Fleet Technology Can Improve Driver Safety
Improve Driver Safety with Fleet Technology
Safety should not be estimated or second guessed. Fleet managers cannot afford to skimp on training for their drivers. To improve driver safety, the first step is to make sure the entire business adopts a culture of safety. If the company owners and managers do not participate and support safe practices, the fleet safety improvements cannot be accomplished. Fleet managers are now turning to technology to help guarantee their drivers perform their jobs securely and safely.
Ongoing Safety Training
Fleet managers need to foster an environment of safety and a culture of personal responsibility promoted for all employees. This will ensure that the drivers are all performing safely and to the best of their abilities. Upon hiring, all drivers should participate in a training orientation program including requirements for driver fitness, the proper way to perform vehicle inspections, driver qualifications, driver wellness and company rules.
Using constantly evolving technology, drivers should comply with an ongoing safety regimen. Telematics can be used to closely monitor drivers’ behaviors on the road such as speeding, hard acceleration, hard breaking, and utilization of seat belts. There are limitless amounts of measurements GPS fleet tracking technology can be analyzed. Each company should choose the core behaviors that impact the safety of their drivers the most.
In order to continuously improve driver safety, keep the number of driver performance indicators to a manageable amount. If a driver is found to exhibit a red flag behavior, the driver should be required to complete additional driver training for that behavior. Red flag behaviors can include collision, speeding, usage of seat belts, or aggressive driving. The telematics measurements allow fleet managers to customize the driver training to the driver’s specific unsafe driving practices. Focusing on the specific behavior allows fleet managers to help improve driver safety when there is an opportunity for improvement.
Adding ongoing driver training does not have to be time consuming or complicated. The training can actually be done on a mobile device such as a tablet or in the office.
Use The Technology To Create Friendly Competition
By posting the telematics measurements in an area where all the drivers can see, the drivers will try to improve their own safety habits as a form of friendly competition. Recognizing the drivers with the lowest percentage of unsafe driving practices is also helpful in the promotion of safe driving. The driver scorecards should be posted for all levels of the company including the business owner, fleet managers, other management and all of the drivers. This will show that the entire organization holds safe driving practices to the highest standard.
