Managing your Trucking Business with the help of Telematics

Team management doesn’t come easy

Those in the trucking business regularly experience a shortage of experienced drivers, especially during the busy season. This has led to the hasty hiring of unqualified drivers who often under-perform, leading to losses. If you’re in charge of managing a team of drivers, you know how tough it can be to find reliable, skilled staff members. Rather than recruiting new drivers, however, you should focus on keeping the excellent drivers you already have. The following are just a few things you can do to improve your driver retention rate and motivate your existing team especially with the help of telematics.

Tackling Turnover with Telematics

Turnover at both small and large fleet operations is an important metric to monitor as carriers compete for the best drivers in an ever-decreasing pool available. Sign on bonuses are becoming common, as well as performance and productivity-based bonuses.

So, how can a smaller fleet compete with the large carriers? Use telematics to help customize a program for your business that maximizes fleet efficiency, and rewards safety and on-time performance.

Four Truck Driver Retention Strategies Including Telematics: Steps to take for a progressive agenda for your business

Here are four ways that telematics can support a driver retention program:

Reward Top Performers

Rather than dictating rules using a stick, reward drivers with carrots. Use fleet safety reports to identify stellar drivers based on a variety of on-road activities. Drivers can be scored custom-defined factors such as speeding, seat belt usage, braking habits, and acceleration.

Offer bonuses to individuals with high safety scores to help with retention. Another option for recognizing top performers and motivating drivers is fleet gamification.

Optimize Routes

Fleet management tools can not only help your business but also your drivers by shortening trip times and routes. GPS patented breadcrumb trail tracking offers the most advanced insight into a driver’s on-road performance. This enhanced level of accuracy can pinpoint savings at virtually every corner. By optimizing routes, you can reduce the time a driver is out on the road. .

Improve Communication with Drivers

Messaging tools between drivers and dispatch helps to reduce errors, cut down on wasted time, and increase on-time deliveries. Continuous communication takes the guesswork away from the driver and helps them complete their job efficiently and effectively.

Provide Better Training

Another great way to keep drivers is to provide better training so that they are learning and growing on the job. Drivers like to be on the road, driving. So, typical training done in the classroom doesn’t work.

Empower drivers by providing real-time in-vehicle alerts so they can recognize behaviors that need correction. Using text-to-speech technology, you can warn drivers of violations just as they happen, so they can quickly correct their behavior.

High-performing truck drivers are an asset and incredibly valuable resource to any business. Their role requires constant and heightened awareness and good judgment. Help keep your drivers satisfied and rewarded by using the benefits of telematics in your business.

Conclusion

There is so much more that can be done in order to give your employ team the assurance that YOU CARE!

Most company owners forget how much the element of empathy can benefit their business and create a greater sense of responsibility in the workers. This is extremely essential for drivers in the trucking business as their jobs are considered full time and the privileges being provided to them must not involve the regular work of their routine.

The above-mentioned steps will be more helpful than you realize, once you start implementing them in your business, you’ll be able to see a noticeable difference in the attitude of your employees.