Are You Making the Most of Training CDL Drivers?

Ongoing training is essential in any workplace. The trucking industry is no exception. You work hard to recruit and hire the best team of professional truck drivers you can find. So it’s very important to keep their skills sharp and keep them up-to-date on training requirements. You can offer many types of training, and various methods to conduct the training sessions. The key is to make sure the training sticks and is sustainable. So here are a few ways to be sure you’re making the most of training CDL drivers.

Purpose of the Training

Workplace training isn’t always every employee’s favorite thing to do on the job. Some employees see it as a chore, and some see it as an important benefit of the job. So you want to ensure that you’re providing training for the right reasons. And at the right time. What is the purpose of the training? Why are you offering it now? You need these answers before you start any planning. If you go into planning before you have your needs and goals clearly defined, you might wind up creating confusion in the workplace. If you’ve got these things well thought out, your training will be much more impactful and more well-received.

Types of Training

There are several diverse ways you can execute training. You can bring in a trainer and conduct training live and in-person with a large group. In addition, you can offer opportunities for group training online or individualized online training. You want to make sure the delivery matches up well with your driver’s needs and workplace conditions. Find ways to best leverage your current resources to offer training. Training CDL drivers in a group setting might not be very feasible at this time, but online options might be a better fit right now.

Stay Ahead of Needs

Anticipating your long-term training needs and planning accordingly can go a long way to stretch your training budgets and positively impact your business. Pricing for training planned well in advance is usually at a cost savings vs. needing to get a trainer lined-up at the last minute for an emergency session. Your best strategy is to document upcoming needs and plan training out at least a few months in advance. This will help ensure best pricing and no schedule surprises to your team.

Training For the Long Term

When investing in training, it’s important to make sure that you’re setting up a plan for the long term. If you need to bring in resources from the outside to train your team, ensure that you’re appointing team members to become leads for the new training to keep the new learnings alive and well. Be prepared to have these team leads help with training new employees on these topics or reinforcing the training to keep the learning fresh and evergreen within your team.

When you’re working to plan your training for your employees, think about how this will help your overall recruitment and retention plans. Find ways to include topics in training that you can use to clearly showcase why working for your company is a good choice for any candidate to come onboard.