Chris Atkinson
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Are the operators of the trucks qualified? Do they meet your standards? OH, you don’t have standards when it comes to driver hiring. Didn’t you tell the insurance company that you had hiring policies? I’m sure that you did. Didn’t you mean it? Didn’t you truthfully indicate to the insurance company that you only hire professional truck drivers with three or more years of experience? Or maybe it was two years of experience.
What did you say to your insurer about driver hiring?
If you don’t remember that will get you in trouble with your insurer. Most of the insurance companies have those safety people that come out and visit with you each year. They ask all the questions, and many revolve around the hiring process and standards. The insurance safety people made notes. When they come back, they ask many of the same questions again. It is not to trip you up and to catch you in a lie, but it is to see if any of the standards have changed since the last visit. If they have changed, the safety person will want to know why. If the policy has gotten weaker and less stringent again, the insurance company will want to know why and ask lots of questions. The answers can become critical if your insurance losses are bad.
Bad Driver Hiring Causes Bad Losses
You remember, bad losses are when for several years your loss ratio is above 65%. Losses above 65% mean that the insurance company isn’t making a profit on your fleet. Remember profit is not a dirty word.
Hiring has the greatest impact on losses. Who you hire largely dictate your losses over the long term. If you don’t have a mentor/coaching program for drivers with less than two years of experience, then you should not be hiring drivers with less than two years.
You need to stick to what you have told your insurance provider in the past. Believe me when I say to you that they have your best interest in their thoughts. The insurance companies have seen what happens in court with those businesses that don’t stick to hiring standards. The outcomes are not good.
So only hire drivers according to your hiring policies.
