How to Reduce Delivery Driver Turnover with Better Fleet Management Tools
Delivery drivers are the lifeblood of any delivery business. Without them, the people who make online purchases will never receive the products they purchase.
But retaining drivers can be an issue for many delivery services.
Long hours, inefficient routes, poor instruction, traffic, pressure to meet delivery deadlines and time constraints, and a lack of proper communication can combine to make drivers feel undervalued.
When drivers leave, not only is the delivery business losing a worker, but they must also spend time and resources bringing a new driver up to speed on the job.
The proper use of fleet management technology can make the working conditions of delivery drivers more bearable.
From route planning to communication, a delivery tracking app can give a delivery business the ability to offer a more organized working environment.
Why Delivery Drivers Leave
Before moving onto how to solve the issue of driver turnover, it is important to address the issue itself.
There are several reasons why delivery drivers leave their jobs.
They could include:
- Unmanageable or unreasonable delivery schedules
- Poor or unreasonable route planning
- Massive amounts of time spent in transit
- Numerous customer issues
- A lack of communication with dispatchers
- Confusing delivery instructions
- Unable to prove delivery
- Pressure due to unrealistic or unattainable delivery expectations
While some of these reasons cannot be helped, a fleet management system can help eliminate many operational stresses from the job of a delivery driver.
1. Give Drivers Smarter Routes
Few things annoy delivery drivers more than being stuck driving around town due to poorly planned delivery routes.
Besides wasting gas and time, drivers can feel as though they are being taken advantage of due to the unreasonable nature of such delivery routes.
The fleet management software a delivery business uses should optimize delivery routes based on multiple stops, the location of drivers, traffic, and any other relevant factors.
A delivery tracking app can allow drivers to receive smarter, optimized delivery routing right on their phones.
More efficient delivery routes benefit not only the delivery business by saving them money but also the drivers by giving them a more predictable work day which is less punishing to their time.
2. Reduce Unnecessary Phone Calls
When drivers are stuck on the road, they are more prone to receive phone calls from their dispatchers asking them a series of questions.
This can cause stress and frustration as drivers must multi-task between answering phone calls and trying to keep a customer happy.
A centralized delivery platform can help cut down on these unnecessary phone calls.
Drivers can update their delivery status via the delivery tracking app while managers can keep tabs of the delivery status from a manager interface.
This eliminates the need for drivers to constantly check in with their dispatchers.
3. Make Delivery Instructions Easy to Access
Delivery drivers regularly receive incomplete addresses, customer specific requests or restrictions, gate or parking requirements, and anything else that can complicate the delivery process.
When such information is difficult to find, it leads to confusion and errors during delivery.
A fleet management solution can consolidate delivery specific information such as customer requests and delivery restrictions in one easily accessible location for drivers.
Drivers can look up information including customer requests, delivery navigation, and the status of their delivery from the convenience of their mobile devices using a delivery tracking app.
By making the delivery process a little easier, a delivery business can have a massive impact on the satisfaction level of their drivers.
4. Make Proof of Delivery Simple to Provide
Many delivery drivers face the problem of providing proof of delivery to customers.
Manually recording delivery times, notes, and other delivery related information can be tedious.
Modern delivery tools can simplify the process of collecting delivery notes and automatically submit this information to the delivery business.
By eliminating the need for drivers to manually enter delivery notes, drivers can save time and the delivery business can have a reliable source of information if a customer questions whether a delivery was made or not.
5. Use a Delivery Tracking App for Small Business Operations
Large delivery companies are not the only ones in need of better delivery management tools.
A delivery tracking app for small business can be an invaluable tool for delivery businesses that are growing but do not yet have the infrastructure to handle a large amount of deliveries without using a combination of spreadsheets, phone trees, and other tools.
Small businesses usually operate with a skeleton crew, so automation can reduce the workload of their existing staff.
Using a delivery tracking app for small business can allow managers to streamline the delivery management process instead of having to manually enter and track delivery updates.
6. Create More Realistic Workloads
A major contributor to delivery driver turnover is unreasonable workloads.
By using fleet management software, managers can more accurately estimate the amount of deliveries a single driver can complete.
Having a better estimate of how many deliveries can be turned in by a driver can allow delivery managers to create a more reasonable schedule.
This does not necessarily mean every driver will receive a completely equal number of deliveries to complete, but it can help spread workloads out across drivers based on operational needs.
7. Recognize Good Driver Performance
Driver turnover is not just caused by negative factors either.
Proper recognition of good performance can reduce the likelihood of valued drivers leaving due to feeling under-appreciated.
A number of fleet management technologies can track a number of driver performance statistics.
This information should be used not only for punishing poor performance but also rewarding good performance.
Managers can use performance statistics to reward drivers that maintain excellent driver records.
By acknowledging the hard work of their drivers, delivery businesses can increase employee retention.
8. Listen to Drivers and Improve the System
As mentioned, technology alone is not going to solve the issue of driver turnover.
The best fleet management strategy involves both technology and communication.
Ask drivers what turns them off and what turns them on.
By listening to drivers, managers can learn what the main pain points are of their current fleet management system and find ways to fix them.
Sometimes the issue may be optimized routing.
Other times it may be better delivery instructions or more reasonable workloads.
As long as the right technology is being used to assist drivers rather than annoy them, the technology is being used in the right way.
Final Thoughts
Retaining delivery drivers is not just about offering a higher wage or throwing around a few bonuses every once in a while.
Drivers want to feel valued by their jobs and have a set of reasonable working conditions.
A delivery tracking app can offer better communication, optimized delivery routing, and tools that can make the day to day operations of their job a little less stressful.
A delivery tracking app for small business can provide many of the same benefits to growth oriented small businesses that need to streamline their delivery management system without getting overwhelmed with the process.
After all, it is not just about making a delivery business more efficient.
It is about making the people that power the delivery business more efficient.
