132,392 work hours without a lost-time incident or injury.

Behind that impressive milestone are thousands of decisions made every day — commercial fleet drivers choosing caution over convenience, leaders investing in coaching rather than reacting to claims, and a company committed to continually strengthening its safety culture.

For , this recent achievement wasn’t reached through a single initiative or new technology. It was built through collaboration, continuous improvement and a willingness to ask a simple question:

How can we become even better?

Every Mile Matters

Every day, countless commercial vehicles travel America’s roads carrying the people, equipment and materials that keep businesses moving. Yet every mile also presents another opportunity for distraction, changing road conditions or a split-second decision that can alter lives forever.

According to the , distracted driving claimed more than 3,200 lives in 2024, while speeding continues to contribute to nearly one-third of all traffic fatalities in the United States. motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of work-related deaths across the country. For employers operating commercial fleets, those risks extend well beyond the roadway, affecting employees, customers, operations and long-term business performance.

Technology can help organizations identify those risks. Partnership can help reduce them.

“We want to make sure drivers understand the cameras become a driver’s assistant — not something that’s punitive,” said Marcus Rasberry, Risk Management Manager at ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½. “They’re an opportunity to coach, train and help drivers recognize hazards before they become incidents.”

That philosophy sits at the heart of collaboration with ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, , and . Together, we have worked to strengthen fleet safety by pairing experienced risk management guidance with connected technology, practical coaching and a shared commitment to protecting people.

Building a Strong Foundation

Keystone Management already maintained a strong commitment to safety when ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Risk Management experts began taking a closer look at its fleet program. The goal wasn’t to replace existing processes. It was to identify opportunities that could make an already effective program even stronger.

Working collaboratively, teams reviewed Keystone’s fleet safety practices and identified areas where additional visibility and proactive monitoring could further reduce risk.

Annual motor vehicle record reviews evolved into continuous MVR monitoring, providing near real-time notification of driving infractions instead of waiting months between reviews. ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ also introduced immersive virtual reality safety training, helping Keystone reinforce key safety concepts through realistic, hands-on learning experiences before employees encountered similar situations in the field. More recently, Keystone expanded their safety strategy again by implementing to provide greater visibility into fleet performance and driver behavior.

 “They’re one of those accounts that always says, ‘Give me more,'” said Rasberry. “When we identify opportunities to strengthen their program, they don’t ask whether they have to—they ask what else they can do.”

Rather than viewing recommendations as simply another compliance exercise, they consistently looked for additional ways to strengthen their safety program and even dedicated internal resources to advancing many of the initiatives identified through their partnership with ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.

That commitment has translated into measurable results:

After working approximately 90,000 hours without a lost-time incident during 2024, Keystone continued building on that momentum, ultimately reaching 132,392 work hours without a lost-time incident or injury.

Along the way, they also recorded zero lost-time incidents throughout 2024, no OSHA-recordable claims, no fleet claims during 2025, and earned multiple safety awards from ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ in recognition of their outstanding commitment to workplace safety.

Every mile presents another opportunity to improve.

Turning Data into Insights

Each year, nearly 6 million police-reported . While not every crash involves a commercial vehicle, the sheer volume reinforces an important reality for organizations that rely on fleets: even small improvements in driver awareness and decision-making can have a meaningful impact on employee safety, operational resilience and business performance.

But today’s fleet managers have access to more information than ever before. Telematics can identify speeding, harsh braking, rapid acceleration and distracted driving. Camera systems provide valuable context following an incident. Driver scorecards reveal trends that once went unnoticed. Yet information alone doesn’t improve safety; the real value comes from what your business can do with it.

that successful fleet safety programs rely on identifying risks, implementing corrective actions and continually evaluating performance. However, data without action has little value. Technology can identify trends, but businesses can create safer outcomes when they coach drivers, reinforce expectations and continually improve how they respond to risk.

For Michael Kuiros, Vice President of Transportation & Risk Services at Keystone, that distinction has become increasingly important as more and more organizations continue to adopt telematics.

