A Q&A with Santa, and Fleet Manager Mrs Claus, of North Pole Inc
Creating a fleet with safe drivers on the road doesn’t happen overnight.
A few mandatory classes that half-heartedly discuss on-road safety will not get the message across, nor will it show drivers that the company is taking safety in a serious manner.
Fleets that emphasize training and engage drivers on a consistent basis to give them the knowledge and insights needed to succeed are the same fleets that see positive results. This constant approach to managing drivers, breeds a culture and help fleets recruit and retain drivers, improve on-road driving, and even cuts down on equipment and fuel costs.
Devoting time for ongoing safety and training refresher courses keeps safety on the forefront of every driver’s mind. It establishes a commitment to safety and shows your drivers that you care about their well-being and their value as employees.
Still, it can be difficult to identify which areas your drivers need the most assistance in improving. General feedback can fall on deaf ears, but specific examples of a driver’s shortcomings will resonate with the entire fleet.
Investing in a comprehensive fleet management system can provide fleets the ability to see exactly what safety issues drivers are struggling with on the road.
Teletrac Fleet Director software provides insight into vehicle safety based on key performance metrics and recorded events, such as speeding, stop sign violations, harsh cornering and hard braking. The results, including a measurable safety score, are displayed on a pre-set or customizable dashboard filled with data-based charts and graphs that can be toggled and viewed simultaneously, at any time.
Also included in Fleet Director is the Safety Analytics Event Viewer feature, which instantly replays unsafe driving events – such as harsh braking, speeding, acceleration and stop sign violations – allowing a fleet manager to review the unsafe driver behavior with their employees. This innovative tool analyzes a vehicle’s travel points, while it measures the length of the event and the G-force as the vehicle turned a corner too fast or ran a stop sign.
Users can review safety score averages for the entire fleet or a single vehicle. The reports helps dissect event scoring based on safety metrics, enabling users the ability to use the results for training or driver coaching.
By implementing a safe driver program and reinforcing proper driving habits, fleets can motivate the best out of their drivers which in-turn will improve driver retention rates and reduce the hefty expenses that come with unnecessary vehicle maintenance, violations, and even worse, traffic accidents.