TRUCK DRIVERS: YEAR-END CONCERNS FOR HAULAGE BUSINESS

Capacity building or training for Truck Drivers has never been one of the strong points of haulage companies in Nigeria. Many believe that training truck drivers is none other than a clear waste of scarce resources. Some even believe that Truck Drivers are ‘untrainable’! (We will be coming up with an extensive study of this unhealthy paradigm in some weeks’ time. Please watch out!) But the reality of how wrong and counter-productive this position is can be seen in the innumerable ills ravaging haulage operations in this part of the world. However, for those that still value their undoubtedly most important asset enough to want to invest in them, a time like this is perhaps the best time to arrange some form of training for the truck drivers.

However, preparatory to this, the Fleet Manager or Operations Manager may want to take the time to assess the performance of drivers during the year and design a menu of training interventions that will be pertinent to each driver – whether that is speed awareness, maneuvering, drug or substance abuse, use of mobile phones or whatever the issue is that is causing accidents and costs to rise. Through the use of some form of assignment strategy, a number of training plans can be organised for your truck drivers at this time of the year when haulage operation is light and the possibility of income loss is substantially reduced.

Still on truck drivers, there also can be no better time than now to specially appreciate and acknowledge your priced assets for a job well done. Such objective parameters or Key Performance Indicators (Please read up Key Performance Indicators for better understanding) like Best Maintained Truck, Most Safety-Conscious Driver, Least Problematic Truck, Cleanest Truck, Turnaround Champion, Least Sanctioned or Sanction-Free Driver; Most Friendly or Well-Behaved Driver, Most Preferred Driver (client’s consistent choice based on track records) etc. are some of the yardsticks that can be drawn up to appreciate drivers.

Finally, we also must mention that there couldn’t be a better time than now to weed out consistently delinquent drivers from the pool.