“It doesn’t matter what you have or what alerts are coming up,” . “It’s what you’re doing with that information. How are you carrying that information out? How are you disseminating that amongst all your drivers so that doesn’t happen again?”

That philosophy has helped reshape the role of telematics. Instead of functioning simply as a reporting tool, fleet technology becomes a management resource—one that helps recognize patterns, reinforce safe behaviors and coach drivers before risky habits contribute to an incident.

Kuiros explained that Keystone’s role extends well beyond simply delivering reports.

“We’re doing a lot of the legwork for them,” he said, describing how his team reviews alerts, evaluates camera footage, coaches drivers and provides actionable reporting that helps business leaders focus on the conversations that matter most.

The Power of Fleet Telematics

Without objective information, insurance professionals may have to rely on conflicting accounts, witness statements and physical evidence to reconstruct what happened. Camera footage can provide the context needed to understand events more clearly, helping businesses make informed decisions while supporting fair and timely claims resolution.

“With the cameras, they give us a storyline,” Rasberry said. “We know exactly what happened, and that allows us to manage the claim based on the facts rather than assumptions.”

Kuiros illustrating how video can protect drivers as well as employers:

A commercial driver received a citation for allegedly operating a vehicle without wearing required corrective lenses, while camera footage showed that the driver had been wearing glasses throughout the trip and removed them only after safely stopping to retrieve paperwork. That evidence helped the company successfully challenge the citation and have it removed from its federal safety record.

Stories like these underscore that telematics and cameras are not simply tools for documenting mistakes. Used thoughtfully, they provide the context needed to coach drivers more effectively, resolve claims more fairly and strengthen trust throughout operations.

And instead of asking whether installing cameras will lower premiums, you could ask how they can demonstrate a stronger commitment to risk management.

“If we can show a true story that demonstrates a downward trend — and tell the story of how that happened through telematics, coaching and driver training — it tells a much different story than simply looking at reports and loss history,” Kuiros explained.

Meeting the Moments that Matter

Every fleet faces different challenges. Every organization operates under different conditions. There is no single technology, policy or training program that eliminates every risk.

But the strongest safety cultures share something in common; they recognize that protecting people is never a finished project. It requires leadership that listens, employees who stay engaged, trusted partners who bring specialized expertise and a commitment to continually learning from every mile traveled.

At ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, we believe the most meaningful safety improvements happen through collaboration. By working alongside our policyholders, agency partners and trusted technology providers, our team helps businesses strengthen fleet safety programs, identify emerging risks and build cultures where information leads to action — and action helps protect what matters most.

Whether you are exploring continuous MVR monitoring, telematics, driver coaching or broader fleet safety strategies, your ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Risk Management Consultant can help you identify practical solutions tailored to your operations.

Now situated in Olive Branch, Mississippi, with a workforce exceeding 200 and a fleet of over 70 vehicles on the road every day, Michael Hatcher & Associates is deeply invested in maintaining the highest standards of safety and operational efficiency.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½â€™s partnership and safety journey with agency, , started with Michael Hatcher & Associates in 2010. Initially, the service delivery was focused on improving the overall safety culture and safety procedures for their employees. After making great strides in reducing the frequency and severity of worker’s compensation claims, the next step switched to improving key leading indicators in their fleet safety program.

In 2020, a strategic initiative was launched in collaboration with Josh Wilder, Safety Manager at Michael Hatcher & Associates. This initiative aimed to fortify driver selection procedures and leverage cutting-edge fleet technology solutions. Measures included the implementation of annual Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) reviews and the integration of advanced telematics controls.

Wilder expressed the impact of the partnership:

Working with the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ and Insight team has been great. By implementing both MVR & telematics, we have been able to get in front of potential driver issues. Anytime I need help, they are quick to respond and provide feedback too. Our team has bought into the process, and we are reaping the benefits.

