Drivers Direct on: The Value of Quality Drivers
There is no denying that logistics and professional drivers are the beating heart of the UK economy – as the FTA’s Peter Snelling so aptly put it: “Over 90% of everything the public eat, drink, wear and build with travels on an HGV at some point in the supply chain.” Such a figure throws a sharp focus on our industry, and highlights the value of quality professional drivers – who can sometimes be overlooked by the public eye.
With the ever-increasing popularity of online shopping and at-home deliveries, the looming threat of Brexit and its effect on a driving skills’ shortage which we discussed at length last month, the need for our professional drivers to be highly trained with efficiency, reliability and integrity has never been higher.
And it’s not just the technicalities of the economic climate and consumer shift to e-commerce which places a strong need for an increase in the numbers of highly-skilled professional drivers. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, the value of quality drivers is often overlooked: the ‘behind the scenes’ part of the supply chain rarely acknowledged by the end user. However, whenever professional driving – in particular, HGVs – are acknowledged, there seems to be a worrying pattern: type in ‘HGV’ or ‘lorry’ into Google News and you’ll be greeted with plethora of negativity – vehicle collisions, cyclist accidents and poor driver behaviour.
When professional drivers are ‘behind the scenes’, the majority of the public’s knowledge and, therefore, opinions of HGV drivers comes from the media. So, when the majority of the mainstream consumer media’s stories about HGV drivers only focuses on the minority of poor drivers’ actions, the public’s opinion is going to be skewed.
Whilst there is little we can do to persuade the media to present a more balanced view when ‘disaster stories’ bring in online clicks and revenue, it does present an even more important need for professional drivers to be of the highest quality with proper training and qualifications – we must ensure that through our work every day on Britain’s roads, we are showing that the majority of drivers are safe, conscientious and respectful as they work as the major player in an efficient supply chain to ensure businesses across Britain can continue to thrive.
There’s little point in simply discussing the importance of high-quality drivers – we must ensure it is actioned. Which is why we’re incredibly proud of Drivers Direct Training, our own internal scheme. We provide both training and assessments for our own drivers on behalf of our clients, or in-house for companies with their own fleet of drivers. With classroom-based driver development courses we can help you or your drivers progress and improve – offering courses covering basic health and safety and heathy eating, right the way through to driver security, customer care, and fuel efficiency.
Training is something businesses must invest in – not only will it help to build the reputation of the logistics and transport industry, but provides significant peace of mind and ROI knowing that the drivers you employ are of the highest quality, working on the roads with honesty and autonomous motivation for your business’ needs.
If you’d like to learn more about Drivers Direct Training, and how our trained drivers can deliver the best results for your business, get in touch with our team today.
