Rising insurance costs are nothing new for haulers, but add the ongoing labor shortage and fluctuating fuel prices to the mix, and it’s just one more way waste and recycling companies are feeling the pinch.

Over the past 10 years, haulers have seen their insurance premiums rise by 47 percent, according to a report by the American Transportation Research Institute. Still, an overwhelming majority (88%) don’t plan to reduce budgets for equipment upgrades and technology. Doing so would only compound woes over the long term.

Enter smart truck technology. Truck-mounted cameras equipped with video and photo capabilities are now recognized among the best investments to fight rising costs associated with insurance, safety, and potential litigation. Indisputable visual documentation that syncs with your back-office systems also gives customer service staff the evidence they need to push back on costly go-backs and provides supervisors valuable information for coaching drivers.

Most haulers know they need cameras, photos and video. With these important purchases in mind, here are five mistakes to avoid when selecting and implementing a solution for long-term benefits.

1 | Don’t wait until you can’t do without truck-mounted cameras.

If you’re concerned about the cost of litigation following an accident, the time to think seriously about truck cameras and photo and video service has arrived.

Litigation following an accident is costly, even if you are not at fault. The time and expense haulers save when they have a video of an incident can negate the expense of a camera system with photo and video capabilities.

It goes without saying that when it comes to safety, cameras mounted to the truck that provide recorded video – that shows what happened before, during and immediately after an incident – are far superior to other options. After an incident occurs, there’s very little that manually snapping a photo with a tablet can do to protect you and your business.

2 | Don’t buy a video solution that doesn’t integrate with your back-office system.

To make the most of video, your camera system must tie seamlessly to your back-office system, that way everyone from the field to the office has access to real-time video.

Customer service staff need to be able to access video on the fly to easily push back on go-backs. Likewise, supervisors who want to use video to help coach drivers need to be able to connect route information with video.

3 | Don’t skimp on DVR storage.

Camera systems store video feeds until they run out of space and then start overwriting the oldest data. Be sure your DVRs contain enough storage space to hold a satisfactory history of data. Ensure, too, that you’ll have access to your videos for as long as you need them.