A critical aspect of this improvement strategy was the introduction of a third-party vendor, iiX, recommended by ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½. This partnership allowed for comprehensive MVR checks on all company drivers, benefiting from preferred pricing arrangements with iiX. In 2021, Michael Hatcher & Associates fully institutionalized an annual MVR check for all company drivers, adhering to meticulously defined criteria to ensure the safest drivers were operating company vehicles. 

Building on this foundation, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Risk Management teams collaborated with Michael Hatcher & Associates to enhance the utilization of existing telematics systems. This involved monitoring driver speed, aggressive driving behaviors (such as hard braking, turning, and acceleration), and seatbelt usage. The resulting data facilitated the creation of weekly driver reports by Wilder, enabling company managers to instill accountability and find opportunities to address at-risk behaviors by immediately coaching the driver.

Pat Siano, agency producer and Insight Risk Management Vice President, highlighted the longstanding commitment to safety:

Michael Hatcher & Associates has been a long-time ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ policyholder, and their commitment to safety is second to none. They are proactive in their relationship with their ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Risk Management Consultant, Jeremy Biggs, whether it is including him in safety discussions or putting in place any recommendations that he makes to help them improve their safety culture.

The outcomes of these strategic enhancements are more than noteworthy. Michael Hatcher & Associates has achieved an average annual reduction of 95% in the cost of auto claims, coupled with an 87% reduction in the frequency of auto claims. This success underscores their unwavering commitment to safety, operational excellence, and continuous improvement, positioning them as a benchmark in the industry.

If you are interested in implementing an MVR program or utilizing telematics to improve your company’s overall fleet risk, please contact your ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Risk Management consultant. If you are interested in coverage and our risk management services, find an agency here and one of our partners will assist you.

If your business owns a fleet of vehicles or has employees who drive their own vehicles for work, you should be concerned. Distracted driving is dangerous. According to a by the University of Utah, using a cell phone in the car — even hands-free — delays a driver’s reaction time as much as being legally drunk. Researchers also found that people who send text messages while driving are six times more likely to crash.

NHTSA estimates that every day some 660,000 drivers are on their cell phones, creating an enormous potential for deaths and injuries on our roads. The threat to commercial vehicle safety is even greater since trucks and tractor-trailers are harder to stop and have limited maneuverability compared to cars and light trucks.

What can you do?

You can start by establishing a safety program that minimizes driving distractions. Your goal should be to keep employees safe while on the road, protect your company’s human and financial resources, and guard against potential liability in the event of an accident. Here are some items to consider:

• Create a culture of safety. The commitment to driver safety begins at the top. Senior management must provide the leadership, policies and resources to create a culture of safety in your workplace. Actively encouraging employee awareness and participation at all levels will also help the effort to succeed.
• Develop a distracted driver agreement. Have your employees sign a written agreement acknowledging awareness of your driver safety policy and your expectations regarding driver performance and vehicle use. A typical agreement would make clear that mobile devices are not to be used when the vehicle is in motion.

• Train your employees to drive defensively. Drivers who practice basic defensive skills such as continuously evaluating driving conditions, scanning ahead and creating a safe following distance have fewer accidents. That means fewer lives lost, less time off for injury and less cost to the company.

• Establish a reward or incentive program. Help improve safety by rewarding good driver behavior and incorporating it into your employee performance reviews.

• Discipline bad drivers. Develop a policy for dealing with drivers who have moving violations or are involved in preventable accidents. Make sure you consistently take action as specified in your policy and that your employees understand the consequences of violating their driving agreement.

• Take advantage of technology. Cab cameras, telematics and apps that disable devices when a vehicle is moving are ways you can monitor employee driving, reduce accidents and increase vehicle efficiency. For example, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½â€™s telematics pilot program has lowered accidents for some policyholders by as much as 50%.

Reducing the risk of distracted driving can save lives and money. It all starts with understanding the danger that it poses to your employees and business. Take steps to educate yourself and your company. Create a culture of safety that minimizes distractions and rewards good driving behavior.