Corporate Driver Training Driving Course

Our Corporate Driving programs are emerging as the preferred course to properly train staff to deal with the many dangers on our roads today. The course is designed with a mix of discussion and practical activities, providing a great combination to achieve real learning outcomes without being boring.

Our corporate programs are based on the Drive to Arrive defensive driving course and the Advanced Driving course. These can be tailored if required although the structure of these existing courses is suitable to meet all driver training requirements. We can develop specific training courses for your group, such as car parking or individual training along with specific team building driver training events.

Properly structured driver training is a crucial part of the occupational health & safety requirements of successful forward-looking companies. It will definitely save money on repairs, insurance and down time but most importantly it can save your business' most important resources – the life and wellbeing of your staff.

Business has never been more competitive. Margins are being squeezed and the constant challenge is to drive for better efficiency in all areas of your business. This drive for efficiency means developing 'best practices' and ensuring that you have properly trained people to implement your strategy.

Recently, proper training of staff has become an increasingly important part of this success - and rightly so. Thousands through to millions of dollars are invested in equipment and processes which need to be protected by the provision of adequate training.

Nowhere is this more true than in the use of company vehicles. A very significant amount of capital is invested in the company fleet – whether they are cars mainly used privately or commercial vehicles. Yet teaching people how to drive is an often neglected part of the process. Why? Because it is assumed that if someone has a licence that they "know how to drive". Unfortunately not everyone can drive well.

The process of obtaining a licence does not teach defensive driving and the attitude required to deal with our roads safely. That is why properly structured courses such as our Drive to Arrive defensive driving course are so valuable.

Road Safety For Your Staff

Here are a few reasons that you should have a planned driver training program in place to protect your staff.

• Your staff should be provided with a safe workplace, this includes their travel to and from work.
• A vehicle used for work purposes is classed as a workplace and should have the same level of safety and training provided as per an office, workshop or building site.
• Vehicles with corporate signage are a billboard of your brand. It is important that driver behavior is of an appropriate standard if driving a sign written vehicle or a drivers action could reflect poorly on your business.
• Staff who participate in a Drive to Arrive defensive driving course will learn life skills beyond that of their workplace, helping them to keep their family and friends safe on the roads also.
• Staff feel rewarded by employers who provide driver training as it is more than the usual 'training' courses normally associated with a workplace (ie, computer training, systems training, etc).

Properly structured driver training programs like our Drive to Survive defensive driving course provide many benefits and positive outcomes;

• Understanding the value of safe driving (health, safety, economic and environmental benefits),
• Increased hazard perception,
• Improved judgment of potential risks,
• Awareness of the responsibility of crashes,
• Maintaining a safe driving environment (vehicle maintenance & vehicle positioning on road),
• Reduction in high risk actions,
• Motivation to continually assess and improve driving skills and behaviors,
• Provide an awareness of the impact/benefit of electronic safety systems in modern vehicles (ABS, Traction Control, Stability Control, etc).

So you may be asking, if properly structured training can provide the benefits such as those noted above then why have I heard negative reports about driver training? That is a good question but one that can be answered quite thoroughly.

Firstly, most reports conducted on driver training are now outdated (most are from 10+ years ago). Secondly, most reports have been conducted using predominately "skills based" driving courses as the program being studied. What we are offer is a "defensive driving" program which is very focused in its objectives to achieve real defensive driving outcomes. It includes a mix of theory content to explain the objectives of the driving activities – either one (theory or driving) on its own will not provide the desired benefits.

Although we do include skills in the training content of the Drive To Survive course, these are skills such as improving Vision, Seating/Seating Position and Smoother Steering & Pedal Actions. None of these 'skills' create overconfidence, especially when delivered by our professional and passionate instructing team.

We welcome any questions that you may have about our training structures, please feel free to contact the office to discuss any concerns.

Managing your fleet can be a difficult balance, initial purchase, maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc. As a guide, we can provide you with some important tips to help make the right choices to keep your fleet safe.

Obviously, initially we would recommend that everyone driving a fleet vehicle is properly trained so book them all onto our Drive to Arrive defensive driving course before handing over the keys. Secondly you should consider the type of vehicles being purchased for fleet use and include as many safety features as possible when selecting your fleet vehicles. This includes ABS Brakes which are now becoming standard on most makes and models but should be standard for all fleet purchases. Traction & Stability Control programs (different manufacturers use different terminology for these systems but they all do the same thing) should also be optioned where possible (these features cannot be 'retro' fitted so must be selected at purchase).

Proper maintenance of fleet vehicles is also important, from regular checking of basic items such as fluid levels and more importantly tyre pressures and tread depth through to major servicing and repairs. Another issue for fleets that has become more relevant nowadays is the use of satellite navigation systems, usually suctioned onto the windscreen.

Two problems exist with these sat-nav systems, one is that the positioning of the sat-nav on the windscreen is often detrimental to the view of the road and surrounding area and the second issue is that thieves see either the system still plugged to the windscreen or the suction cup mark on the windscreen and will target the vehicle for a smash and grab (they know that even when a sat-nav is not in its cradle on the windscreen most people leave them 'hidden' in the console).

These problems can be avoided in one of two ways, select sat-nav as a fitted option at time of vehicle purchase or have your fleet drivers place the sat-nav in a position out of sight of thieves which will also usually move the unit away from obscuring vision out of the windscreen.

Our Corporate Driving days are emerging as winners with everyone who is doing them - whether to entertain customers or as a team building exercise for staff.

Ours is a new and exciting alternative to those tired days of golf, football/tennis/cricket in the corporate box or climbing through the bush and hanging off ropes. We can tailor complete packages for you that include defensive driving exercises, competitive stages with prizes and then end the day with hot laps around a race track in a racing Ferrari or - the ultimate - a V8 Supercar.

Your clients or staff will have sensational fun, they will learn something about safer driving, they will be entertained and your alcohol bill will be zero!

Please give us a ring about a day that will change your ideas about corporate entertaining.