3 Simple Ways to Discipline Your Drivers

1. Set a speed limit.
This will help your drivers avoid accidents, and it will also help you save fuel. Most car manufacturers recommend a speed of 60-65 kph for economic fuel consumption, and for trucks it's 50-56 kph. Some drivers may find it difficult to comply, so you might need a device for drivers who can't help but step on the gas pedal. There are quite a few vehicle speed limiter devices on the market for that.

2. Give them specific driving time frames.
Simple: just tell them to come back by x time. Of course you'll need to account for traffic, accidents, and others, so make the time reasonable. This will help cut down on unnecessary side trips (and consequently, unnecessary over time pay). More importantly, your deliveries are on time.

3. Allow breaks from driving.
You might want to get more deliveries done, but what if it's at the cost of more accidents? Don't overwork your drivers. In Europe drivers aren't allowed to drive non-stop for more than 4 hrs. and 30 mins., and they're allowed 45-minute breaks between driving hours. In Australia, the maximum non-stop driving time is 5 hours. These rules were set in those countries for a reason--lack of sleep can cause irritability (which in turn might start road rage) or falling asleep on the wheel. It might be a good idea to implement a similar rule in your company.

These are only a couple of simple, easy-to-implement tips on how to manage your drivers, but even simple methods can come a long way to improving operations.

For more ways to discipline drivers, click here.