If you’re running a company that uses rental trucks to get most of your work done, you must take note of a few things, such as keeping your drivers and those around them safe. Motor accidents are expensive and dangerous.
You can’t trust everyone else on the road to drive safely, but you can put in the time, energy, and effort to implement truck driver accountability among your team.
Promote Safe Driving In Your Company
You can do a few things as managers and executives to maintain a good environment and promote safe driving among your team. The more drivers you can inspire to adopt best driving practices, the safer the roads will be. And if your company does a lot of driving each day, the better-off your employees will be.
In addition to keeping your drivers safe, good driving practices can also discourage serious fees and expenses from car accidents, including increased insurance rates. Better driving protects your fleet investment, too. The safer your employees are out on the road, the safer your trucks and property will be as well.
Ways to Promote Safe Driving
Let’s take a closer look at some ways to promote safe driving among your team.
Check Driver’s History
You should perform a thorough background check on your employees before you hire them. Focus on hiring individuals with a clean driving record and those who have experience driving company vehicles. You can check for complaints filed against them in previous jobs, which could help you figure out skills that need to be addressed during training.
Access to Driver Training
Training programs can improve your drivers’ skills and keep them safer on the road. Reward your trainees with certificates of completion or some other incentive. Motivate them to want to have certified driving skills. You could even make it mandatory for your team to go through training when hired and brush up on it now and again.
Promote Driving Safety Tips
Promote driving safety tips at your office. Have a checklist in every vehicle so your drivers can be aware of what they need to do before hitting the road. These could include things such as:
- Wear seatbelts.
- Be aware of the weather forecast.
- Use emergency brakes.
- Be rested to avoid drowsy driving
- Avoid alcohol and drugs.
- Use hands-free tech.
- Take breaks as needed.
Having these and other driving safety tips known and practiced by your drivers can set clear guidelines and expectations for company goals, as well as keep them safer on the roads.
Implement Lone Worker Policies
Lone workers should receive the same kind of support, attention, tools, and training as your in-office employees. This includes a quick and trusted way for them to get in touch with anyone in the office whenever they need to. Consider implementing these measures for your drivers.
Set, Record, and Report Goals
It’s usually easier to deliver results when we know exactly what is expected of us. The more you communicate your goals for your drivers, the more likely they are to implement them or strive to achieve them. Create a system of incentives based on the record of goals hit or missed by your drivers. The more organized and in-touch you are with your drivers’ day-to-day work lives, the more you’ll see needs that should be filled or issues that need to be fixed to make their jobs easier and get the results you want.
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