Insurer, Telematics Company Partner for Driver Monitoring Tech
An insurance telematics maker is joining forces with an underwriter to launch a product that claims to allow fleet managers to monitor their drivers’ behavior.
Niche underwriter AmeriTrust is rolling out a telematics product based on The Floow’s FloowScore smartphone platform which it says provides a smartphone app through which commercial fleet operators can keep tabs on their drivers’ performance. The drivers’ individual performances will apparently then be scored by the product according to how closely or otherwise their behavior conforms to company policy.
The criteria on which drivers will be scored are “smooth driving, distraction, speed, time of day, and fatigue”. Scoring systems will apparently be customizable according to individual customers’ needs. AmeriTrust claims this product will turn smartphones into “mobility sensor[s]” that will enable it to price fleet management companies’ insurance premiums more accurately.
A company statement unsurprisingly does not discuss the app’s potential invasions of drivers’ privacy, but instead sells it as a way for fleet managers to “share … insights with drivers … via coaching and feedback”. AmeriTrust vice-president of operations and analytics Josh Crumley says the product is “intended to inclusively benefit AmeriTrust, our policyholders, and our agency partners”.
