Your best drivers perform with their safety and everyone else’s in mind. Although the concept of safe driving may seem obvious, it is often hard to put into consistent practice, given most fleet drivers’ long hours and the need to complete every journey on time.
Thankfully, a sound driver coaching program will help remind them of the rules and how to be safer on the road. But how exactly can you create an effective driver program? Read on to discover what it takes, along with the incentives that will motivate everyone behind the wheel.
What Makes a Powerful Driver Safety Program?
Your drivers need to establish and practice good habits to ensure consistent truck driving safety. Your coaching program will zone in on what they need to know. But how exactly can you capture their attention and maintain their motivation throughout the program? Before anything else, start with the mindset of coaching them about their positive and negative behaviors.
You can’t just point out their mistakes. You need to specify what drivers are doing right for them to continue safe acts like defensive driving. Don’t forget to reward your drivers for their consistent, positive behavior. Reward your best performers with gift cards, a raise, or even publicity in your company newsletters. Recognition for their hard work will go a long way for them and your company.
The Keys to a Positive Driver Incentive Program
Invest in a Reliable Performance Score Tool
In order to effectively incentivize your drivers, you will need a reliable tool that accurately captures every aspect of their job performance. The Driver•i GreenZone Score lets you evaluate driver performance based on both their positive and risky behaviors. Unlike other ratings that focus on mistakes, a GreenZone score recognizes what your drivers are doing right.
The rating between 1 and 1,000 is based on their safe driving habits, so their score goes up every time they follow the rules and exhibit any instances of defensive driving. In turn, the number goes down when they end up hard braking, tailgating, or doing any other risky behavior. 
Clearly Communicate Your Fleet’s Safety Goals
With drivers aware they’ll score higher for more positive behavior, you can establish the fleet’s safety goals according to these rules and acts. Specify what will count for safe driving and remind them how they can continue doing so in every delivery or journey. For instance, you can remind them to avoid distracted driving behaviors like looking at their phones behind the wheel.
Staying focused on the road and avoiding distractions ensures a sound evaluation. They’re also motivated to follow the rules since they’re likelier to get a raise and thrive in their careers thanks to your incentivized program.
Give Drivers Autonomy Over Their Learning Experience
It’s key to provide an easy-to-access platform for drivers to keep track of their own performance score. Usually, the platform is a mobile app that both drivers and fleet managers can access. for example, the Netradyne GreenZone Score is accessed on the Driver•i mobile app. Here, drivers are able to note what they’re doing well, along with coachable events they can improve on to increase their score. The accessible data includes videos they can playback to see where they shine and where they can do better.
While the GreenZone score highlights positive behaviors, it’s important to note that the total score will reflect their overall performance. Both positive and negative behaviors are accounted for, with the former increasing the score and the latter decreasing it. The points are accumulated from recorded instances, such as what the dash cams pick up and the in-cab audio alerts drivers receive to avoid acts like distracted driving.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, having a reliable fleet management platform that contains the necessary vital components for creating such a program will ensure greater bridging of communication gaps between you and your employees.
Here at Netradyne we are dedicated to providing top-quality platforms for effective fleet driver management practices. Learn more about how to find the right fleet management platform for you!
