Fleet Drivers Need Refresher Courses and In-vehicle Technologies Help New Study Show
Looking to improve the performance of your commercial fleet drivers?
A new study from PIT Group, a research and engineering group focused on improving fleet maintenance and operations in the North American transportation industry, indicates that driver fuel efficiency and safety training is only effective if it includes refresher courses.
The study also showed the benefit of in-vehicle technologies to reinforce good practices and address weaknesses, ideally in real-time.
In one study on fuel efficiency performance, PIT Group compared 47 control and 38 test long haul fleet drivers before and after simulator training that focused on specific elements, including speed, boost pressure, braking, acceleration and RPM. Initial baseline performance measures were established over a period of two months before test drivers were trained. After training, evaluations were performed at one, three, six and nine months.
“The largest impacts on fuel consumption in long haul operations were the use of cruise control, proper acceleration and maintaining the correct engine and road speed,” Provencher related. “With close monitoring and communication with drivers, including frequent reminders of how efficiently they were performing, the test data show that long haul drivers operating a truck an average of 156,000 miles per year could save 2,640 gallons of fuel annually.”
“What these and other studies tell us is that training is only effective if it is reinforced with new ideas and structured to include regular reminders,” Provencher stated. “Many companies make the mistake of providing the same training year after year without focusing on weaknesses or adding new ideas to make the lessons more interesting and effective.
“Regardless of the type of training and its initial effectiveness, it is human nature to revert to old habits unless we are constantly reminded what works best,” Provencher added. “In the end, the type of training really doesn’t matter as much as the monitoring that takes place afterward.”
Category: Featured, General Update, News
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