The most important Tips to create better drivers within your fleet. They’re out on the roads and must manage each aspect of their work. Accidents are also a normal element of the fleet’s activities.
They are usually preventable since the driver’s reckless behavior causes them. For example, reckless driving increases the likelihood of accidents by 35%.
As a fleet supervisor, you can take various measures to stop these behaviors. This will ensure a safe fleet with a lower risk for your business and help reduce overall expenses.
Top 5 Tips to create better drivers within your fleet
1. Instruct your drivers to create plans for rest stops
Around 328,000 collisions occur every year due to sleepy driving, leading to more than 6000 deaths. Make sure your driver plan breaks on their routes and plan out the rest stops before time.
Apps like “USA Rest Stop Locator” or Google Maps’ “Rest Stops Near Me” can assist you in achieving exactly that.
These rest stop applications assist your driver in building an inventory of safe locations they can pull over to allow them to rest, enhancing their reaction speed and decreasing HOS-related violations.
In Samsara’s ELD solution, it is possible to access HOS Violations Scheduled Report also offers real-time insight into how drivers struggle to remain HOS in compliance.
In this regard, it’s crucial to help your drivers use their judgment and take a break when necessary. “It’s important to work safely,” Harrison explained. “Everyone on the road wants to return home to their family members at the end of the day.
It is important to think of your job as a race, not as a race. Let the public in your car know you are professional when you drive in a relaxed or passive manner daily.”
2. Use cameras to instruct drivers on safety
Dash cameras offer fleet managers the information they require to recognize, diagnose and guide drivers. “Cameras allow fleet managers to identify driving behavior trends and enable them to pinpoint quickly and respond to high-risk drivers with appropriate interventions and coaching,” the fleet manager of RK Camp Transport, an Ohio flatbed trucking firm, was quoted as saying.
Using the videos from extreme events to instruct your drivers makes your fleet more secure and saves your company cost in the future.
The well-established and reputable food and beverages transportation firm Mitchell Companies recently introduced dual-facing cameras and noticed an enormous impact on their safety and pocketbook.
“Since we began using the cameras, we have been able to monitor our fleet much more closely from a safety standpoint,” said Mike Thrailkill.
“The ability to spot possible mistakes when driving, and the learning moment that could be triggered by the videos significantly improved the security of our fleet of delivery operations. Since we have installed cameras, our auto-claims have decreased by 34 percent.”
In addition to capturing events of extreme severity such as traffic accidents and abrupt stops in the middle of the road, Samsara’s AI dash cams can also send fleet managers real-time alerts about unsafe driving habits that might be difficult to trace, like driving beyond the speed limit or going across stop-signs. This allows for swift training sessions based on the data instead of just guessing.
3. Train drivers on how to be prepared for weather conditions
The typical commercial truck driver covers between 2,000 and 3,000 miles every week. Weather patterns could alter as fast as every 5 miles; it’s not difficult to imagine the variety of weather conditions a commercial driver could encounter during an extended distance.
In the presence of multiple automobiles throughout the nation, tracking the weather conditions for all trucks operating on the road is challenging for the fleet manager.
With Samsara’s live-map weather overlay, managers of fleets will have access to the weather radar of their vehicle’s location. This lets fleet manager’s direct drivers to avoid hazardous weather conditions and aid drivers in establishing an action plan in case they are trapped in adverse weather.
Harrison advises his drivers always to carry an emergency bag. The kit should contain at the very least one gallon of drinking liquid, two days of non-perishable foods, money, first-aid kits like band aids, disinfectant spray, and gauze, as well as an additional pair of warm clothes, a cellphone charger, flashlight, knife, or multi-purpose tools such as jumping cables, emergency flares, and chains.
4. Instruct drivers to pay close attention to their vehicle maintenance
The majority of truck accidents are the result of brakes that are not working correctly. These roughly 250,00 accidents per year could have been avoided with scheduled vehicle maintenance.
By scheduling routine maintenance such as oil adjustments and tire rotations using tools such as Samsara’s built-in maintenance log, fleet administrators make sure their vehicles are safe, improve their maintenance process, and cut down on long wait times at the repair shop.
Another good method for all fleets, which includes non-ELD fleets, is to require the driver to complete an official driver’s Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR). While paper DVIRs are an efficient method to record an inspection, the follow-up process and accountability could be challenging.
They are also frequently lost or not seen. Samsara makes the transition to digital DVIRs simple by permitting drivers to send the DVIR electronically and upload pictures of any maintenance issues.
Fleet managers are given the ability to assess the condition of their vehicles and make road-ready decisions immediately at any time, from anywhere. Find out more about how Samsara can help move to paper-free DVIRs, improve your vehicles’ uptime, and cut expenses.
5. Discourage driving distracted
Harrison assists his drivers to stay secure and on the road using the triangle model that includes speed space, space, and stuff. Harrison thinks in the long run, as long as all three elements are balanced and drivers are in a position to increase their security.
“‘Speed’ represents controlling your vehicle speed to match your environment (such as road, weather, and traffic conditions as well as speed limits), ‘space’ refers to keeping appropriate space and braking distances between vehicles, and ‘stuff’ indicates any distractions that might come up,” Harrison stated.
Last year, 9 percent of truckers involved in a car accident resulting in a victim’s death were on their cell phones.
Nowadays, mobile phones or tablets inside the truck are required for drivers, but it allows drivers to engage in distraction-driven driving habits such as sending texts or surfing the web. Although ‘no cellphone’ guidelines are an excellent place to begin, they can be difficult to implement.
Texting, and other distraction actions, are identified through Samsara’s AI dash camera and alert fleet managers that drivers are distracted when driving.
For those who want to make the most of the efficiency of instant feedback and to bring coaching to the cab, the Samsara AI dash cam can also provide instant voice-based feedback and alarms in the event of dangerous driving.
Harrison reminds motorists that when it comes to driving distracted, most of all, it’s crucial to remain focused. “Instead of thinking about the thousands of miles ahead, think of the next mile. Don’t be rushed or complacent!
