In an effort to combat the shortage of commercial drivers, one safety and transportation intelligence company released a program targeting driver performance and satisfaction.
SmartDrive Systems announced its SmartIQ Scorecard, a platform offering industry data to assist with creation and management of a driver-incentive program. The SmartDrive video records are combined with interactive analysis of driver performance with the goal of increasing and retaining professional drivers.
The American Trucking Associations reported a growing deficit of more than 50,000 commercial drivers, and in order to meet the demand, roughly 90,000 additional drivers are needed per year for the next decade.
This shortage emphasizes the necessity to recruit additional professionals while ensuring the satisfaction of current employees. However, without reliable data, companies may not be able to accurately reward the best drivers or differentiate between varying practices drivers use to meet their end goals. According to SmartDrive, instead of actionable data, most companies use historical data or summarized information.
“To address this growing problem, many fleets are realizing the financial impact of a safety-based rewards program on driver recruitment and retention,” said Steve Mitgang, SmartDrive CEO. “Not only is this an effective way for managers to identify their best drivers, as well as reward and incentivize performance based on metrics that matter, but it also helps drivers make more money—and chasing higher pay is the number one reason drivers leave a job.”
With its new SmartIQ Scorecard, SmartDrive said it offers a partial solution to the shortage by targeting inefficiencies in reportable data. The scorecard is a real-time look into drivers, allowing supervision of several measurements: safe driving, mpg, coaching and miles driven. The scorecard also has the ability to integrate data from multiple systems to organize a fleet by department.
