Awl Transport Cuts Accidents Per Million Miles by 75% with Netradyne

Company Summary

Awl Transport is a family-owned trucking and logistics company based in Mantua, Ohio, specializing in steel and heavy freight hauling. Operating a fleet of 225 trucks, the company runs demanding long-haul routes that require drivers to maintain peak focus and precision, from securing heavy coil-steel loads to navigating high-traffic corridors under tight delivery schedules.

Challenge

Awl Transport had long believed in the value of in-cab cameras, but the systems they used weren't keeping up with the demands of a growing, safety-focused operation.

Their first real-time system, deployed through Omnitracs, introduced a persistent technical hurdle. Whenever a truck lost battery power during routine maintenance, the ELD and camera connection would drop and require manual restoration. Across a 225-truck fleet, the downtime incurred to fix the connections added up quickly. Earlier hardware relied on SD cards that wore out silently, with no way to alert the fleet when recording had stopped.

Beyond the technical failures, competing platforms relied on third-party human reviewers and short event clips with limited context for safety incidents on the road. For Rodger Nicholson, Senior Executive Vice President, that approach left too much on the table.

"I don't want someone reviewing a short clip once a month and calling it coaching," he explained. "I want to see and analyze every single minute my drivers are on the road."

A punitive approach to coaching was also wearing on driver relationships. In an industry where finding and keeping good drivers is a constant challenge, Awl Transport knew there had to be a better way.

Solution

After transitioning away from Omnitracs and evaluating competitors including Lytx and SmartDrive, Awl Transport chose Netradyne, not just for its technology, but for the philosophy behind it. Where those platforms only accounted for risk based on the events triggered, not the entire driver time, and outsourced judgment to third-party human reviewers, Netradyne analyzed 100% of drive time, giving managers the full context needed for honest, evidence-based conversations.

Three insights reshaped how Awl Transport approached fleet safety entirely.

Perspective changes everything. When a driver ran three stop signs in a day, Nicholson's safety director wanted immediate action. But Netradyne's data showed the driver had stopped correctly at 247 other intersections that same shift. The platform made it possible to respond proportionally, addressing real risk while recognizing strong performance.

"They taught us that context changes everything. When you see the full picture, you realize how often your drivers are out there doing an incredible job every single day."
- Rodger Nicholson, Senior Executive Vice President

Recognition drives behavior change. Awl Transport shifted from catching drivers doing something wrong to recognizing everything they did right. Roughly half the fleet became advocates without ever needing a direct coaching conversation.

Complete HD video context eliminates ambiguity. When incidents occurred, Netradyne's full driving record removed all room for dispute. In one critical incident, a driver swerved onto the highway shoulder at highway speed rather than braking for stopped traffic ahead. Safety managers could search the full HD footage using simple keyword phrases to surface the complete before-during-after context in seconds. There was nothing left to argue.

"I never have to argue. There's no personality to it," said Nicholson. "All I have to do is say, 'Tell me this is acceptable,' and 99% of the time they say, 'Yeah, that's probably not smart.'"

Inward-facing views proved equally valuable. Awl Transport introduced them deliberately, using footage sparingly and only for genuine safety concerns. Over time, the cameras became a tool drivers trusted rather than resented.

Results

The impact at Awl Transport has been measurable across safety, costs, and driver culture. "We've cut our accidents per million miles to a third," said Nicholson. "It's because of that incredible culture we've developed through using your tool."

Key results include:

• 75%+ reduction in accidents per million miles (1.7 in 2023 to 0.42 in 2025) ‍
• 48% reduction in workers' comp frequency per million dollars of payroll (0.9 to 0.47) ‍
• 50-60% of drivers fully engaged with no direct coaching required

In an industry where insurance premiums and litigation costs continue to climb, Awl Transport's premiums have held flat, a direct result of the safer driving culture they've built with Netradyne. Claims are down across the board, and the financial impact continues to compound as driver behavior improves.

GreenZone Scores have become a meaningful engagement tool across the fleet. Netradyne's GreenZone Score measures both safe and risky driving behaviors, rewarding drivers for what they do right, not just flagging what they do wrong. With multiple drivers exceeding 1,000 GreenZone Score in a single month, the scoring model has created healthy competition and reinforced a culture where good driving is recognized, not just assumed.

The platform has also supported driver retention, a critical advantage in a market where experienced drivers are hard to find and harder to keep. "Drivers are sparse. They're hard to get. We had to learn to treat our drivers better," Nicholson said. "Your system makes it possible to do both, hold people accountable and show them you care."

Next Steps

For Awl Transport, the Netradyne partnership is an evolving commitment to continuous improvement. Nicholson sees opportunities to deepen the use of full behavioral context, understanding the complete picture of a driver's habits and patterns rather than reacting to isolated events, to get ahead of issues before they become safety events. He also actively advocates for his peers in their insurance captive to embrace interior cameras as a critical next step. Awl Transport was among the first companies in their insurance captive to adopt Netradyne and continues to advocate for the platform as a driver of reduced risk.

His advice to others is simple: commit fully, or don't bother.

"Embrace what the software has to offer. The more you're willing to embrace the philosophical difference between Netradyne and other products, the more it will come back to reward you, in your insurance premiums, your lack of driver injuries, and your lack of claims, and you can look your drivers in the face and say, 'I'm doing this because I want you to come home to your family.'"
- Rodger Nicholson, Senior Executive Vice President