Podcast 102: Building Culture by Training Professional Drivers

EPISODE 102: Training Professional Drivers

Barry Lyons, Director, Gencat Limited

I’m fascinated by the infinite ways professional education appears in the world. That’s why I’m excited to learn how the motor transport industry is building a stronger culture by training professional drivers and recognizing their performance.

Today’s guest, Barry Lyons, is leading that charge. Barry is Director at Gencat Limited, an Irish training, recruitment, and consulting firm that serves companies involved in road transportation. He has also served as Chairman of the European Professional Drivers Association (EPDA) for over 20 years.

So, join us as we talk about how new ways of training professional drivers are transforming the motor transport industry on this episode of the Talented Learning Show…

TRAINING PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS — KEY TAKEAWAYS

• With over 6 million drivers around the world (and 3.6 million in the U.S. alone), the road transport industry is massive and always on the move. Driver education and recognition can promote a culture of safety, efficiency, and competence. But training professional drivers in the classroom can be a logistics nightmare. That’s why online solutions are replacing traditional classroom methods.

• All road transport scenarios are not created equal. There are many types of vehicles and driver specialties. This means a one-size-fits-all approach to training professional drivers won’t work. But the right kind of learning platform can help adapt content to each driver’s job and equipment.

• To elevate performance, measuring the impact of training professional drivers is essential. This is where telematics comes in. By combining fleet telematics with data from an LMS, organizations can benchmark a driver’s skills, track progress, and recognize improvement over time.

TRAINING PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS — Q&A HIGHLIGHTS

Welcome, Barry. To start, could you tell us about Gencat and its mission?

Sure, John. Our mission is really very simple. We’re developing a culture of safety and efficiency in the road transport industry by supporting and training professional drivers.

Our company started as a driver agency. But over time, it became a compliance and training organization. Here in Europe, we have a lot of road transport compliance regulations — much the same as in North America, where we also work with numerous companies.

In 2006, Europe made annual training mandatory for drivers. Each year, they had to attend a 7-hour classroom session to hold the equivalent of a North American Commercial Driver’s License CDL.

For example, in Ireland, this training includes five modules covering vehicle technology, the role of the commercial vehicle driver, and other topics.

To support this requirement, we began training professional drivers. And now, using an LMS and content creation tools, we deliver training that helps these drivers learn regulations and stay compliant.

Find out how other real-world companies are achieving more with learning systems that create business value. Get inspiration from dozens of success stories in our free LMS Case Study Directory →

Interesting. When we last spoke, you mentioned a lack of skilled talent. Could you expand on that through the lens of those 32 types of drivers?

Well, people often think of a commercial vehicle driver as one kind of person doing one type of job. But it’s not like that.

There are really about 32 different types of driving jobs. No one can do a job as competently as a person who is educated in that particular job. And it can take 3-6 months to train someone for a specific role.

There’s the guy who delivers fuel to your petrol station. As a tanker driver, he has a qualification in moving hazardous goods. Another moves cattle across states from one place to another. Someone else moves appliances out of your house and brings in new ones.

These are three different types of people, but they’re driving the same type of truck.

I see…

You’ll also find different coach driving jobs. For example, a school bus driver brings kids to school. That’s different from someone who takes people on a 10-day coach tour around the States.

So, there are all kinds of personalities and many types of jobs. But unfortunately, industry stakeholders only see if a guy has a driving license. If he has a CDL, he can drive anything. But that’s not the case.

Our role is to identify the different types of drivers and segment them. Then, we produce material for supporting and training professional drivers in each specific role.

Don’t miss what’s happening at the leading edge of enterprise learning technology! Get our weekly email brief. SUBSCRIBE HERE →

So, for example, think about a guy who delivers and installs appliances to people’s homes. He needs really good communication skills with the public. He’s going to walk into someone’s castle. He needs to be polite, respectful, and abide by their rules.

The environment may be alien to him, but he still has to manage that job, deal with the customer’s expectations, and provide the service the customer paid for. That’s a skill set in itself. And we need to train drivers accordingly.

Mmhmm…

We also need to be training professional drivers on specific types of equipment. For instance, some people need to know how to use a tailgate in a public area.

Think about a Walmart distribution center, John. You wouldn’t be allowed to walk in the gate there because it’s too dangerous, with so many trucks maneuvering in the yard.

Yet, companies don’t hesitate to tell a truck driver to head down to the Walmart supermarket and reverse into the car park there. They leave the driver to manage the situation. So, there are two different standards.

