Give your TDC a little TLC

by Everybody Loves Alain

The warm weather means it’s time for truck-driving skills competitions-or TDCs, as I like to call them. Far from being merely a day at the playground, a company’s TDC can go a long way to contributing to the bottom line. But before I detail all the reasons you should be thinking about a TDC, don’t forget that these events are first and foremost about your people-professional drivers who take pride in their work. A TDC event provides them with a forum to demonstrate their skills and knowledge, and it gives you an opportunity to recognize and reward your people, foster a culture of safety, and attract new drivers to your team.

To make it a success, your TDC needs to be a family event. Family time is quality time for our driving force, who are often away from home. So make the day memorable for everybody. Hire a clown. And a kids’ face painter. We once rented a huge inflated jumping castle for the kids to leap around in. Don’t underestimate the importance of good supervision, too, so the parents get breaks.

Top the day off with the awards banquet. A side benefit of having the family around is that if you want to talk safety, there’s no better atmosphere. With the children there, safety is an easy sell.

A TDC isn’t just kids’ stuff. It’s the perfect arena for high-quality training, attendance guaranteed. If you’re in Ontario or Quebec, invite a Road Knight from the Ontario Trucking Association or an Ambassadeur de la Route from the Quebec Trucking Association. These guys are professional drivers and skilled speakers who deliver a powerful message to your driver group. They’re also free.

Ask a local enforcement officer or transportation official to come. You’d be surprised to learn how much a driver can pick up talking with these people in non-threatening situations.

Of course, there are tests involved. Present a driver with a truck unit with “x” amount of defects, and give him a short period of time to find them. The whole exercise is based on knowing how to do an effective pre-trip inspection. After the inspection, the judge can take a few minutes and do one-on-one coaching, identifying any defects the driver did not find.

The winner at our company event this year told me how every year he has participated, he has kept detailed notes about the mechanical inspection items, notes on the course layout, and his written test scores, so he can study and practice.

Your TDC is a marketing tool, too. If your winning drivers move to the provincial or national finals, publicize it. Need new drivers? Use your TDC as a recruiting device by having your drivers invite friends to compete? Who better to sell your company than your own operators?

Whatever you do, it’s crucial to set qualifying minimum standards for anyone who wants to attend and compete. These could include clean driver abstracts and accident-free driving records. You set the standards. Drivers have to know that superior over-the-road performance gets rewarded.

Participation will do nothing but improve your people. Further, you’ll collect driver test scores so that you can evaluate and determine your training needs. Training can be expensive; this is one way to know what you really need before you buy it.

Above all, a TDC will help build team spirit and enhance driver loyalty. Who can put a price on that?

NOTE: This year, the National Professional Truck Driving Championships will take place Sept. 5-6 at Red River Exhibition Park in Winnipeg. For details, call the Manitoba Trucking Association, 204/632-6600.


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