Are your drivers ready for the busy season? As colder weather makes itself known, your propane drivers will be making more deliveries and dealing with poor driving conditions. It is critical to ensure that your propane delivery drivers have the proper training they need to complete their routes safely and efficiently. Propane ride-along driver evaluations are an invaluable training tool that propane companies can use to evaluate an individual driver’s skills, maintain compliance protocols and protect the company from expensive accidents and unnecessary safety hazards.
If you are looking for ways to maximize the value of your propane safety training, driver safety evaluations are a great way to ensure your team members get the training they need without losing billable hours. Ride-along driver evaluations offer a unique opportunity for your employees to receive critical training during regular business hours. The training professional will come to your business location and ride along with the trainee during their regular route.
Drivers benefit from one-on-one training and receive real-time feedback, and the management team is provided with valuable insights into employee performance and future training opportunities.
1. Protect Your Employees & Prevent Costly Accidents
A bobtail accident is an extremely dangerous situation that puts the driver and your company’s reputation and financial stability at risk. Just one incident can result in thousands of dollars in vehicle damage, legal costs, personal injury claims and regulatory fines. During ride-along driver evaluations, a propane safety expert will provide real-time coaching to reinforce defensive driving techniques, hazard awareness and other proper procedures.
This hands-on training helps drivers prevent costly accidents, protect your assets and maintain a strong safety record at your company.
2. Evaluate Performance & Identify Training Needs
Ride-along propane driver evaluations are designed to benefit both your drivers and your management team. Driver evaluations allow trainers to see how your delivery team operates during active routes.
It is a good idea to conduct driver evaluations when your team is dealing with poor driving conditions, such as snow and ice during the winter.
Delivery drivers will receive helpful tips and suggestions from their safety trainer, and your management team will be provided with a clear and accurate assessment of their drivers’ winter driving practices.
3. Keep Drivers on the Road
Because drivers are able to receive professional coaching during their regular routes, they can continue servicing customers without pulling units off the road or losing billable hours. Ride-along evaluations are integrated into the workday rather than scheduled around it.
This strengthens driver performance, reinforces compliance and proactively corrects unsafe habits without sacrificing your company’s delivery schedules or efficiency. Operations can continue on schedule while your team gets coaching that helps improve standards.
4. Make the Most of Your Propane Training Budget
Working with a professional safety consultant to complete your driver evaluations ensures that your training budget delivers real, measurable results. Relying on internal trial and error or using a generic program without real-time, personalized coaching can lead to dangerous mistakes and costly incidents in the field.
A professional propane safety trainer can bring years of insight, proven training methods and regulatory knowledge to your team.
5. Avoid Fines & Insurance Costs
Propane safety experts recommend that propane companies outsource their training to a full-time compliance expert familiar with federal guidelines and requirements in your jurisdiction. Drivers must follow Department of Transportation (DOT), Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) regulations.
Safety violations during audits and inspections can result in expensive fines for your business. Completing driver evaluations and training ensures that your team knows the exact standards expected of the job. A trainer can course-correct bad habits before violations have the opportunity to take place.
6. Complete Risk Management Review of Propane Installations
Additionally, during ride-along driver evaluations, the safety consultant can complete on-site propane customer audits, including installation risk-management compliance reviews. During these reviews, the trainer will review on-site installations and make recommendations for improvement as needed.
Trainers can audit each installation visited along the delivery route according to NFPA 58 code requirements and identify any compliance issues. This protects your company from liability, improves operational safety and strengthens customer trust through documented safety oversight.
Schedule Driver Safety Evaluations Now
If you are weighing cost and efficiency as deciding factors for your fall and winter training program, consider how ride-along driver evaluations can return your investment on both. Driver evaluations will help you fulfill the initial DOT requirements and NFPA 58 requirements, as well as ongoing refresher training requirements.
Make the most of your busy season and use this time to your advantage by providing your drivers with critical training without sacrificing billable hours or productivity. It’s a win-win for your team and your company. Schedule driver ride-along evaluations with a certified safety trainer now to get the most out of this critical training opportunity.
