Fleet Driver Safety: 5 Easy Post-Pandemic Tips

The roads are filling up again. Is your fleet safety program ready?

As people return to streets and highways on the tail end of the COVID pandemic, fleet driver safety concerns will intensify for distribution companies. as. You have probably already noticed that the roads are considerably busier now than they were just a few months ago and that many drivers have forgotten about roadway etiquette and safe driving practices. A recent Transport Topics article highlighted the perils that this situation represents for truck drivers.

So, now that things are opening up and the roads are getting busier, the same pre-pandemic safety guidelines still hold true. Here are five of the best ways to keep your drivers safe in 2021:

1. Get your executives involved.

   Whatever approach you decide to take to fleet driver safety, make sure your executives do more than just sign off on it. Ask them to communicate with your drivers about safety. Drivers who tend to ignore the reminders of a manager will be more likely to listen to instructions from an executive. Your executives should impart to drivers that the company cares about their lives and their safety—and that negligence in this regard can have costly repercussions that put jobs at risk.

2. Emphasize seat belt use.

   This step is so simple that it’s often overlooked. But it’s amazing how many truck drivers still don’t buckle up, leaving themselves at needless risk of serious injury and death. Don’t just remind your drivers to wear seat belts, though—track their compliance electronically. If you’re using Geotab, there’s a Top 5 Seatbelt Violations Report that will make it easy for you to identify your least-buckled-up drivers.

3. Retrain your drivers.

   COVID has affected varying distribution companies in different ways, depending on what kinds of customers they serve and how those customers were impacted by lockdowns. Whether you saw your operations slow down or found your drivers busier than ever, it’s highly likely that during the pandemic, safety training took a back seat to meeting delivery deadlines. Now that things are picking up, perhaps you’re hiring drivers to meet new levels of demand. This is the perfect time to give all your drivers a refresher in basic road safety.

4. Use your fleet telematics software to track fleet driver safety.

   Your software probably offers the features you need to track speeds, routes taken, and other important indicators of driver safety. Let your drivers know you are monitoring this data and then periodically publish a driver scorecard that rates driver performance across your team. You’ll motivate everyone to be at their best.

5. Make it fun—and competitive.

   Monitoring fleet driver safety with software can feel like a negative. It’s your job to spin it into a positive by creating competitions and awarding prizes for the safest drivers. In fact, if you’re leery of publishing all driver safety data and embarrassing the lowest performers, consider publishing only a High Scorers List every month and giving cash prizes (or other valuable perks) to the winners. This approach can have a dramatic effect on safety without creating ill will among drivers who are struggling to comply with guidelines.

Following these simple steps will ensure your drivers’ safety. Let us know if you’d like to learn about how Gridline Analytics can help you better manage and improve fleet driver safety.