Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/252139
TECHNOLOGY: PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY 32 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | FEBRUARY 2014 I n the truck-driving profession, performance-based pay goes back to the day the automobile replaced the horse-drawn wagon. Drivers always have earned their living by the mile rather than by drawing salaries or signing time sheets. With advancements in technol- ogy, fl eets now are able to look at much more than the odometer to determine what drivers are worth. In the past two years, Nussbaum Trans- portation has made big strides in developing a more fair and objective performance-based program. Central to this effort is the advanced software system it uses to automate its incentives and give drivers and managers the information they need to maximize earnings. When Nussbaum switched insurance companies in 2010, a consultant for its new insurer created a monthly scorecard for the Normal, Ill.-based fl eet to manage its safety performance. The monthly meetings with the consultant always ended with action items to complete by the next meeting. Nussbaum decided to apply this process elsewhere in the company. The 230-truck fl eet fi rst created a driver safety scorecard and soon after added a fuel scorecard. The safety scorecard begins with a points balance for accident-free driving, accident-free work and ticket-free driving; drivers lose points when events occur in each category. The fuel scorecard measures fuel-effi cient driving, low idling and fuel purchase compliance. An operations scorecard grades productivity, on-time service and out-of-route driving. A maintenance scorecard is now in progress to reward drivers for detecting equip- ment issues and to subtract points for missing them. Nussbaum plans to continue adding categories and ob- jective measures to its scorecards as time and IT resources allow, says Jeremy Stickling, director of human resources and safety. NO ROOM FOR EXCUSES Management put a lot of thought into its fuel scorecard to avoid an "all-or-nothing" approach where drivers either receive a bonus for meeting a target mpg or walk away without anything. "That is a big de-motivator," Stickling says. Drivers who miss the target tend to blame circumstances beyond their control such as the weather or the weight of loads they haul. Technology helps evaluate, reward performance across the board more fairly SCORING DRIVERS THE SCIE NCE OF BY AARON HUFF There is a full mpg in the driver's right foot. – Jeremy Stickling, director of human resources and safety, Nussbaum Transportation