It’s difficult to make sure your drivers are driving safely.
Sure, you’re probably already doing a thing or two to promote positive driving, such as performance coaching, rigorous candidate screening for new hires, improving driver communication, and incorporating a feedback system – but these initiatives just aren’t enough.
What you really need to do is start a reward program. The reward doesn’t have to be something extravagant like an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii or anything like that – something simple like a gift card or an Employee of the Month plaque will do. A cash bonus at the end of the year for safe driving is also a great motivation tool.
Any token of appreciation will give your drivers the extra incentive they need to be really, really cautious. Cautious drivers will save you a lot of money, as crashes burden you with the cost of the accident (especially if your driver was at fault) as well as the more abstract (but just as important) cost of being late to destinations and upsetting your customers.
But how are you going to evaluate your drivers and decide who deserves a reward?
It’s all about knowing which metrics to pay attention to. The following four metrics are especially valuable for evaluating driver safety:
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1. How Seriously They Take Online Safety Awareness Training Assignments
Assigning online safety awareness training modules to your drivers is one thing; ensuring your drivers actually complete these modules and retain the information is a whole ‘nother ballgame.
It’s a lot easier to just assign drivers modules than it is to actually check up on your drivers and see how much they’ve learned. Managers are busy doing a million other things, so follow-through tasks like this often fall through the cracks.
If you take the time to see how seriously each of your drivers is taking these modules, though, you’ll have a much better understanding of your workforce. Beyond rewarding safe driving, this’ll show you which employees have the potential to handle a promotion and which are better off with less responsibility.
2. Seat Belt Usage
Seat belt usage is one of the most important aspects of safe driving. It literally saves lives.
You can track seat belt usage by looking into vehicles as they arrive and depart from a dispatch location.
Those who do not use this all-important safety device shouldn’t get any kind of bonus – instead, they should get a coaching session. Drivers who always remember to buckle their seat belt, however, do deserve a reward.
3. Speed
The faster a vehicle is traveling, the more dangerous it is to the driver and everyone else on the road.
GPS tracking software will allow you to keep track of how fast your drivers are going at all times. You’ll always know who’s driving at a safe speed and who needs to be told to slow down.
4. Motor Vehicle Records
Those aforementioned metrics will help you evaluate the drivers already on your team. But what about new drivers who you’ve never worked with before?
That’s where the DMV comes in. You can request a motor vehicle record (MVR) and review a new hire’s driving history to make sure they’ve never been involved in any serious recklessness before. Those with a clean record should be eligible for rewards right away. But those who’ve had an incident or two in their pasts should have to wait through a probation period before they’re eligible for any rewards, if you decide to hire them at all.
One last piece of advice: make sure all your drivers know what metrics you use to decide which drivers get rewards. Rewarding one driver means you’re passing over a few other drivers for a reward, which can naturally create some resentment. But if you can convince your drivers that you use an impartial process to evaluate performance, you can keep that resentment down to a minimum.
What do you do to encourage positive driving? Are there any techniques you use that we didn’t include here? Let us know in the comments section below.
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