Which learning system is right for you? Check our RightFit Solution Grid, based on our team’s independent research! Learn more and get your free copy →

Indeed. So, your customers are companies with fleets of trucks and drivers. And in the past, you provided the required on-site training each year. But eventually, that didn’t work well. So, you took your business online. How did that happen?

Originally, people came in for 7 hours of classroom training. It ticked the box. But credit was based only on attendance, and we didn’t like that.

Then, in 2017, we were asked to train drivers in how to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. We had to bring drivers into a classroom and explain the workings of the engine, how it produces CO2, and how to reduce fuel consumption by maximizing engine performance under real driving conditions.

It was very hard to get a group of drivers in the same room on the same day for live training without disrupting transport operations.

No doubt…

However, we did it. Our results were good and the feedback was positive, but we didn’t train everyone. Of 500 drivers, only about 300 participated.

Then we were introduced to our LMS. We didn’t know anything about it. We were really focused on PowerPoint and face-to-face meetings, where drivers would ask questions and we would answer. And because training with an LMS was online, we were concerned it would feel disconnected.

But we started with a great LMS company, Eurekos. They hand-held us for a while and that went very well. So, when they said this approach to training professional drivers would work for us, we trusted them.

Soon, we discovered the LMS could help us very quickly generate video content focused on specific details for each type of vehicle. That meant we could easily tailor training to each driver’s truck. That appealed to us in a big way. Also, the LMS let us adapt information very, very quickly. That wasn’t the case when we needed to change materials in a classroom environment.

Buying or selling a customer-focused learning system? Get independent insights you can trust, with our in-depth analysis of 16 top solutions. Learn about our Customer LMS Buyer’s Guide →

And with the LMS in place, the next big step was introducing our telematics data into the program. After training professional drivers, we would monitor their performance for 12 weeks. And then we would coach them for 12 more weeks.

So, first, we monitored them to get baseline performance data. And afterwards, we measured their performance again to see the difference. That’s how we calculated their fuel savings and CO2 savings.

What are telematics?

Every vehicle has multiple computers onboard. They’re all connected in a network that helps organizations monitor all kinds of data about each vehicle. We could pick up that data, so we knew which devices a driver was using and whether he was operating them correctly.

Or, perhaps he wasn’t even using a device that would improve his driving behavior. If he only knew how to use that device, he could get better performance from his vehicle.

With telematics data, we could identify where a driver needed support. Then, we could upload a video from the manufacturer about how to use that specific device. We could add it to the driver’s file and say, “Have a look at this.”

This kind of intervention happened after training, through the coaching phase of the program. So, we were taking in the telematics data, reviewing it, and seeing where a driver needed specific support to achieve the program’s goals.

Cool. What were the results?

Well, the overall average fuel savings was 6.4%, with €2.2 million in cost savings. So overall, it was a very successful program.

But for us as a company, training professional drivers this way helped us test the technology, so we could begin to see the future benefits yet to be unleashed on the road transport sector.

Do you think this method of training professional drivers improves job satisfaction? Or is it more of a benefit for organizations?

Well, everyone’s a winner in this case. The industry is crying out for drivers because there is very serious driver churn, and the workforce is aging.

I think the average age of a commercial vehicle driver in Europe is about 52. And for international over-the-road drivers in Europe, it is about 48. So, they’re getting older.

Here’s how training professional drivers helps. Think about the 30 different types of drivers I mentioned earlier. If you divide them into three experience levels — novices, senior professionals, and master drivers — that’s 120 different types of drivers.

Wow…

But drivers are not given any recognition for their level of knowledge, expertise, or experience. No one. Say I’ve been driving for 40 years. But another guy got his commercial driving license today. On a CV, we’re considered equals.

He’s seen as the same, and we’re paid the same. It makes no sense.

If you want to show some respect to a driver, you’ll recognize his level of experience, expertise, and knowledge.

Unbelievable. Is that why you’re introducing a new model for training professional drivers, and you’re relying on AI to help?

Yeah. AI is going to support the recognition of drivers by skill level. This isn’t just about helping drivers. It’s also important for safety, efficiency, and business performance across the industry …

… For complete answers to this and more questions about the business benefits of training professional drivers, listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on Amazon, or right here on our site.

Watch This Podcast on YouTube

Find Out More About Eurekos LMS

Learn more about the LMS that helps GenCat with training professional drivers. Check my Hot Take Review of Eurekos on YouTube:

Need the Right LMS to Drive Professional Education? Let’s Talk

You may not be training professional drivers, but are you looking for a learning platform that fits your organization’s needs? For independent advice you can trust, schedule a free 30-minute consult below with me, John Leh…

*NOTE TO SALESPEOPLE: Want to sell us something? Please contact us via standard channels. Thanks!