• Organizations must implement policies and procedures that define acceptable, safe behaviors and unacceptable, unsafe behaviors and identify the consequences.
• Along with improving retention, a performance management program can help an organization avoid being guilty of negligent supervision or worse.
• Recognition and reward programs, combined with a solid performance management process, can aid in minimizing unintended turnover of the safest, most dependable and productive drivers.

Retention is impacted from the top down. Organizations must make safety and improving their drivers a value through clear policies and procedures that define acceptable, safe behaviors and unacceptable, unsafe behaviors, along with the associated consequences. Once a company develops (or updates), communicates, and trains (and retrains) drivers and supervisors on policies and procedures, all of the employees will understand performance boundaries and know how to drive improvement.

To support operations with fleet management systems, electronic logging, and the associated telematic data, the following actions should be considered:

• Develop comprehensive safety policies and procedures as a foundation for a structured performance assessment and training program that can:
  • Prioritize risky behavior events for timely coaching,
  • Highlight desirable behavior and provide recognition opportunities, and
  • Provide a balanced measure of good and bad behaviors to gauge overall driver performance and risk.
• Define when and how (hands-on, class, online, etc.) people (drivers and supervisors) will be trained, and on which skills;
• Outline how and when drivers will be disciplined, retrained, and when necessary, terminated; and
• Outline how and when drivers will be recognized and rewarded for positive behaviors.

After the policies and procedures are developed and/or updated, ask these questions:

• Has the organization provided consistent leadership, clear guidance, and the appropriate training and tools to improve the safety and compliance culture?
• Has the organization maximized their investment in electronic performance monitoring and training systems to ensure profitability and avoid excessive liability?”

Avoid negligent supervision

Along with improving retention, a dash-cam coaching and performance management program can help an organization avoid being guilty of negligent supervision or worse. An initial priority is to decide which safety management controls are in greatest need of strengthening. Negligent supervision occurs when a carrier fails to properly identify, coach, and remediate high-risk drivers or office personnel, leading to poor performance, or worst case, a crash involving a fatality or injuries.

Targeting risky driving and compliance behavior is a top priority that should pay great dividends in a short timeframe, since all cost avoided by reducing accidents and violations falls to the bottom-line profits. Inefficient behaviors such as consistently low miles per gallon or poor service are also costly, but these should be the second tier of improvement initiatives.

A performance management system, with targeted reporting, can help identify the riskiest drivers that must be coached and/or trained. Targeting risky drivers instead of “lecturing” the entire group prevents alienating some drivers. Repeat offenders of safety standards should have a very clear progressive discipline plan that communicates that the individuals must eliminate the risky behavior or find another job.

To keep it simple, a few key areas that correlate to increased crash risk are:

• Excessive speed — accumulated time and speeding events
• Hard-braking and distracted-driving event trends
• Previous safety incidents including non-reportable accidents
• Log falsification incidents and recurring limits violations

The benefits to the bottom line are obvious when crashed can be avoided.

Attack inefficiency and improve service

Driver performance is also measured by electronic logging devices (ELDs) that are connected to a truck’s engine control module (ECM) and possess global positioning system (GPS) data, which allows an investment in the electronic logging system to generate even more dividends. Reports that identify opportunities to recognize drivers, increase productivity, and ultimately improve profitability will allow organizations to generate more revenue and/or profit with the same number of drivers.

Opportunities for the more efficient use of resources can be identified in reports on high-leverage items such as:

• Excessive customer delays
• Real-time delivery and route tracking
• Fuel efficiency
• Driver and vehicle utilization
• Automated International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) reporting
• Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR) defect repairs to avoid breakdowns
• Driver scorecards

Improve retention with performance coaching, recognition, and rewards

Recognition and reward programs, combined with a solid performance management process, can aid in minimizing unintended turnover of the safest, most dependable and productive drivers. Moving individuals from unacceptable or marginal performance levels to “keepers” can reduce turnover and the associated cost of employee churn, keep trucks moving efficiently and decrease potential liability.

The criteria established in the safety and performance policies and procedures mentioned earlier are the foundation of driver scorecards, which provide a balanced evaluation of drivers. “Good drivers” who run high miles may represent the highest risk for negligent supervision. Balanced reporting allows the team to see the true value and risk of each driver.

The benefits of recognizing and coaching drivers won’t last without ongoing monitoring of behaviors. Don’t confuse dependability with loyalty, as good performers also need to feel appreciated by management on an ongoing basis, just as lower performers need to be coached and trained.

Driver scorecards are an integral tool to recognize positive behaviors and draw attention to negative ones. The scorecard is also a way to promote friendly competition, reward cost-saving and safe behavior, and sustain continuous improvement as a keystone of the company culture.

Investing now in improving performance management processes, driver rewards programs, and the bottom-line profitability will allow a company to grow, instead of tread water.

The cost to replace a fully trained driver can exceed $10,000 in many companies if the lost productivity, training, and sign-on bonuses are considered. Unfortunately, this isn’t an issue that will be going away. Drivers are projected to be even more scarce in the future, and trucking conditions will likely favor the carrier for quite some time. These conditions make it even more important to build data-driven performance management and retention processes to help sustain the business well into the future.