The "Good Driver"
By Les Nugen, Marvin Johnson & Associates
The "good driver" has been given a bad name in a lot of companies. So much so that I am ready to proclaim that the "good driver" will be the one that puts you out of business. But Les, don't we all want good drivers working for us you ask? How can a good driver possibly put us out of business? Well, the answer depends on whose definition of a good driver that you use.
Let me give some all too frequent examples of how a good driver is defined:
- A driver tests positive on a drug test. The company wants to make an exception to their zero tolerance policy and keep him because - he is a "good driver".
- A driver has 3 out of service inspections, several speeding stops, and a following too closely showing on Safestat in just over a year and the company wants to keep her because - she is a "good driver".
- We analyze your collisions over the past several years and find that the same drivers show up several times in preventable accidents and they are kept around because - they are "good drivers".
When did the definition of a good driver get so twisted around anyway? A good driver does not behave anything like the scenarios listed above. A good driver does not put themselves, the people around them, or your company at risk. The drivers in the scenarios above repeatedly put all of these at risk.
The drivers in these scenarios are poison to company morale. Many drivers that are actually good drivers do not want to drive for companies who retain these types of drivers. If you have policies in place that are meant to control these types of behaviors then making exceptions to them to keep one of these drivers only makes the other drivers frustrated and untrusting of management.
With the changes coming about due to CSA 2010 these "good drivers" are going to lead to all kinds of interventions and interactions with the FMCSA. Eventually this can only lead to bad outcomes if enough of these interventions take place. Another issue that is starting to worry many legal experts in the industry is that with the new information that will be available to you on drivers' histories that there could be increases in accident settlements and negligent hiring or retention law suits. It is easier to make the case for this when the attorney can show that the driver had a pattern of violations and the company ignored it.
Knowing all of this, let's quit giving the actual good drivers in the industry a bad name. Drivers who have bad safety records are not good drivers no matter how many loads they will deliver on time or when dispatch is in a pinch. A truly good driver delivers the freight AND does it safely. In fact, why don't you go tell your drivers that really are good drivers how much you appreciate the job that they do for you. These drivers are the key to your company's success going forward.
Driving Ambition is a premier CDL truck driver staffing company serving Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Since 2001, we have specialized in matching safe, experienced CDL drivers for our customers and great job opportunities for our professional truck drivers.
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