Smith System Applies Its Proven Smith5Keys® Methodology to Driver Risk Management, Closing the Gap Between Fleet Data and Behavior Change

ARLINGTON, Texas: Smith System, the category leader in Driver Safety and Fleet Performance for more than 70 years, today announced the availability of its comprehensive Driver Risk Management (DRM) program, a fully managed, closed-loop approach built around the Smith5Keys®, the proven behavioral framework successfully implemented by fleets of every kind for decades. By giving drivers, managers, and analytics one common language for safe driving, the program turns disconnected safety tactics into a continuous system that reduces crashes, lowers costs, and changes driver behavior at scale.

Fleets have never spent more on safety technology. Telematics, in-cab cameras, and driver scorecards are now standard equipment across the industry. Yet the results have not followed: motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of workplace death, costing U.S. employers an estimated $72.2 billion a year, and neither the frequency nor the cost of incidents is coming down. The reason is that more than 90% of crashes stem from decisions made behind the wheel, which makes driver risk a behavior problem, not a hardware problem. Disconnected tools can identify risky driving, but identification alone does not change it, and nothing connects what one tool observes to what happens next.

The Smith System DRM program was built to supply that missing connection. It is a fully managed program that brings training, monitoring, and analytics together into a single system organized around one common language: the Smith5Keys®. Because every part of the program speaks that language, its purpose goes beyond alerting managers to telematics-triggered events. The program is designed to change driver behavior, using the 5Keys to pinpoint the specific habit behind each risk signal and to direct coaching squarely at it.

“Technology observes behavior. It doesn’t change it,” said Derek Dunaway, Chief Executive Officer of Smith System. “Devices flag events; people coach behavior. The fleets that win aren’t replacing training with dashboards. They’re building a system where data, coaching, and training all speak the same language, and that’s what the 5Keys make possible.”

The program operates as a continuous, closed loop. Experiential behind-the-wheel training sets the behavioral baseline. Monitoring then captures risk signals from virtually any source (a harsh-braking event, a speeding violation, an instructor’s behind-the-wheel observation), and the 5Keys Score translates them into a clear signal that tells a manager exactly which behavior to address. Targeted reinforcement keeps skills from decaying, corrective actions are verified, and benchmarked analytics show fleets where to focus next. Unlike open-loop approaches that repeat the same process and hope it works, the program measures whether each intervention actually changed behavior and improves with every cycle.

The results are measurable. In one enterprise deployment of more than 2,000 drivers across 22 distribution centers, the 5Keys-based program cut preventable accidents 38% over two years and delivered a 2.9x to 9.5x return on investment, with payback in as little as three to eight months.

“Crashes aren’t accidents; they’re predictable and preventable,” Dunaway added. “Manage driver risk as a continuous program instead of disconnected events, and you stop reacting to the last crash and start preventing the next one.”

The Smith System DRM program is available now to fleets of all sizes.

About Smith System

Founded in 1952 and headquartered in Arlington, Texas, Smith System is the global leader in professional driver safety training and Driver Risk Management for commercial fleets. The Smith5Keys® to Safe Driving is the industry’s most recognized and proven behavior-based crash-prevention methodology. Smith System delivers a combination of in-person instruction, digital training, analytics, and mobile-first tools that help organizations reduce collisions, lower operating costs, and build a durable culture of safety.