To change negative driver behaviors, it’s not enough to track your drivers. You have to coach them towards a perfect safety record – but how exactly is this done? Below are Zendrive’s three steps to implementing a successful driver coaching program:
- Awareness
- Collaboration
- Specificity
Implementing safety policies and programs are a good start. But having driver coaching systems to support your policies will help ensure results. One fleet that does this well is Booster Fuels, an on-demand gas delivery service who uses Zendrive’s smartphone telematics.
They also happen to be one of the safest fleets in the world! To learn more about what makes driver coaching work, we met with Dave Sandifer, VP of Operations at Booster. Let’s unpack the three steps to effective driver coaching.
1. Measure and create awareness
Make the driver data you have public to everyone in your fleet. Dave said, “What gets measured gets done, and what gets measured publicly gets done better.”<
Regular conversations with drivers around their driver data will help create regular coaching opportunities to improve risky behaviors. It also helps keep safety in the foreground. Safety is more than an agenda bullet point or compliance checkbox – it needs to be a part of your culture. Aside from tracking driver data, you can go a step further and post your driver’s safety scores for all to see. Giving top performing drivers recognition will help get adamant drivers to buy-in. <
2. Continuous coaching and collaboration
Safety culture cannot only be top down. Coaching isn’t only about improving driver behavior. It opens opportunities to identify gaps in business processes, too.
Besides giving feedback, ask drivers about how management can improve routes. Valuing driver input will make them feel a part of the change. By leveraging the experience of your drivers and pairing it with real-time data, you will have a culture that is always getting safe
3. Specificity
Finally, coaching conversations are always specific and productive. Let’s look at some examples.
- The data shows us that you had more hard stops today, and we’d like to know what you saw out there – what was going on?
- What about our process do you think we can do better?
- How can we ensure this is easier and safer for you and the rest of the entire fleet next time?
Ineffective coaching conversations sound like:
- Hey, you’re driving didn’t seem as safe as it could’ve been today.
Actionable insights help fleet managers identify all-star drivers who show exemplary behavior on the road. Zendrive provides these types of insights, including weekly reports that show how each driver in your fleet is doing.
Between ongoing measurement and coaching, Booster Fuel’s drivers have consistently out-performed the national Zendrive average by 18 percent.
Through measuring phone use and other behaviors, fleet managers can get an in-depth analysis of every driver and trip.
