Citation: Hagos, E.; Brijs, T.; Brijs, K.; Wets, G.; Teklu, B. Safety Culture among Transport Companies in Ethiopia: Are They Ready for Emerging Fleet Technologies? Sustainability 2023, 15, 3232. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su15043232 Academic Editor: Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos Received: 6 December 2022 Revised: 2 February 2023 Accepted: 8 February 2023 Published: 10 February 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Safety Culture among Transport Companies in Ethiopia: Are They Ready for Emerging Fleet Technologies? Ehitayhu Hagos 1 , Tom Brijs 1 , Kris Brijs 1 , Geert Wets 1 and Bikila Teklu 2, * 1 Transportation Research Institute (IMOB), UHasselt, Agoralaan, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium 2 Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia * Correspondence: bikilatek@yahoo.com Abstract: The safety culture and safety climate of transport companies have a significant impact on fleet safety outcomes. Ample research shows that transport companies with a strong safety culture also show lower crash statistics. In spite of modern technologies that help with having a safer fleet, it is difficult to achieve a safer fleet without a proactive safety culture and climate. In Ethiopia, it is assumed that most transport companies have failed to create a distinguishable safety climate in their fleet safety administration and that their heavy vehicle drivers have a poor safety culture. These could be important factors contributing to a higher rate of road traffic crashes involving heavy vehicles. This study aims to assess the existing safety culture among a sample of transport companies in Ethiopia and identify suitable intervention methods to improve the safety culture. Moreover, the study sought to identify the readiness of the transport companies to apply modern technology in their fleets by examining their safety culture and safety climate. In total, 10 fleet managers and 174 heavy vehicle drivers participated in the fleet safety audit survey. A descriptive analysis and a detailed fleet safety audit score were calculated. Based on the scale scoring, ten companies score below best practices, one scores well below best practices, and only one company meets the criteria to be considered achieving best practices. The results from this study show that the safety culture and safety climate in most transport companies are quite limited. In addition, most transport companies implement similar safety measures, including inconsistent driver training and annual maintenance. Keywords: safety culture; safety climate; transport companies; heavy vehicle drivers; fleet managers; fleet management; fleet technologies 1. Introduction 1.1. Driver Training and Rewarding System Driver education and training are key components of a fleet safety management strategy. Various studies suggest that safety education and training should consist of an introduction to fleet safety policies, technologies, hours of service regulations, defensive driving, vehicle inspections, and behind-the-wheel training or mentoring [1,2]. To maintain safety, continuous education and training of fleet drivers is essential [3]. Accordingly, having well-trained drivers results in lower rates of road traffic crashes. Taking this into consideration, employers should carefully review an applicant’s driving record regarding prior involvement in crashes or traffic rule violations. It is also recommended that, before hiring an applicant, employers should closely examine the driver’s driving experience and training as well as recommendations from previous employer(s) [1]. Another strat- egy to strengthen fleet safety is a reward system of competitive compensation rates and performance-based incentives [1]. 1.2. Emerging Fleet Technologies There has been a revolution in vehicle safety technology in recent years. During the past 25 years, new vehicles have been expected to provide a high level of secondary Sustainability 2023, 15, 3232. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043232 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability