Driver coaching is the backbone of any fleet safety program, but studies have shown that driver coaching is most effective when combined with data from a telematics system and video footage from dash cams. Building a consistent, data-driven driver coaching workflow into your day-to-day operations is the key to improving driver behaviour, reducing accidents, and ultimately lowering safety-related costs.

Set up alerts for targeted behaviours

Revisit your goals to determine which risky driving behaviours (like harsh braking, speeding, or distracted driving) you need to address. Then, help your back office focus on what matters most by setting up alerts, so fleet safety managers can immediately coach drivers on targeted behaviours. For example, with Samsara, you can set up real-time SMS or email alerts for a variety of safety-related events—including harsh acceleration, harsh braking, and rolling stops—as well as speed, so you can be notified when a vehicle exceeds a certain speed limit.

Give immediate feedback with in-cab voice coaching

Feedback is most effective when it’s delivered in a timely manner, especially for drivers who run long routes and may forget about harsh events by the time they are brought in for coaching. Make sure to choose a dash cam (like Samsara’s AI dash cam) that has a speaker and can play in-cab messages for things like harsh braking, speeding, and unbuckled seat belts. For maximum effectiveness, wait 1-2 weeks after installing your hardware before turning on voice coaching so drivers don’t become overwhelmed.

Establish consistent coaching workflows, especially for corrective actions

Some risky driving behaviours are more serious than others. Determine what requires a short conversation and what requires something more serious, like an in-person meeting. Maximise your impact by regularly coaching all drivers in group sessions and reserving 1:1 coaching sessions for drivers who dip below a predetermined safety score threshold. Then, document your best practices and give coaches standardised scripts for responding to different types of harsh events, so that coaching isn’t biased.