OTR Insider – How to Boost Productivity On Your Delivery Team

Running a business that utilizes fleet drivers is extremely demanding. With your employees out of reach while on the road, you may feel you have no way to manage them. Because they’re out of reach, you may also notice their productivity levels are dropping. Professional fleet drivers have a lot of responsibility. From conducting maintenance checks on their vehicles to obeying all traffic laws and keeping passengers safe, your drivers wear a lot of hats. To ensure your employees are on top of their game, implement these best practices into your company to boost productivity.

Use Telematic Technology

If you have or plan on starting your own trucking company, you’re going to have a large number of vehicles to keep track of. Owning a business that utilizes fleet vehicles to deliver your products and services requires a lot of planning, tracking, and commitment. One of the easiest ways to keep an eye on all of your moving property is by utilizing telematics. Vehicle tracking solutions give you real-time updates on where a vehicle is, when it stops, and every turn your driver decides to make.

On the driver’s side, they get to log information on vehicle performance and send updates, while also getting rewarded by their employers for having a safe driving record. With a rewards system in place, fleet drivers will feel appreciated, which will lead to increased productivity and efficiency. Further, telematic technology allows keen insight on important data such as idle time, fuel efficiency, and vehicle health. This visibility allows employers and employees to work in tandem to produce better results.

Keep Your Vehicles and Drivers Safe

Safety should be at the top of your list as an employer of a delivery team. Not only do you want your precious cargo and vehicles to be safe, you need your drivers to be safe as well. Drivers who feel safe on the job will have increased job performance and satisfaction knowing they’re being cared for. Vehicle safety and driver safety go hand in hand, so installing top-rated safety features and gadgets in your vehicles will ultimately keep your drivers out of harm’s way as well.

Here’s how you can increase the safety of your vehicles and your drivers:

• Get a steering wheel lock, kill switch, or advanced alarm to prevent your vehicle from getting stolen when your drivers pull over to a rest stop.
• Install back up cameras and blind spot detectors to keep your drivers safe on the road.
• Train fleet drivers during the onboarding process with proactive safety tips to reduce the chances of car accidents and road rage.
• Install maintenance repair apps on company phones so drivers can determine when they may need their next oil change or other maintenance checkups.

Track Fuel Expenses

Are gas expenses skyrocketing amongst your delivery team? If you notice trends that you’re spending more than you budgeted for on fuel costs, your fleet drivers could be driving inefficiently. Fleet vehicles such as cargo vans and trucks require a lot of gas. To increase your profits, cutting down on fuel expenses will go a long way. With a vehicle tracking solution in place, you’ll be able to monitor your driver’s whereabouts and make real-time decisions on which route they should take to save on gas.

Additionally, you should issue each driver with a company card to use solely for fuel expenses. This will reduce the number of discrepancies made from cash purchases and will give you further insight into how much money is being spent on gas. Gas tracking apps will also give drivers updates on the cheapest local gas stations and allow them to log and monitor their gas usage. Telematics will also give fleet managers a better understanding of idling time and can create solutions to reduce the amount of time a car stays running while not moving.

The Bottom Line

Monitoring productivity of your delivery team doesn’t have to be difficult. Keep track of your company cars with telematics solutions that give you the information you need on the efficiency of your drivers. From monitoring each vehicle’s location to keeping track of fuel expenses, boosting the productivity of your delivery team will boost efficiency in other departments as well!