Fleet driver training can reduce collisions, injuries, and fatalities while also lowering fleet operating costs. It’s also worth noting that your most valuable asset is your workforce.
Your employees represent your organisation, and those who stay behind the wheel will have an increasingly more significant impact on how people perceive your company outside the workplace.
Dangers could be hiding around every corner, whether roads are busy or not. In fact, fleet drivers going too fast or too slow cause the majority of car and pedestrian accidents.
Thus, it’s crucial to develop, implement, and manage a fleet driver training program. Read on as we walk you through the steps required to create an effective skill development strategy.
Step 1: Determine Requirements of Fleet Driver Training
To begin, identify the current risks associated with your fleet drivers, vehicles, and daily operations, as well as incident data. Such buy-in of telematics and collision data will enable the assessment of risks as well. Fleet analysis technologies can help with evaluating training selection.
While accident data is critical, other sources of data that contribute to the overall picture must also taken into consideration.
It is more proactive and practical to have a comprehensive picture of driving behaviour and ability. Data on excessive speeding and abrupt stopping, for example, may aid in identifying judgment and performance issues that contribute to fleet accidents.
After identifying current problems and performance benchmarks, addressing specific issues and the training needed to solve them effectively would be much easier. Maintaining a driver or fleet management software is a good start to help you keep track of all this data.
Step 2: Select an Instructional Method for Fleet Driver Training
Now that you have a firm grasp of the requirements for fleet driver training, you can focus on identifying the most effective options. You can achieve your objectives using a variety of training methods, each with its own set of benefits and drawbacks:
1. Workshops and Group Sessions
Workshops and group sessions are a low-cost method of training a large number of people. However, they do not support individual driver-centered learning and have a limited scope.
2. Online Education Services
Training would suit the time of scheduling custom sessions and suit each employee’s job description. However, keep in mind that online instruction is less engaging than face-to-face instruction.
3. Fleet Driver Education
This method is beneficial when operating specialised vehicles and equipment. In such cases, on-road driver instruction is very effective.
The trainer can work right alongside each driver in an effort to provide safe driving techniques. However, this training method is also time-consuming and costly.
4. Fleet Driver Coaching
Telematics and data have been put into use to help the driver recognise events that occurred. It improves decision-making and required skills, too.
Driver tutoring is more expensive and time-consuming than on-the-road training. It is vital to assess and amend training programs quite frequently to ensure their effectiveness in your organisation.
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Step 3: Implement Your Fleet Strategy
Creating a training program is the most essential component of a better fleet strategy. It involves a well-defined set of schedules and objectives and a mechanism for tracking training completion that will help to reduce confusion and unresolved issues.
It requires the participation of all levels of personnel from upper management to become effective for training completion. Fleet drivers must also understand why training is necessary in order to benefit both your organisation and themselves.
As a result, a well-planned driver communication strategy is critical to the program’s success.
Enhancing Safety and Efficiency Through Fleet Driver Training
Driver education has unquestionably many advantages. Improved fleet driver training and confidence contribute to lowering the car, legal, insurance, and administrative costs associated with accidents.
Moreover, you can improve your company’s performance while also reducing accidents, injuries, and fatalities by promoting the safety of your fleet drivers and other road users.
Manage Vehicle is an established vehicle management company situated in Melbourne, Australia. We provide the best fleet management software in the industry that can accommodate large or small fleets, all while minimising fuel expenses.
Please schedule a consultation with us today and optimise your operations!
