Researchers have conducted studies which identified safety-management practices for the trucking industry that are scientifically proven to help your fleet. Thanks to these studies, you can make sure you’re implementing safety best-practices that are supported by hard data and guaranteed to work. Even better, many of these practices are easy to implement and free to use, so your fleet can take advantage of these three proven strategies:
#1: Implement Driver Fatigue Training
In a study comparing the safety practices of 116 fleets, one of the critical determinants of accident reduction was driver fatigue training. Another study published in the Journal of Safety found that when given driver fatigue training, drivers significantly retained the information they were taught, actually implemented the strategies suggested, and a majority of drivers felt they had benefited from the course.
We recommend to safety managers using a tool like the Idelic Safety Suite to track drivers’ progress as they move through driver fatigue training modules, whether designed in-house or pulled in from a training software, like Pro-Tread.
#2 Give Driver Input Serious Consideration
The same study of 116 fleets also found that a key predictor of accident reduction was whether management teams allowed drivers to give safety input. Simply put, drivers know their job best and feel they have more reason to think about safety than anyone. Because of this, most drivers believe they are safety experts in their own way, and want to share their expertise.
Safety managers can set up a formal process for drivers to submit suggestions for improving fleet-wide safety procedures.
Fleets with Safety Suite can send regular surveys to drivers asking for their input on safety procedures and other aspects of the fleet you might want driver input on.
#3 Orient All Management Practices To Be Safety Focused
Among the 116 fleets mentioned above, one element that the safest fleets had in common was a “top commitment to safety.” The researchers found that when high-level management in a fleet lists “Safety” as a core value, their fleet has fewer accidents than those that don’t keep safety top of mind.
Of course, merely adding safety to the list of fleet values won’t change things overnight. This research suggests that fleets who incorporate safety into every aspect of their business see improved safety outcomes compared to fleets who don’t. Essentially, if managers make safety a top priority for themselves, it becomes a top priority for the drivers, building a robust, top-down safety culture.
At Idelic, our first core value is Safety. Our goal is to instill a culture of safety in not only drivers and managers on the Idelic Safety Suite, but throughout the industry as a whole. With Safety Suite, everyone can keep safety top-of-mind, and making it a priority doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Watch a short video on how you can simplify your safety
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