One of the major expenses for rental companies occurs due to road accidents which occur most of the time due to the careless behavior of fleet drivers. When the transport committee reported the concerns for the same, an inquiry was launched to check the government’s approach to road security.
Along with it, DfT(department for transport) issued the new road safety guidelines and launched a 2-year action plan to track road safety problems. As per the guidelines, special driving standards were set for people who drive for professional reasons or riding is part of their job. It was due to the survey that stated that one in three injuries during all road accidents includes people “at work”.
No, it is not only the responsibility of the government to look after road safety. But also for the companies to take the correct approach to promote driver’s and vehicle’s safety by being compliant with the safety guidelines.
So if you own the rental company, make sure that your fleet drivers stay compliant with the safety measures by including road risk management and road safety in the company’s health and safety goals.
If you are wondering the ways to do it, this article on “How to coach your drivers to follow the proper safety measures?” will help you.
Create secure working surroundings
Most of the rental companies don’t follow road safety policies properly or don’t prioritize it even if they follow. It is because of the fact that driving is not considered a major functioning of the business.
But the high number of road accidents concerning drivers at work shows the need to include driving in health and safety management. Being an employer, it’s your duty to take care of the staff, and road safety should be prioritized with other areas of employee and drivers safety.
Some of the measures that can be taken to ensure road safety are:
- Consistent vehicle checks,
- Risk assessments,
- Driver health inspection.
But these must not be followed in obligation to legal requirements but also to keep the drivers and vehicles safe. Raise safety standards which involve following the organization’s road safety policy and updating the driver’s driving behavior.
Having a new approach to improve safety might not be appreciated by drivers first but effective communication and a cooperative approach will let them appreciate the advantages of safe driving later. A safe environment and workforce both on the road and office is the key to the success of rental companies.
Its time to coach your drivers to follow the proper safety measures
Before making any effective change, identify the areas of risk on both the individual vehicle and the whole fleet.
Integrating telematics with your fleet management can provide you with large data to recognize driver’s behavior and predictable risk. Telematics can track things such as fuel, speed, or harsh braking which shows performance standards. But this data is useless if proper action is not taken for improvements.
After identifying a problem, looking out for solutions must be an automatic approach. For instance: in-car training workshops or sessions, and e-learning courses. Any incident that anybody from the company face must be analyzed to find the root cause to coach your drivers to follow the proper safety measures. It can also be used to highlight the company’s objective of enhancing safety standards.
The rental company must be careful with the practices used to coach their drivers as they should match with their company goals. Just driver theoretical training sessions are not enough to retain their behavioral changes as they will get into their old habits soon.
To implement the long-term change, long-term coaching focused on changing individual behaviors must be conducted to unfollow the unsafe practices. Drivers must be careful with their actions on the road and aware of the consequences of careless, unsafe, and reckless driving habits.
Keep giving them consistent advice and feedback to the drivers to follow the responsible driver style. Using telematics, you can send them direct suggestions prior, after, or during the ride.
- Prior to the ride: Remind them to drive safely and efficiently.
- During the ride: Offer predictive driving suggestions and feedback regarding their driving style.
- After the ride: Show them an outline of their performance.
While coaching your drivers to follow the proper safety measures, offer them the right tools and guidance to have power over their own driving way. The data of individual drivers can be used to create charts to be reviewed by managers.
These charts can be used by the companies to collect the overview of fleet population and hence recognize negative trends and create opportunities for improvement.
These charts can also be used for driver-focused communications, including targeted suggestions over messaging regarding common safety issues like careless driving or fatigue at the wheel and some other factors concerning the company’s unique driver population like speed, harsh braking, or seat belt use.
Engaging fleet drivers completely during coaching
Your coaching style and approach should be positive and not punishing because effective driver engagement is actively required to improve driver behavior.
To improve their engagement, driver behavior must not be limited to driving but also in cooperation with the company's professional development plans. This can be achieved by offering them incentives for meeting the company’s pre-decided performance targets.
Incentives can be anything like monetary stuff: prizes, bonuses, or rewards or others like extra holidays or recognition through internal conversation. Companies also prefer gamification to enhance positive behavioral modifications.
If you are unaware of gamification, it is the concept of incentivizing through healthy and positive competition among drivers. Some popular gaming mechanisms like point scoring to:
- Stimulate more participation
- Motivate drivers and employees in a way they are more responsive including skill to celebrate small wins, healthy competition, the rewards, feelings of community, and the social components.
The objective of gamification is to capture employees' attention by providing them occasions to win so as to make noticeable changes in the driver’s behavior for the long term. This is by far the best way to coach your drivers to follow the proper safety measures.
The data collected using telematics like driving scores, you can create league tables along with the prizes associated with different positions like top scorer or the most improved performer. Another benefit of gamification is developing companionship among drivers that is a cooperative approach to safety. It gives them a sense of control over their successes and objectives.
Now you know correct approach to coach your drivers to follow safety measures
The advantages of using the right approach to enhance driver’s behaviors while also integrating telematics will be very important for companies. So start taking the right steps to improve driver safety and also ensure a safer workforce and environment to work in.
If most of the rental companies start doing it, a major difference can be seen in the reduction in road accidents, fuel expenditure, and vehicle downtime. Also, it will enhance the brand image of the company and their drivers, employees, and clients’ trust in them. And losing this opportunity can be a very big mistake for companies.
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