How you present "How To Dump A Frameless End Dump Trailer" and "Bottom Dump Training Manual to your drivers is going to have either a positive or negative impact on their attitude about the training manual.

Some will welcome the idea of the training manual and some will not. Some drivers are interested in hearing anything that will help them do their job better, confidently and will be open minded. Some will probably think they are being insulted. After all, they have years of experience dumping an end or bottom dump and now; somebody thinks they need to be trained. Those that are resentful can display their feelings verbally and visually through body motions. There are some that will just argue over any kind of change that requires an effort on their part. The ones that are negative can really be disruptive to your efforts. You don't need that. To win these people over up front depends on how you introduce the training manual to them.

If your company has a good safety record, that's great! You can brag to your drivers about their safety success. You can talk about the fact that other companies have had a few problems and you don't want your company to move in that direction. You want to maintain the high level of safety that everyone has shown. A high safety record looks good. It's good for the company and the drivers. Every driver has his or her own level of knowledge and experience. The company just wants everyone to have a very high level of knowledge, confidence and experience to do the job. This training manual is an excellent blueprint or guide to get all drivers up a high level of expertise. You want your drivers to look at the training manual with their eyes wide open.

If you've had problems, present them in a general way, such as number of turnovers, job site accidents and driving accidents. You still need to brag on the good drivers. Talk about lost income, lost driver income, cost of repairs, etc. With profit margins tight, any turnover or accident is too much and affects the bottom line.

If you think you will have a few drivers that will fight or resent, any idea of a company wide training program, discuss the problems in advance with them and what might the solution be. The solution would be training. Lead them to the idea that a company wide training program is good. After the training program promise to get back to them and get their opinions. You can ask them, "have you ever done something and left out a step and it caused a problem"? Once you realized your mistake, you say "Oh yeah, I knew that. I just forgot". Well, when you make a mistake dumping an end dump, you can't always go back and correct it. Explain that as a company we believe that we should do all that we can to keep safety and good technique fresh on everyone's mind. After the training, ask them; was the training good for all drivers even though it might be review for the more experienced drivers? You should get a positive review.

If this training can reduce one turnover, it's a success due to the amount of money saved.

If we are better prepared to handle or avoid job site problems, prevent tearing up equipment, the training is successful.

A good goal for any driver is to go out and do the work and get back to the yard safely with as little wear and tear on the equipment.

For the best trained drivers, use "How To Dump A Frameless End Dump Trailer" and "Bottom Dump Training Manual" for your drivers.

Your driver trainers must understand and be committed to using the training manual as their guideline.

Good luck with the success of your driver training program!

©2004 Pat Maufrais