see how long it took the driver to realize they were too close.”

One of Piedmont’s drivers had the most close following incidents of anybody. It was becoming an issue. 

“He would wait until he was right on top of the traffic to switch lanes,” Pardue says. “With the dash cam video, I was able to show him what was happening. I was able to teach him to look 15 seconds in front of him. If you look further out in front of you, you’ll see traffic moving slower. You can move over without having to hit your brakes. So I encouraged him to make those moves a lot sooner.”
The lessons stuck. The driver went to Pardue later, thanking him. “He said ‘I’m not going to say thank you for your coaching, but my wife told me to tell you thank you. Because I drive completely differently now, even in my personal vehicle. She isn’t afraid to ride with me.’”

Results

When Piedmont first invested in Motive AI Dashcams, their overall Safety Score was 76. Now it’s 99, just below the top score of 100. “We’ve seen a 25% reduction in unsafe behaviors. That’s huge,” Pardue says. “The AI Dashcam has been instrumental in breaking our drivers’ unsafe driving habits and instilling in them a safer mindset.”

We’ve seen a 25% reduction in unsafe behaviors. That’s huge, the AI Dashcam has been instrumental in breaking our drivers’ unsafe driving habits and instilling in them a safer mindset.

Justin Pardue, Safety Manager, Piedmont Disposal

Motive’s customizable Safety Score evaluates driver performance over time, accurately measuring driver risk across more than 15 unsafe and positive driving behaviors. This helps Pardue determine whom to coach and which behaviors to focus on, such as close following and speeding. 

Pardue likes the control Motive gives him, saying, “I can focus on the behaviors I want to focus on, not waste my time with other things. I use the customized features a lot and put the thresholds for behaviors right where I want them.”

Pardue is most proud of the improvement in Piedmont’s Safety Score, and he’s shooting for perfection. “Last week we had two days without a single unsafe event. It was the first week we’ve ever had that happen. That tells me we’re heading in the right direction.”

The testimonials, statements, and opinions presented on this webpage reflect the real-life experiences of individuals and/or companies who have used our products and/or services. Individual results may vary and past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The testimonials presented on this webpage were voluntarily provided and not paid.