The number of commercial fleet operators adopting written policies for employee cellphone use has increased 31% in the past nine months, according to a new survey of 570 fleet managers conducted by ZoomSafer.


In May 2011, 62% of commercial fleets surveyed had written policies compared to 81% in February 2012. The survey also shows that the number of companies enforcing their cellphone use policies increased 70% in the same period, from 53% in May 2011 to 90% in February 2012. This increase suggests commercial fleet operators are reacting to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new rule prohibiting the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving.

The most common enforcement methods include random safety audits (71.9%), post-crash discipline (51.8%), and peer reporting (49.6%). However, less than one third of respondents were "very confident" that their companies' current enforcement methods are sufficient to ensure compliance with FMCSA cellphone regulations.

The survey also finds that while most fleet managers lack confidence in current enforcement methods, 27% plan to investigate cellphone use analytics and 21% plan to explore smartphone software solutions within the next 12 months.

"This survey shows that while the majority of commercial fleets are taking steps in the right direction to adopt policies prohibiting employee use of cellphones while driving, huge concerns still exist over how to effectively enforce compliance," says ZoomSafer CEO Matt Howard.

Results were collected online from 570 corporate managers via emails, newsletters, and websites. Download the full survey analysis here.