Speeding: The Fast Way to Ruin Your Safety Score and Finances

Speeding accounted for 13 percent of driver violations during roadside inspections in 2024. In fact, the top driver violation for the year was speeding 6 to 10 miles per hour (mph) over the limit, and 11 to 14 mph over held the sixth spot for the year.

Why care? If your drivers get caught speeding, both your safety record and your bottom line will take a hit.

It goes on your safety record

Speeding appears on roadside inspections at 392.2-SLLS. Violations are used in Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Unsafe Driving BASIC calculations.

Drivers don’t need to exceed the posted limit by much. Driving even 6 mph over the limit negatively impacts your CSA Unsafe Driving BASIC score.

Although third parties can’t see a motor carrier’s Unsafe Driving BASIC score, they can view the roadside inspection reports and listed violations. This provides customers, brokers, and your insurance provider with a glimpse of your safety record to identify unsafe driving patterns.

Real dollars

Aside from a high Unsafe Driving BASIC score, speeding can add to your operational costs in several ways:

• More frequent engine repairs. Because the engine works harder when the driver speeds, there’s more wear and tear requiring repairs and replacement parts.
• Brake repairs. Speeding results in frequent and harsh braking. This behavior wears out the truck’s brake pads and rotors more quickly.
• Tire replacements. Speeding wears out tires quickly, especially when paired with aggressive acceleration and harsh braking.
• Increased fuel costs. Speeding results in reduced fuel efficiency in both highway and city driving.
• Suspension repairs. Aggressive driving, including speeding, can strain a suspension system. Like engine repairs, expect more frequent trips to the shop.

In addition, when speed is a factor in a crash, it typically adds to the seriousness of the accident.

Identify risky behavior

Speed is often paired with other aggressive behaviors such as sudden acceleration and hard braking and cornering. By addressing speeding, hopefully you’re also eliminating other dangerous and unwanted driving habits.

Your first task is to identify drivers who engage in the behavior. Do this by reviewing:

• Roadside inspection reports,
• Telematics data,
• Motor vehicle records (MVR), and
• Complaints from the public about your operators’ driving.

Don’t just focus on traffic citations in commercial motor vehicles. Behavior in a personal vehicle matters too, since it can easily carry over to time spent behind the wheel of your truck.

Create a policy to make it clear

Write and enforce company policies and procedures that clearly spell out:

• What behaviors are unacceptable, and
• Specific consequences.

A policy, for instance, would list speeding as unacceptable along with the corrective actions for each citation (e.g., 6-10 mph over) and what frequency of violation will be held against the driver (e.g., violations within the past one, three, or five years). These policies must be consistently enforced.

Mistakes happen, and identifying unsafe driving behaviors is not meant to end a driving career, it’s meant to sustain it. A progressive discipline policy, along with coaching and refresher training, can help get drivers back on track.