3 Strategies for Maintaining a Safe and Well-Trained Fleet of Drivers

In an industry with a notoriously high turnover rate, the highest rate of fatal work injuries and rising insurance costs, the importance of creating safe driver programs cannot be overstated.¹

Although fatal crashes involving commercial trucks in Canada were trending downward between 2012 and 2021,² 2022 boasted the highest number of collisions involving transport trucks in Ontario in more than a decade.³ After a series of accidents involving inexperienced truck and bus drivers, most Canadian provinces have implemented some form of mandatory entry-level training (MELT) requirements. But more than half of fleet carriers say MELT has not improved the quality of new drivers.⁴

What’s more, insurance premiums for new drivers — whether they are drivers under the age of 25 or have fewer than three years of experience — are significantly higher than insurance for more experienced drivers.⁵

With a shortage of 20,000 drivers and roughly one third of current drivers nearing retirement,⁶ commercial fleet carriers are in a constant cycle of hiring and training. However, implementing safe driving programs, offering incentives and investing in driver finishing programs can help reduce accidents and boost recruitment efforts.

Finishing off driver training

With so many drivers expected to retire, recruiting new drivers is more important than ever. However, inexperienced commercial drivers — regardless of age — have higher rates of accidents on average. In fact, drivers with fewer than three years of experience or under the age of 25 are more likely to have a crash compared with more seasoned drivers.⁷

Driver finishing programs are one way to help reduce risk and ensure inexperienced drivers are ready for the road. These programs can range from assigning mentors to ride along with new drivers and provide assistance, to creating a full educational curriculum requiring as many as 200 hours behind the wheel with a trainer.

Incentivizing a culture of safety

To improve overall safety among both new and experienced drivers, create an incentive program — complete with driver rewards and recognition — to encourage safe driving behaviours. These programs are not only effective, particularly those with monetary rewards, but can also help promote retention and boost morale.

Adding these types of programs will also make your fleet a more attractive risk to insurers. To create a successful program, fleets should:

• Define the program. Whether it’s a finishing or incentive program, ensure all aspects of the program, from requirements to benefits, are defined and disseminated to both prospective and current drivers. To obtain buy-in, ask current drivers for their input before finalizing the plan. This may include gauging driver interest in mentoring inexperienced drivers in a finishing program or asking drivers what incentives would be the most meaningful to them for engaging in safe, accident-free behaviours.
• Specifics are key. For a driver training program, ensure any training is specific to the types of vehicles in your fleet and include a thorough review of your company’s policies, procedures and expectations for drivers. Specifics are also key for incentive programs: Criteria for acquiring a reward for safe driving behaviours should be spelled out along with the rewards — such as a modest cash bonus or variant pay scale for drivers that meet certain telematics thresholds. Allowing drivers to have a daily or weekly actionable dashboard of their scores can also be an effective motivator for improvement.
• Be inclusive. With the current influx of immigrants to Canada, it makes sense for any motor carrier to ensure that both programs and driver-facing materials go beyond just English and French. For example, Ontario and British Columbia both have large populations of drivers whose primary languages are Punjab, Mandarin and Cantonese.⁸ A multilingual driver educational management system can also assist in learning.
• Present your program successes to underwriters. Insurers favourably view fleet carriers that have taken extra steps to educate, train and incentivize good behaviours among their drivers. Presenting data that shows the program’s success in reducing accidents and promoting safe driving behaviours can help any motor carrier at renewal. Integrating improved telematics scores tied to driver learning and education can prompt insurance underwriters to offer discounts that provide a return on your investment.

Contact HUB International’s transportation insurance experts to learn more about how to improve your safety profile through recruiting and retention. You can also learn more about HUB’s commercial trucking insurance services here.

¹ Government of Canada, “2021 Annual Report – Occupational injuries in the Canadian federal jurisdiction,” accessed June 23, 2024.
² Government of Canada, “Commercial vehicle collisions in Canada, 2012-2021,” accessed June 23, 2024.
³ CTV News, “Highest number of transport truck collisions in ten years: OPP,” July 9, 2023.
⁴ Truck News, “Truck drivers want more training, MELT falling short: Survey,” December 1, 2023.
⁵ Business Insurance Help, “Commercial Trucking Insurance and Education,” April 2024.
⁶ Canadian Trucking Alliance, “PWC Report: Truck Driver Shortage a Risk to Canada’s Economy,” September 22, 2023.
⁷ Business Insurance Help, “Commercial Trucking Insurance and Education,” April 2024.
⁸ Truck News, “Language of trucking go beyond English and French,” June 29, 2022.