Heavy Duty Trucking, February 2018

HDT FEBRUARY 2018 66 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM respond positively to that It all comes back to communications You get better results the more you interact with them Recent research by PIT Group a thirdparty engineering organization shows that driver training to boost safety or fuel efficiency is only effective when it includes refresher courses Separate studies it conducted of groups of truck and bus drivers found that providing refresher training and coaching via in vehicle technology that address bad habits and reinforce effective skills is needed to maintain and improve performance In one fuel efficiency study PIT Group compared 47 control group and 38 test group long haul drivers before and after simulator training After training evaluations were performed at one three six and nine months According to PIT Group research leader Jan Michaelsen thanks to close monitoring and communication with drivers including frequent reminders of how they were performing the test data show that drivers operating a truck an average of 156000 miles per year could save 2640 gallons annually Any technology you can apply to training should be seen as a tool says Michaelsen Its what you do with it that counts Its clear to us going back many years that just giving training with no follow up coaching or retraining is not enough While he concedes that training will have no impact on some others will quickly revert to old habits if they dont receive followup He says follow up training can include issuing reports for drivers to review on their own key performance indicators as well as providing periodic coaching as warranted Some carriers schedule general refresher training at least every two years Its not revolutionary but what you want to do is sustain your training efforts over time Michaelsen warns against letting things get stale You dont want to provide the same training year after year without focusing on weaknesses or using new material to keep it interesting and effective Its not so much the type of training but the monitoring and follow up that delivers continual results Inside the cab In cab coaching can be seen as continually empowering drivers who want to perform president of sales and marketing for CarriersEdge Thats the thinking behind our interactive self study modules They let drivers learn where and when its most convenient to them and that helps them retain the information because they are receiving it in a less disruptive way Delivering corporate training online is fairly new to trucking he says in part because the trucking industry is under trained when it comes to providing for professional development of drivers He says thats due to how expensive and disruptive it is to provide ongoing training in person Drivers work away from the company Taking training including refresher courses to drivers by putting it online makes them feel valued But while online training is a great use of technology he cautions that its not everything You still need the practical coaching on the road and the classroom components with its social aspect to have a complete training program We provide a library of generic content and the tools to track all elements of the fleets training He says the training content runs the gamut from dealing with regulatory compliance issues to developing softer skills such as how to respond at an accident scene or the steps involved in border crossing Regardless of who or what delivers the training Murrell says to make it a point not to talk down to drivers and avoid taking an or else attitude Our approach is the driver is a professional and here are some things that can help them on the job Feedback we get shows that drivers technology We use CarriersEdge training modules during orientation and for continuing driver education He says prior to adding the online component Halvor had new drivers watch up to five hours of safety and training videos during orientation That checked off the box he says but it doesnt mean they absorbed it But we find they retain information after going through the CarriersEdge orientation modules That online instruction covers C TPAT and Security and Threat Awareness topics and includes tests that engage the drivers so they just dont listen but learn the material Halvor also provides hands on learning including on its own truck simulator Lang says new drivers will typically drive the lowbridge simulation as a skill test We also use the simulator for continuing education Our drivers come in once a year to test their skills against various scenarios Out on the road CarriersEdge provides continuing education to Halvors drivers If we see a skill that needs addressing we can assign from a list of the training modules Lang says Drivers can use their laptop or tablet and complete the module when its convenient We monitor how they are doing and record their progress Halvor can also upload its own material to the CarriersEdge web portal such as refresher courses for inperson training drivers have completed Online on the road Good communications and training go hand in hand says Mark Murrell vice DRIVER SERIES TRAINING Drivers who received specialized training plus personalized follow up achieved greater fuel efficiency over time PHOTO PIT GROUP THE VALUE OF FOLLOWING UP