What are JackRabbit Starts and What You Can Do About It?
1 Nov 2018
In the quest for greater fuel economy for fleet vehicles, there is one problem, all fleets must address: JackRabbit Starts. These types of starts rob your vehicles of fuel efficiency that could be costing your organization plenty. While this is certainly true of all fleets, it is especially true of fleets that operate in areas where your drivers are doing a lot of stopping and starting. This could include any of the following:
- In-town delivery services
- Local route drivers
- Large city drivers who face rush hour stops and starts
For the most part, JackRabbit starts are viewed as aggressive driving behavior. Not only do they cost your fleet a great deal in wasted fuel. They can also create negative associations for your business within the community.
What are JackRabbit Starts?
Essentially, JackRabbit starts occur when drivers push down hard on their accelerators, so they can shoot forward with speed. You see it all the time with frustrated drivers trying to be the first “out of the gate” when signal lights turn green. It is also widely used when speeding up to merge into Interstate traffic from on-ramps, when passing slow-moving vehicles, and when leaving areas of heavy congestion on the Interstate in rush hour traffic.
Why are JackRabbit Starts Bad?
Aside from the reasons listed above, wasted fuel and negative public image for your organization, there are plenty of other reasons to discourage JackRabbit starts among your fleet drivers, including:
- Greater risk of accidents or injuries to pedestrians, pets, cyclists, and other drivers.
- Damage to your car’s drive train.
- Damage to your car’s brakes because the flipside of JackRabbit starting is often hard braking.
- Going through tires more quickly.
You get the picture. Then there are the planetary concerns to consider. In other words, it is better, all around, to end any JackRabbit starts that may be present in your fleet quickly.
What Can You Do to Prevent JackRabbit Starts in Your Fleet?
The first step is to create policies that expressly discourage JackRabbit starts. Then you must educate your drivers on the following:
- What JackRabbit starts are.
- How they can avoid them when driving (the egg scenario in this video is a great analogy).
- Consequences for continuing to drive like this.
Everything needs to be spelled out, in writing, and signed off on by your employees. Then, however, comes the absolute necessary part. You must enforce your policies. Which means, you must have a way to determine whether your drivers are engaged in JackRabbit starts.
The most effective method for doing this is with GPS fleet tracking for aggressive driving behaviors. You can even set up alerts to notify you of certain behaviors behind the wheel.
Ending JackRabbit starts within your fleet is a great thing for your public image, the planet, and your bottom line. If you’re wondering if your fleet drivers are driving aggressively, consider a GPS fleet tracking solution that can give you details on hard braking, speeding and more.
Contact our experts here at LiveViewGPS at 1-888-544-0494 to learn more.
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