How To Train Your Drivers In Fleet Safety With Fleet GPS

Both fatal and relatively harmless traffic accidents are increasing in the United States with every passing day. That’s why it has become more important than ever for transport brands to take appropriate steps to prioritize fleet safety by coaching the drivers and taking other initiatives. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, exactly 42,795 people died in motor vehicle crashes in America in 2022. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this picture won’t improve, even if you look specifically at the transportation industry. Transportation and logistics workers are the occupational groups facing more on-the-job fatalities than others, including 1,523 in 2021. This number increased by 18.8% from 2020. In an overall workforce, automobile crashes are the most common type of fatal event, resulting in 1,982 deaths in 2021 - 11.5% more than in 2020. In fact, transportation incidents resulted in 38.2% of all job-related fatalities in 2021.

A fleet vehicle driver in the USA covers around 20,000 to 25,000 miles per year. On the other hand, non-fleet drivers cover only 12,000 to 15,000 miles per year. These extra miles contribute to the odds of collisions for fleet drivers.

Fortunately, a fleet GPS tracker, combined with the coaching methods described below, can help you focus more on fleet safety.

Training your fleet drivers

1. With data

How important is data in promoting fleet safety? The Fleet Technology Trends Report of 2024 states that a company can reduce instances of accidents by 15% if it implements fleet management solutions.

When you provide feedback to a driver about unsafe or harsh driving behavior, use data to make the coaching moment more impactful. In doing so, you highlight their actions and inactions. Furthermore, the data you gather can also display the effect of positive behavior in improving fleet safety and operational efficiency.

Clear data points give you the opportunity to come up with unshakable reasons that you can use to change driver behavior. Here’s an example - if your driver monitoring system shows a driver tends to apply the brakes too harshly or accelerate aggressively, you should present this data to your driver as evidence of the occurrences. It’s the first step in changing on-road behavior, particularly if they happen regularly. In the second step, share evidence of improvements backed by the industry.

Feedback on driving behavior is often hard to hear, but no one can argue with genuine data shared during a coaching session. Also, when you provide this information more often, your drivers can understand how their actions affect the big picture.

2. With verbal feedback

Word-of-mouth feedback is a very effective tool for drivers, as it helps them understand the outcomes of their actions. While in-vehicle safety alerts are useful, one-on-one sessions backed with data tend to be highly effective in training drivers to eliminate bad on-road habits.

3. With in-vehicle audio alerts

Real-time feedback helps drivers understand what they must modify about their driving. In-vehicle coaching using audio alerts is an immediate and effective way of alerting the driver to tailgating, pedestrians, and drowsy driving.

4. With ongoing training

You need to acknowledge the fact that driver training isn’t a one-time discussion to change behavior. Instead, you must create individual programs for your drivers to focus on their driving behaviors. Only then can you see improvement or stagnation.

Final considerations

There are a few other components of a successful driver coaching program that you can use to improve fleet safety. For example, you may try to foster a safety-first culture, share safe driving metrics on a priority basis, and reward your people for good driving behavior. A telematics fleet GPS device is the best tool for monitoring behind-the-wheel behavior.

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