A few months ago I was
asked by the central Ontario chapter of the Fleet Safety Council if I
would like to participate in an upcoming panel discussion about
driver incentive programs. I accepted, always eager to offer my two
cents from a drivers perspective. As thoughts about this topic
percolated in my mind over the months I've had quite some difficulty
coming to any type of concrete opinion on what a driver incentive
program should look like. The best place to start is to gain some
understanding of what is meant when we talk about driver incentive.
If you look up a
dictionary definition of the word 'incentive' you will get back
something to this effect:a reward offered for increased productivity.
Increasing productivity is usually associated with an increase in the
volume of work performed (usually accomplished by investing more time
in the job), performing the same volume of work at a lower cost (fuel
savings, accident free), or meeting a higher standard of
performance(improving CSA scores or Carrier Rating). The reward to
the driver is most often a financial one.
What I find really
interesting is that an increase in productivity requires an
investment of additional time by the driver. Yet in recent years
changes to Hours of Service legislation (HoS) and use of Electronic
On Board Recorders (EOBR's) has tightened control over a drivers
time. At the same time most of us are still payed by the mile and by
the drop. This system was put into place to encourage productivity
also. Run more miles, do more drops, and you get payed more. But that
system was put into place when HoS rules were loosely enforced or non
existent. So what we have now is the operations side of our business
still paying drivers by the mile encouraging them to work as quickly
as possible in the name of productivity and incentive programs that
are designed to slow us down and work more efficiently & safely.
This presents somewhat of a paradox for drivers. It's no wonder that
drivers often express the feeling that they are stuck between a rock
and a hard place because the expectations of the operations side of
the business and the safety & compliance side of the business
clash. So as a driver are you going to place your efforts on the
operations side that pays you 40 cents a mile every week or on the
safety and compliance side that presents you with the potential to
earn up to another 2-6 cents per mile each quarter, if you meet the
criteria? It's no surprise that many drivers feel it's just not worth
the effort. Maybe we're well past the time of looking for a new means
of paying drivers for their efforts as well as developing new
incentive programs.
What if I'm more
interested in earning the same money but doing it in less time
allowing me more personal time? Is there an incentive program out
there that will do that? Perhaps. Some companies are implementing
profit sharing programs. These programs present the opportunity to
involve all employees, not just drivers, in the incentive program.
They have the potential to foster greater teamwork and break down
communication barriers between departments. A profit sharing program
fixes the cost of an incentive program as a percentage of net profit
for the company so it aids in financial forecasting and planning. But
it requires diligent and consistent messaging from all levels of
management to front line employees. Everyone has to be working
towards the same goal. I've learned over the years as a driver that
communication with front line employees is not a strength that this
industry possesses. That's not a criticism it's a recognition of the
difficulty we all face in developing relationships with one another
when we rarely see one another. That lack of social interaction is
difficult to overcome in an industry that keeps managers and workers
thousands of kilometers apart most of the time. A successful profit
sharing program depends on constant interaction between all employees
if there is to be a payoff. That payoff has the potential to be no
less than a satisfactory set of HoS rules that recognizes the need
for flexibility in a drivers daily routine and an end to downloading
inefficiencies such as dock delays to the driver.
As an aging driver I
find that I am increasingly frustrated by the lack of time I can
spend with my family and invest in my own personal well being.
Issues of driver health and wellness are coming to the forefront and
facing up to this reality is what incentive programs also have to
address. It does not seem reasonable to me to ask an aging driver
pool to invest even more time in the name of productivity while
expecting them to take more time to care for themselves. You just
can't have it both ways.
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