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When you think of the characteristics of a professional driver, you may imagine someone who knows the back roads, who can put up with traffic, and who doesn’t mind being gone from home a lot.
While that’s all true, there are other important characteristics fleet drivers need to possess to be successful on the job and in life.
As an authority on all things fleet-related, we’ve gathered five essential characteristics that every fleet driver should have.
Dependable
Be sure to always be on time and follow instructions to a tee. You need to be prompt and efficient in all of your endeavours. For example, if your superiors have asked you to drop off a package at an office building before lunch, make sure you’re there early enough so that you can make it back on time for your afternoon meeting.
If there is any extra time, however, don’t be afraid to use it as a way to impress your bosses further. For example, many companies will ask their drivers to do errands or pick up dry cleaning while they are out making deliveries during their shift.
Clean And Professional
While you might not be driving your vehicle in a fleet, there’s still value in making sure you look and smell your best. When meeting clients or talking with new contacts over coffee, a dishevelled appearance can damage your brand and give off a bad impression of both yourself and your company.
On top of that, studies have shown that neat and well-groomed people are perceived as more intelligent than their sloppier counterparts. Whether you consider it worth it for professional reasons or vanity, staying clean is good for everyone involved.
Follows All Driving Rules Diligently
If you’re a fleet driver, your vehicle could be one of many, and you should treat every car as if it’s your own. Following all traffic laws and regulations is part of being a safe driver and maintaining a clean driver risk management record. Following rules such as speeding, drunk driving, cell phone use, and texting is more important than ever.
Never do anything that could put yourself or others in danger. This includes taking care to never tailgate, always staying alert behind the wheel, always signalling your intentions before switching lanes and always wearing your seatbelt when riding in a car.
Can Multitask
To manage multiple vehicles, you have to multitask and handle several tasks at once. Be sure your fleet driver can take charge of an entire route on their own with minimal supervision. They should also be able to keep track of time, adhere to schedules and meet deadlines.
They should have a great memory because they will likely have several deliveries and stops throughout a single shift and will need to keep each location separate in their mind. When they get back into a vehicle between stops, they should remember where they left off without looking at notes.
Gets Along With His Colleagues
Being a fleet driver might not be for you if you can’t get along with others or talk to them about personal stuff. It’s not just about working well with others; it’s also about collaborating to achieve set goals and objectives.
For example, if you have complaints that your boss is always pushing back deadlines without any reason, then it means he isn’t good at managing his people. This shouldn’t concern you if all your boss asks of you is to deliver products on time, but it will cause problems should he ask you to help him out during a crisis and then back away when things become difficult.
