A happy fleet is a healthy fleet: five ways to reward your best drivers

Drivers are the lifeblood of any successful fleet. Just like topping off the oil in an engine, it pays to keep them happy by recognising when they go the extra mile in their day-to-day duties, writes OSWALDO FLORES.

Raising morale among a fleet’s drivers isn’t just a matter of doing the right thing; data has proven that it can also positively affect the business’s bottom line. As a fleet manager, the best way to show your truckers that you appreciate their efforts is to make sure that your best drivers are properly rewarded for their hard work. Here are some simple steps to make sure your truckers feel appreciated:

Determine how you’ll reward excellence

There are many different ways to reward drivers who go above and beyond, but higher pay is always a safe bet. The approach will change depending on the fleet, but a reliable method is paying drivers a higher per-kilometre rate based on their safety record. This is ideal, because while guaranteeing that more kilometres convert to more pay, it ensures that safety and compliance don’t slip in a rush to add kilometres.

Other fleets may make use of a driver safety incentive programme, offering perks and bonuses in exchange for spotless records. The key to maximising morale with these efforts is to ensure that they always feel like rewards, rather than punishments. For example, getting a bonus for safe driving may be a great feeling for a driver, but if those bonuses end up being an expected part of their monthly pay, they may lose that special feeling and conversely feel punished if they lose a bonus because of an infraction.

Know who your best drivers are

It can be very difficult to reward your top drivers if you don’t know who they are. You can only directly oversee so much when your drivers are hundreds of kilometres away, but today’s telematics offerings make it easy to track numerous behaviours across an entire fleet. Quality telematics will tell you if a driver is adhering to speed limits, stopping to get enough rest, avoiding harsh braking, taking corners smoothly, and much more. These insights can be further customised to focus on particular areas that may need improvement, opening the door to conversations on how the fleet can improve.

Generate a driver scorecard

Once you have all your data, it’s time to put it into action. Driver scorecards track and measure your fleet drivers’ behaviours to make sure they don’t have any dangerous driving habits. These scorecards rank drivers based on individual violations, painting a clear picture of who is excelling and who needs assistance. Fleet owners can incorporate this information into their incentive programs, providing tiered rewards for drivers who rank better on focus areas such as stop sign violations or speeding.

Performance trends can be made visible – anonymously – throughout the fleet, giving struggling drivers something to strive for while bestowing a sense of pride on those who are at the head of the pack.

Coach your drivers

Driver scorecards provide a clear picture to the whole fleet of what top performance looks like, but what will close the gap is to take this a step further and directly coach those who are lagging behind. Managers can use the data from scorecards to provide direct feedback at the end of any given trip, day, week, or month. With the right system, drivers will be notified whenever they make an error while driving, so they also know which areas they can focus on improving.

Keep it going all year

Making a special gesture to recognise your best drivers is sure to have an impact even if you only do it once, but the greatest reward comes from continuing to show that appreciation year-round. Implement the practices above and be consistent with them – and don’t be afraid to brainstorm other custom-made initiatives that will let your drivers know you care about them.

Happy drivers who feel appreciated stay with their companies longer on average, are more efficient in their daily jobs, and demonstrate more commitment and ownership towards their tasks.