Earlier this week, Idelic hosted the webinar, “Tackling Turnover: Coaching Drivers and Their Managers,” where our presenters discussed how fleets can implement coaching strategies for both drivers and their managers that are proven to reduce driver turnover.
During the webinar, which you can watch a full recording of here, our presenters highlighted three things every fleet should understand about coaching drivers and their managers:
#1: Every Driver Needs Coaching
Though not every driver needs a targeted professional development plan (PDP), every driver needs continuous coaching throughout their full tenure with a fleet. Even the safest drivers can become complacent, so fleets should assign yearly or quarterly refresher courses to all of their drivers.
#2: Managers Need to See Safety as Their #1 Job
Billy May, National Director of Safety at No Boundaries Trucking Group, has a saying, “We are a safety company that hauls freight.” The surest sign a manager needs training is when they begin to forget that safety is their #1 job at all times. Directors of Safety should take time to impress this fact upon their managers.
#3: Sharing Data with Drivers Can Help Them Take Ownership of Their Performance
Most drivers, and in fact, most people, believe they are an above-average driver, but not everyone can be. Sharing with a driver the key takeaways of the data your fleet has collected on them, which may include:
- How managers view a driver’s performance
- Which of a driver’s behaviors a manager is concerned about and why
- What a driver can do to improve performance
….can show them the facts of their performance and encourage them to take ownership of it. This can result in drivers taking their training seriously and being more conscious of their actions during their daily routines.
The Tool You Need to Tackle Turnover and Coach Drivers
Implementing the advice above can seem difficult, but with the right tools, it doesn’t have to be.
The Idelic Safety Suite® is the most comprehensive driver management platform in the trucking industry and is the premier tool for coaching and retaining drivers. With Safety Suite, fleets can create the high-engagement PDPs they need to retain drivers and instill safety-first values into every member of their fleet. They can also instantly compile all of a driver’s data, fully understand their performance, and prepare for a meeting with that driver in minutes.
If you’d like to learn more about how Safety Suite helps fleets retain drivers for the long haul, watch a 2-minute demo or sign up for a deep dive here.