Many companies make the mistake of investing in the best fleet management technology and the latest fuel-efficient vehicles, but completely overlook the most important ingredient: the drivers who make it all happen.
The old saying that ‘prevention is better than cure’ applies to so much, including fleet driver management. Treating drivers as an afterthought or as ‘replaceable’ can be a very costly mistake. The most successful fleets realise the value of excellent drivers and invest in them.
Yes, there is a risk that you will invest in a driver and they will leave to work for another employer, the same as any other employee. But you run a much higher risk of accidents, delays, and avoidable fleet costs if you don’t invest in your drivers, which means there is only one logical answer: a decent driver management plan is the way forward.
Start with your driver policy
If you’re going to implement any changes or incentives you need to start with your company’s driver policy: make sure you’re not sending mixed messages. According to Masterdrive MD, Eugene Herbert, “we see so many fleet policies that have a ‘no cellphone’ clause, but at the same time drivers will get warnings for not answering the phone when the fleet manager calls him.” According to Eugene this type of miscommunication within fleet operations is common and it puts drivers in a position where they don’t know which rules to follow.
“Many people think that good driver management requires big investments when the reality is that it might just take some logic and consideration”, says Eugene. The best starting point is to ensure your basic fleet ‘building blocks’, such as your fleet driver policy, are up to date and don’t contradict the realities of daily operations.
“Placing unnecessary or contradictory expectations on drivers simply increases your fleet risk as employees won’t know which guidelines to follow. Ensuring your fleet policy is clear, logical, and up to date is an easy way to immediately reduce your fleet risk”, says Eugene.
Improve with telematics
Once you have an outline of clear fleet driver guidelines and expectations, you can install a telematics system that works for your specific fleet. It's important to ensure you’re not sacrificing safety to follow a set of rules typed up by someone who doesn’t understand the realities of fleet operations. A good telematics system will not only help monitor driver performance, but will also red flag any inconsistencies.
According to Eugene, “if you are only focused on monitoring vehicle speed, drivers will also become hyper-focused on speed. This could result in them sacrificing other safety rules, such as a safe following distance, in order to maintain a certain speed and not face queries from their manager.”
For this reason, Eugene stresses the need for expert assistance when installing telemetry and choosing how to build a driver scorecard. Driver monitoring needs to reflect real driving circumstances rather than just a few key points.
By implementing a holistic approach to driver management you will have drivers who see the bigger picture and don’t just focus on the basics. This in turn, will result in better drivers, a more efficient fleet, and the list goes on.
Train your staff
When it comes to driver training it’s vital that all stakeholders have a basic understanding of the demands placed on drivers. It’s unreasonable to have one department order the vehicles while another hires the driver and a third is responsible for managing all of it. And all of them are working toward different goals!
“We advise all companies to send someone from HR, or management, or finance along when we do driver training so that they have a real world understanding of their driver requirements”, says Eugene. This often results in better communication between departments and more realistic driver policies. At the end of the day, all of this benefits the company as a whole.
In addition to the above suggestion, Eugene emphasises the fact that proper driver training will never go to waste. “Even if five of your ten drivers eventually move on to other jobs, you are left with five correctly trained drivers. It’s impossible to put a specific number on this, but that’s still a lot better than five poorly trained drivers representing your company on a daily basis.”
Companies must also keep in mind that different fleet applications require different training. Driving a massive refrigerated truck is very different from operating a delivery scooter. For this reason best practice is to ensure all new drivers receive training on your specific fleet needs when they join the company.
Adjust your incentives
Once you have a clear fleet policy and driver guidelines, you can create an incentive programme that will boost your fleet performance. Incentives must be achievable and they must work towards improving overall driver and fleet performance.
“You need to understand your fleet before you implement a fleet incentive programme”, says Eugene, “you can’t, for example, have an incentive for ‘tyre care’ when half of your drivers have to navigate roads that are in a terrible condition. It’s not fair on the drivers who get that route.”
Expert fleet managers also warn against ‘blinkered’ incentives where drivers can increase one risk factor in order to perform better in the one that carries an incentive. This doesn’t achieve your goal of overall driver improvement and can actually increase fleet risk.
It is therefore vital that you create a driver incentive programme that suits your specific fleet and fleet goals. Get input from drivers, fleet managers, and all fleet stakeholders. Find out what other successful fleets are using for incentives. This will not only ensure you implement a successful incentive programme, but can also help companies retain their best drivers.
A proper fleet incentive programme has the potential to highlight areas where drivers need more training and also creates understanding among drivers that there is a bigger fleet picture than simply a single route.
Companies that manage to make their incentive programmes about improving all fleet operations—instead of just pointing out driver error—are the ones who reap the biggest rewards.
A good driver incentive programme starts with the basics, such as a concise fleet vehicle policy, download our Company Car Policy for your fleet. Need professional assistance for your fleet? Talk to us today to arrange a demonstration with one of our experts.
