Without accountability, driver performance can be erratic. When you log into your fleet tracking software, the last thing you want to see is drivers wasting fuel and damaging the vehicles — ultimately costing the business money and increasing the risk of liability. Revenue is tight enough with the battle to win customers over competitors.
With fleet tracking software, you can get perspective on how drivers are treating their vehicles and how they’re using their time. Examples include hard braking, rapid acceleration, wasteful idling, and speeding. By monitoring these reports, you can evaluate how drivers are performing in the field and at their jobsites.
The key to improving driver behavior starts with accountability. We’ll discuss how to go about it so you can build lasting and beneficial relationships with your drivers.
Explain the Big Picture
The first step is communication. Have an all-hands-on-deck meeting with your drivers. You’ll want to explain how the company is using a fleet tracking (or GPS tracking) system to monitor vehicle health and driver performance. Demonstrate what items you’ll be paying attention to and then discuss why you’re paying attention to them. Use some of Zubie’s feedback features as methods to reinforce your message. Items like the Leaderboard and other Dashboard features and reports were designed with this purpose in mind.
Drivers will understand your actions if you show them how it impacts the business. It provides a reason. People always seek an answer to “because ….” When you go over behavioral items like hard braking and rapid acceleration, connect the dots for them. Show them how it impacts vehicle health and drives up costs. If you want, you can relate it to how it could impact wages and salaries (or bonuses).
Have One-on-One Meetings with Drivers
On a regular basis, whether it’s once a month or once a quarter, meet with drivers individually. You can discus customer reviews of their work, how they’re performing on the job, etc. But it’s also a good time to include driving performance. Show them the measurements in your fleet tracking system and show them how it is hurting or benefiting the company.
By holding them accountable and discussing how you’d like to see improvements (if needed), it gives the driver more reason to exemplify good driving behavior. If their driver performance is exemplary, then it’s a good time to give them praise, further encouraging the right behavior.
Without one-on-one meetings, it’s hard to hold drivers accountable and it becomes harder to enforce the behavior you’d like to see. For more information about holding one-on-one meetings, check out this article by the Harvard Business Review.
Create an Incentive Program
If the right behavior is still not shaping up with one-on-one or group meetings, another tactic you can try is starting an incentive program. This could mean offering a bonus during performance reviews or an extra vacation day. Whatever the reward, make sure the driver feels it’s valuable. Otherwise you won’t get the reaction you want.
You can also divide drivers into teams, and whichever teams performs the best, gets a larger reward. Using teams can be beneficial, because they can hold each other accountable for their success and failure. It takes the burden off of you in some cases, and creates a more organic performance improvement.
Thinking About How Fleet Tracking Can Work For You and Your Drivers?
For more information about Zubie’s fleet management solution and using driver behavior reports to coach your team, improve safety and performance click here.
{{cta(‘59527620-1028-40e5-97f3-2df52ba7c011’)}}