As a fleet owner or fleet manager, you know that your business depends — to a great extent — on your fleet drivers. Consequently, making sure they possess the right mindset and skills to stay safe on the road is essential; both for your fleet company’s success, and your crew’s safety. That’s where advanced driver training lessons come into the picture.
Avoiding unpleasant situations with advanced driver training lessons
It’s a known fact that unsafe driving is the reason behind the majority of traffic accidents. And, to be honest, such behavior not only endangers your drivers and other road users’ wellbeing; also, your company’s viability and continuity. That goes to say that not many small-medium-sized fleet companies could bear the costs from vehicle downtime and repairs; to say nothing of costs that have to do with fines, higher insurance rates, medical coverage, property damage, etc.
Advanced driver training lessons will help your drivers stay fully engaged when driving. On top of that, these lessons will guide them into assessing their circumstances at all times, to avoid unpleasant incidents. In any case, drivers who acquire the skill of conscientious and defensive driving, become proactive rather than reactive. As a result, they’re less exposed to the danger of getting involved in a tragic accident; and, that goes for your company, too.
How to design and implement advanced driver training lessons
Designing and implementing driver training courses based on your employee’s driving circumstances and deficiencies is crucial. A good way of starting is to daily monitor driver activity, using a good vehicle and driver monitoring system. This will help you identify undesirable driving patterns, and choose a training approach customized to your drivers’ requirements.
Next, present this initiative to your employees, making sure they understand that it’s primarily for their own safety. Luckily, there are many programs out there that can be tailored to your drivers’ profile and are state-certified, as well. A defensive driving program is a good example of such advanced driver training lessons.
Thanks to driver training, your employees will learn techniques to navigate traffic safely. Furthermore, they’ll learn to assess situations on the road, to effectively deal with other drivers’ risky behavior, and avoid accidents.
4 Benefits of advanced driver training lessons
Clearly, advanced driver training lessons can have a good deal of benefits for a fleet business. Below, we touch on some of the most important ones.
1. Saving lives
The most important benefit of advanced driver training lessons is that it helps protect lives; especially, given the fact that thousands of people are killed and severely injured every year in road crashes, while on-the-job. According to the NHTSA, OSHA, and NETS, most crashes are preventable; and, driver training is one of the best solutions to deal with this problem. Indeed, offering safe driving lessons to your fleet drivers can significantly reduce the number of on-the-job road accidents and, ultimately, fatalities.
2. Avoiding unnecessary costs
Truth be told, hazardous driving behaviors can prove to be very expensive for a fleet company. By tackling this issue in your fleet, you automatically reduce unnecessary — and, potentially uncontrollable — expenses; such as:
- Medical coverage, legal, lost productivity, and property damage costs
- Increased insurance premiums
- Downtime, maintenance, and repairs
- Fuel expenses, deriving from careless and aggressive driving behaviors; for example, fast acceleration and speeding
3. Reducing driver turnover
By providing your fleet drivers with advanced driver training lessons, you’re letting them know that you value them. Moreover, as they become more conscientious drivers, they’ll experience less stress behind the wheel; especially when in heavy traffic. Hence, they’ll feel confident and empowered — which, in turn, increases job satisfaction and reduces employee turnover.
4. Retaining customers
When it comes to customers, proving your company’s constancy in the quality of the services offered, is key; as is gaining their trust by demonstrating reliability, and ability to adhere to the agreed deadlines. In plain words, if your fleet drivers have a habit of running late, due to safety and compliance issues; well, it will eventually result in customer dissatisfaction — and, canceled contracts.
Providing your drivers with proper training shows a commitment to run a safe business and keep everything under control. This way, you promote your company’s professionalism to both current and future customers, and you build a strong reputation.
Key takeaways
At the end of the day, providing your fleet drivers with advanced driver training lessons has many benefits. For one, well-trained drivers not only help minimize downtime and maintenance-related costs; but also medical, legal, insurance premiums, and other expenses associated with traffic accidents. Along with helping reduce unnecessary costs, your drivers have the ability to enhance your company’s reputation with their exemplary behavior; after all, they’re the face of your company. By investing in an effective fleet driver safety training strategy, on one hand, you keep your employees safe; and, on the other, you improve your business bottom line in the long haul.
