– By Marc Sibbald –
At the recent AFMA professional development breakfast in Sydney Peter Divjakinja, manager motor risk at CGU, presented on risk management. He took a very different approach to previous presenters I have seen on this topic by using plain language and acknowledged the solutions were different for every fleet.
There were several points I took from the presentation but one moment stuck out. It was when Peter stated his position on using mobile phones while driving. As a professional in the area of risk he strongly advised against the use of them in any way.
There was an awkward silence. Then he tackled the elephant in the room – staff won’t be productive if we don’t let them talk on the phone while driving. Peter’s response was – improve their time management.
As someone that has had many years on the road and managed teams of sales people, it’s hard to imagine not talking while driving. But if I’m honest I put my life, and the lives of others, at risk everyday by doing it.
But Peter offered the solution without realising it (or at least I think he did). Don’t send your drivers on driver training courses. Send them on a time management course instead!
The biggest objection from line managers and staff is the additional time they will need to make and return phone calls. So let’s teach them how to better plan their day, week or month to allow more time for phone calls. They may even learn some trip planning and reduce unproductive driving time.
This is a radical idea (you may even say crazy) but if you have been trying the traditional approach for some time without the results you want, maybe you should try something new.
