Pre-Trip, During Trip, And Post Trip Inspections (How Do I Motivate My Drivers?)

Hello to all, I am a Safety Manager for a large wholesale/distributor. We currently have a fleet of 16 box trucks (26' and 15'). I am currently having problems trying to motivate my drivers to do their inspections, pre-trip, during (within the first 50 miles), and post trip. I know that a lot of my guys just turn in their inspection sheet at the end of the day without even looking at the serviceability of their unit. I know this because of all of the "surprise" maintenance issues that pop up, and when they turn in a truck with damage that was not there the night before (I inspect every truck when they turn them in), and said damage is not identified on their inspection sheet when they turn it in. Any suggestions on how I can properly motivate my guys to perform these REQUIRED inspections? Also do OTR drivers even consider local box truck drivers to be "real" truck drivers? I love this site, I have not been able to log in and NOT find something useful. Thank you for everything all of you are doing for this industry, your giving light to the darkness that is the entrance to the trucking industry.

Mark,. I'm a driver for West Side Transport. At our company, if say I pick up a trailer, check it out, find damage and report it.. I am not charged with causing the damage. However, let's say I hooked up to a trailer, didn't check it out, dropped it at another customer or one of our terminals or drop yards and then someone else goes to pick up that trailer and discovers the old damage, equipment failure, or whatever that is before he leaves with it, that damage or failure/broken part or whatever, would be on me.

I realize you're talking box trucks. When equipment is not inspected as required, it clearly becomes obvious and I'm sure you have drivers who do take care of the equipment and some who don't.

Maybe some type of reward or recognition process for rewarding those drivers who take the responsibility and ownership over the equipment might be helpful. If that doesn't work to compel them to do what's legally required to operate a commercial vehicle, maybe some type of training/retraining or progressive disciplinary policy should be put in place.

Drivers often don't realize how much not taking care of equipment and doing proper pre and post trip inspections can cost a company extra $ in maintenance costs and reduced ability to take care of your customers. Those extra wasted $ could be put to better use buying nicer equipment, better pay or benefits for them. Often the lack of care among drivers improves when they realize how not doing proper inspections can adversely affect them. It's a whole lot cheaper to fix something that needs attention before it breaks completely and causes more damage.

I am a food service driver that uses a different trailer daily, and slip seat between 3 trucks. We were told in our last meeting that the company just bought 50 reflective tags that they are attaching to different areas of the truck that we are REQUIRED to he checking. They made sure they're reflective so that even with the early morning starts we have, they'll still be visible as long as we check said area. That may help you somewhat with pretrip, but unsure about inter trip, and post trip. Susans company seems to have a good idea.

Mark, motivation for what seems a waste of time is a tough nut. To me the idea is to make sure my equipment isn't going to fail after I start my day. Getting things fixed before I get rolling is way better than blowing an appointment because I need to stop for a tire repair.

I wrote a story (based on a newspaper article) that explains a lot. Check out Why do a pre-trip?

Also for those of us who suffer from a touch of OCD 😁, the pretrip walk-around is a good meditative way to start the day.

Mark,. I'm a driver for West Side Transport. At our company, if say I pick up a trailer, check it out, find damage and report it.. I am not charged with causing the damage. However, let's say I hooked up to a trailer, didn't check it out, dropped it at another customer or one of our terminals or drop yards and then someone else goes to pick up that trailer and discovers the old damage, equipment failure, or whatever that is before he leaves with it, that damage or failure/broken part or whatever, would be on me.

I realize you're talking box trucks. When equipment is not inspected as required, it clearly becomes obvious and I'm sure you have drivers who do take care of the equipment and some who don't.

Hey Susan D.,

I am just curious as to what the process would be if damages occurred between the time you dropped the trailer and the next driver hooked It? Say if somebody were to pull a trailer out next to the one you dropped and rubbed/clipped It? I haven't been out there yet but I'd imagine that scenario occurs. Thanks in advance!

At my company, the maintenance people will occasionally put a $5 Subway card attached to the oil dipstick, or other part, just to see if drivers are pre-tripping...or just tripping.

I take it beatings/corporal punishment are not viable options..

I've always been against rewarding people for doing their job.

And rewarding those who find faults might be an invite for some to create faults.

The negative, putting Easter eggs on the trucks might lead to Driver vs Mgt attitudes.

I'd just keep beating the drum. Find examples of when pretrips weren't done that led to very negative outcomes..

Pictures work.

Seems to me that if ya don't do your job then they should send your happy ass down the road. Falsifying docs. Pretty soon people who want to keep their jobs start doing their inspections. Problem solved