5 Tips to Hire Safe Fleet Drivers
21 Nov 2016
Developing a tradition of hiring sleet drivers for your business is an important tool for helping to keep your costs of insurance down, ensuring that your deliveries are made safely, and improving overall public opinion of your business. These tips will help you focus your time and attention on safe drivers so you can reap all these rewards and more.
1) Test the Driver’s Skills
If you want the full measure of a driver’s skill, this will require two tests. One written and one on-the-road. Pay attention to things like how the driver switches lanes, how aggressive he or she is when dealing with other drivers, safety measures when backing up, slowing, changing lanes, handling hills, and driving on city roads and highways.
2) Conduct a thorough Background Screening
This screenings needs to include professional and personal motor vehicle records in every state where the driver has had a license. While some things can be excused in a driving record due to youth and recklessness, you’re looking for current and continuing issues (such as a lead foot, a tendency for rear-end collisions that may indicate following too closely to other vehicles, or aggressive driving or road rage incidents).
Even after hiring new drivers, continue checking their MVRs so that you know their records continue to be clean and clear of potential problems for your business.
3) Establish Policies and Expectations
Don’t imply anything. Put it into writing. Make it as concise and clear as possible. Let drivers know what your expectations and their responsibilities as drivers for your business are. Revisit the policy frequently throughout the year in meetings and training to ensure that no one has an opportunity to forget the policies or claim ignorance of them.
4) Verify any Certifications Your Drivers Have
If your drivers are hauling hazardous materials, or any other materials that require certification, it is always best to verify rather than take a driver’s word, or even a piece of paper, for it. In the wise words of President Reagan, “Trust, but verify.”
5) Provide Training before Allowing New Drivers behind the Wheel
Make all new drivers go through a company training course before releasing them behind the wheels of one of your vehicles alone. These drivers represent your business, after all, and you want to make sure their driving habits are saying the right things.
Once you’ve hired drivers for your fleet, you now have the ability, through GPS fleet tracking, to keep tabs on new drivers by setting up email alerts that will notify you if drivers are speeding, hard braking, idling excessively, or a variety of other potentially bad behavior behind the wheel – making identifying unsafe drivers a much easier proposition.
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