An Overview of Our DriveCam System, Misconceptions and Tips

We installed DriveCam system in our trucks in the middle of 2015. We wanted to take a few minutes to share with you how the program is working.

To start off, it is important to understand how the DriveCam system works. The system has both an interior and exterior camera but that does not mean it is necessarily recording all the time. The cameras work by passively recording loops of about 30 seconds constantly, and only save footage samples of 12 seconds in the event of an abrupt movement change.

An abrupt movement change includes events such as hard braking, turning corners too fast, or a collision. These types of events will trigger the recording mechanism which records 8 seconds before the event and 4 seconds after the event for a total of 12 seconds. This is to ensure that we have footage of every major event that occurs in our trucks to protect our drivers.

Only in the event of an abrupt movement change will the footage come through to us to review. And the length of time that the camera saves footage is less than 12 seconds in length. A misconception is that camera is always sending us footage of you, this is NOT the case.

When the camera is ready and functioning properly, there will be two green lights visible. In the event of an abrupt movement change the camera will blink a red light to show that an event has been triggered. After an event is recorded the light will stay solid red on the recorder until the image is uploaded to the reviewing system. Usually the triggered footage will be uploaded overnight.

In case drivers see something happening and want to record an event, there is a button on the recorder that allows you to trigger a recording manually. This can be helpful if you need to record something on the camera.

Another misconception is that the solid red light on the recorder indicates that a driver is being recorded all the time. This is NOT the case. The solid red light only indicates that there is footage that has yet to be sent to the reviewing system, and will usually clear up overnight. If your camera light stays solid red overnight and does not change back to green the next day, there may be something wrong with the camera. In this case notify us and we will troubleshoot the issue.

It is important for the safety of our drivers that there are absolutely no obstructions to the interior and exterior recorders. The recorded camera footage can be strong evidence against your opponent in the event of a crash. We have had cases where drivers have been cleared of accusation because their DriveCam footage was able to provide proof of their innocence. It is easy for other drivers to pin the blame on truck drivers, but our DriveCam footage ensures our safety.