Since bed manufacturer Silentnight began training its drivers in defensive
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driving insurance claims have fallen by 59% and accident repair bills are now negligible. It seems that investment in training pays dividends.
LCV drivers who start work for bed manufacturer Silentnight probably have to endure a few smart remarks about lying down on the job. In fact this is far from being a soft option: even experienced drivers go through a minimum of a month's induction training.
They are taught the benefits of defensive driving—benefits which include cutting the Colne, Lancs firm's accident rate to one every 182,291 miles in around three million delivery miles per year, reducing claims by 59% during 1993/94. Drivers found to be to blame for an accident are reassessed for further training. The expenditure on accident repairs in the past year has been just L1,700—excluding a bill for £4,000 which Silentnight has sent North Yorkshire Council for damage allegedly caused by a low hanging branch.
The fleet, which includes 50 drawbar rigs, distributes 300 loads a week: vehicles average 75,000 miles a year.
Its safety record has enabled the company to persuade insurers, Norwich Union, to hold the increase on its premium to 2.5%, not including the new Government tax on insurance policies which no amount of defensive driving can evade.
Awareness
But what exactly is "defensive driving", presenting as it does a vision of timid LGV drivers cowering behind their windscreens, afraid to move out into the traffic? Nothing of the kind says Phil Metcalfe, Silentnight's head of driver training. Ile believes the secret of good driving is awareness: "Making people aware of what problems are likely to occur, sympathy with the vehicle, when to change gear, when not to change gear." As an added benefit, this sort of driving can also cut fuel bills.
Anticipation of what someone else will do is the key. "Take motorway driving," says Metcalfe. "If you see the traffic ahead slowing down, you should slow down 200 yards before you reach the traffic queue. Those behind are then alerted Cars waiting to exit from road junctions on the right should be treated with care: 90% of car drivers concentrate on the traffic flow on their side of the road. "The average car driver has no idea how long it takes for a lorry to stop," says Metcalfe. He warns drivers to beware of motorists approaching from the right at a roundabout: "He may be 100 yards away but instead of slowing down to allow the lorry to complete its manoeuvre he speeds up because he does not want to be behind a lorry." Metcalfe advises his pupils to back off and allow the motorist his way, even though "we don't really want him behind us, because he is going to try to overtake". These examples indicate not "blooclymindedness" on the part of motorists—it is often simple ignorance. As Metcalfe says:"We have got to think on behalf of the car driver."
He began his own career with Silentnight 20 years ago as a fork-lift driver before winning his HGV Class 1 to become a delivery driver. At that time further training after the test meant the "nearest available driver" taking out the new boy. But in 1991 Mike Molloy, an ex-army man, joined Silentnight as distribution director and instigated a new approach to training, appointing Metcalfe to run it.
Metcalfe took the HGV instructor's course at MOTEC (Multi Occupation Training and Education Centre), the old Road Transport Industry Training Board's Telford centre. He is now a registered RTITB instructor (or Centrex to use its new name); is qualified as an ADI (Advanced Driving Instructor) for commercial vehicles; is an assessor for the distribution industry NVQ; and an examiner for forklift truck tests.
The induction programme that Molloy set up is not restricted to driving skills. Following an assessment of driving ability with Metcalfe, every rookie is taken through a process which includes a full medical; stints in the warehouse on product recognition; handling and load security; health and safety; drivers' hours legislation; and vehicle defects. "Eventually he is taken out on the road with a delivery vehicle and trained to a standard where we deem him competent," says Molloy, who should know what he's talking about: at 21 he was an HGV instructor in the army.
Some might question the company's upper age limit of 28 for new drivers—it's simply designed to maximise return on the training investment: "We are looking to take on someone who is good for 20 to 30 years driving," says Molloy.
Silentnight's commitment to training has produced a competitive edge among its drivers. Eight of them were among the finalists in the Truck Driver of the Year Competition and one of them, Earl David Dawson, was the outright winner. This was the eighth consecutive year that Dawson had reached the finals: he won his class four times before scooping the main award.
Silentnight gives its entrants time off to practice and pays their entry fees. It's obviously good publicity for a high-profile company, but are their any operational rewards? "Firstly, the drivers who compete have more awareness of their vehicles and the positions they can get them into," says Metcalfe. "Secondly, to enter a driver must have had no accidents or points on his licence for a full year."
Competence
We were interested to hear Silentnight's reaction to our driving school campaign. "I think the campaign is excellent," says Molloy, who adds that the LGV test should be "revisited" by the Driving Standards Agency to include training in a laden vehicle and to test competence in coupling and uncoupling trailers. "Load security should be part of the test too," he adds, "so you set off down the road knowing that the vehicle and its load are secure."
Molloy believes the test should also include a classroom examination on transport legislation. "All instructors should be RTITB registered—it's criminal that someone can pass their test, buy an old rig and put L-plates on," he concludes. "They are taking money under false pretences. They're not instructors, they're drivers making a bit of money because of a loophole in the law. That door needs to be closed."
O by Patric Cunnane