Capital Equipment News July 2021

DRIVER TRAINING

Scania driver training is flexible, which means it can be tailor made to suit each customer’s driver training needs.

Reaping the benefits of OEM driver training

As commercial vehicle technology keeps progressing, fleet owners are putting their trust in OEM driver training programmes to keep their drivers up to date with the rapid pace of innovation. As a result, Scania Southern Africa has seen increased demand for its driver training services in recent years, writes Munesu Shoko .

A lthough the training truck drivers initially received may have been sufficient for them to get a driver’s licence, it surely did not cover the issues fleet owners want them to know in order for them to drive for the organisation. A good training programme thus enhances them with the knowledge and skills to be safe and economic drivers. While this is crucial for all new drivers, training must not stop there; all truck drivers should be provided with ongoing driver education. For many years the transport industry did not have many positive things to say about drivers and the driver did not

receive much attention. It is, however, encouraging to see that this has changed over the years, reasons Johan Foley, Driver Training manager at Scania Southern Africa, and the vehicle fleet operator has now realised that the driver is an integral part of the transport company, its profitability and success. “We believe that the driver should receive recognition as a valuable and professional employee of the organisation,” states Foley. “The driver is the employee who has the most inconvenienced task to do, although they use the most expensive tools to carry out their duties.” The driver is the front line of any

organisation, adds Foley, and the one employee who sees the company’s customers daily. They interact with customers more than any manager. The skills of the driver are, therefore, very important in maintaining the quality and level of service to the customer, and that is instrumental to the profitability of the organisation. “The driver should have basic knowledge and an understanding of the mechanical aspects of a vehicle. This enables them to do valuable pre, post and on-route checks of the vehicle. This knowledge enables the driver to do defect reporting and to know if the defect was resolved as required,” explains Foley.

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS JULY 2021