By Amrit Aujla, National Recruiting Director, Kee National Staffing Solutions

Once a driver passes their commercial truck test, they are allowed to get to work. In Ontario, this requires a minimum of 103.5 hours. We believe this is not enough for road safety. In the following I will be discussing our companies safety/training strategy.

To start once we approve of a drivers resume, abstract and interview, we arrange a road test. Data we found online states that of all students that take a Ministry of Transportation (MTO) driver test, around 69 per cent pass. When we looked at our road-testing data, we found equivalent results, which proves our quality. We don’t share this to inflate our ego. It is truly important for road safety, as we all share our roads. On the other hand, because all our recruiters drink our safety first “Kool-Aid.” They always tell drivers to take safety vest, safety shoes, hammer, gloves, schedule one sheet (for pre-trip) and to be 15 minutes early, to give the instructor an amazing first impression. Drivers are also encouraged to do a post trip, to show their professionalism.

Once we onboard a new hire, they go though an industry leading finishing program. The length of this program could range from 3 days to 15 days, depending on how fast a driver learns. This starts by coming to our office on first day, to complete interactive online training for safety, compliance, and best practices. This can be completed in their homes, on their computer; however, there is no way we can be certain they are completing tests honestly. At home, they are perhaps more likely to use Google for answers or have a friend or family member help. In addition, when they are in our office, they can get a feel for company culture. Examples here are, we track how many years drivers has worked with us, on a large wall in our entrance. This is how show everyone, how much we appreciate our team members. Lastly, all new hires have their picture taken, and it is shared in our monthly newsletter welcoming them to our team.

Next is the exciting part, drivers start their in-cab training with a mentor. The mentor’s have all completed many years of safe driving and often are referred to in our company as “superhero’s.” At this time, the driver sits in the passenger seat and shadows the driver. The mentor shares information like how to use electronic logs, how to communicate with dispatch, how to operator equipment and customer delivery, and pick up best practices. At the end of this ride along, the mentor shares new hire feedback to safety team. For example, was the new hire early for their shift, and if they are ready for first trip. The timeline here depends on fast of a learner the new hire is.

Next, the new hire is assigned their own truck and given first dispatch. They are given a list of the contacts (including the mentor’s) in the company for any questions and encouraged to check in often. If dispatch can, they will try to send trucks together in a platoon at this point. Dispatch will monitor the new hire, and shares report with operations team. Once the team feel’s driver has graduated program, they are good to go.

The hiring team checks in on new hire on first day, first week, and first month. Going forward drivers are tracked using technology tool’s build into their trucks and trailers. These devices create a driver scorecard, which is shared with the driver. The scorecard is not the be all and end all. We understand sometime units need calibration, and sometimes the GPS shows incorrect locations causing speeding concerns. It is more used as a data driven safety feedback tool.

Issues do come up in our industry, we understand we are all humans and make mistakes. When an issue comes up, we tend to use a “soft-soap” approach” to discipline. Some companies believe in the principle of hire slow and fire fast. This is a flawed approach, because the time and effort required to bring on and train new hire. In addition, companies with a high turnover have a tough time recruiting new hires.

In closing, writing a blog for a leading women’s magazine would not be complete without thanking the wonderful women in our industry for everything they do. In addition, from our collected data over the years, we can 100 per cent say women are safe drivers, because they are patient. They are always ready to lend a helping hand. We are proud to share our most senior staff member who holds over 25 years of experience is a woman.