SAFETY DAWG Chris Harris
YOU NEED A DRIVER SCORECARD Driver scorecards, are they useful? They have been all the rage lately. Most of the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) providers have some sort of a driver measurement. Are these driver scorecards useful, and do they add any benefit? There are other companies that are providing even more information and metrics than just the ELD device manufacturers; companies such as Fleetmetrica.
What is the purpose of a driver scorecard? It is to provide feedback to the company’s safety department and to the drivers in the fleet. Most of the scorecards are a comparative tool, meaning that they measure one individual driver and compare that driver to the rest of the fleet. An example could be fuel economy or efficiency. Most of the scorecards will tell one driver’s ‘score’. The scores that I have seen are usually displayed as a number or percentage and they are often comparing the driver’s performance to the rest of the fleet. Is it fair and is it accurate?
18 • OVER THE ROAD
For the accurate question, my experience is yes - it is very accurate. Is it fair? That is a much more complicated question. I think it comes down to how the safety department interprets the results and then applies those results. By way of an example, it can be very hard to compare fuel efficiency when the equipment is not the same. A five-year-old tractor being compared to a brand-new piece of equipment might create a problem. The same truck and trailer that goes to New York may get very different results than when in Montana. So, I believe that this score would have to be used cautiously. Remember that many of the companies using scorecards are also paying a bonus based on the results. Which is why I ask, are they useful? Is this the best way to pay a driver a performance bonus? I think that it can be a great way to pay a bonus. For those drivers that are successfully contributing to the company’s bottom line, they should be rewarded. I do think that scorecards can be improved in two major ways. First, include as many metrics or items of measurement as reasonably possible.
FEBRUARY 2022
