During my career as a safety leader, I worked for talented operational leaders. At the top of the list is Don Slager. Don was the CEO for Republic Services during much of my time with the company, and he had a strong dedication to driver safety.
Years ago, we were talking about how to improve driver safety and engagement when Don made a simple point. “We’re doing a lot of training,” he said, “but what are our drivers really learning?”
I didn’t have a great answer. However, because of that question, we dove head-first into a better safety system for driver onboarding and education: Skills-based training.
What is skills-based training?
In commercial transportation, skills-based training is a learning approach that focuses on developing and reinforcing the practical skills needed to operate safely. Instead of relying solely on traditional classroom instruction or compliance-based training, this method emphasizes hands-on learning, real-world scenarios, and measurable skill development.
Key elements of skills-based training include:
- Practical Application. Training is designed around real driving situations, so drivers can apply what they learn directly to their daily work.
- Personalized Coaching. Drivers receive feedback based on their individual performance, allowing them to strengthen specific skills.
- Data-Driven Insights. Training programs use telematics, AI-powered dash cams, and performance data to identify areas for improvement and tailor instruction accordingly.
- Continuous Learning. Rather than one-time training sessions, skills-based training is an ongoing process that adapts to each driver’s progress and needs.
Skills-based training doesn’t just check the box on compliance training. It helps drivers build confidence and improve performance — along with outcomes. By focusing on skill mastery, fleets can create a strong safety culture that leads to fewer accidents, lower costs, and better driver engagement.
The evolution of skills-based training
Shifting to a skills-based training approach doesn’t require a complete overhaul. It’s more about building on what you already have. You just add more practical, hands-on learning and one-on-one coaching to strengthen your program. Here’s how different types of training can support that shift:
- Classroom Training. Most organizations conduct group training in a classroom type format. This type of training is necessary to share information broadly within your workforce. It should also be used as a tool to communicate your focus and priorities.
- Basic Skills-Based Training. Basic skills-based training often relies on practical, hands-on experience. It gives workers the opportunity to build muscle memory and confidence by performing tasks in real-world settings, which tends to be more effective for roles that require physical or technical skills.
- Enhanced Skills-Based Training. Think of skills training as a drill for drivers, such as making a blind-side backing maneuver. In my experience, drills can be effectively performed on a closed course or on the actual route a driver services.
The key is for training to be conducted one-on-one with a supervisor in the vehicle with a driver. Why? Because the in-person conversations that happen between the driver and supervisor are much more effective than classroom training.
Obstacle courses and ‘ROAD-eos’ increase driver engagement
A great way to further enhance your driver safety program is to incorporate a series of obstacles and create a “ROAD-eo” competition to increase driver competition and engagement.
- Course Layout and Objectives. Obstacles are arranged in a series from one to seven to test drivers’ skills. Generally, they include backing, tight turning, driving in a straight line, and stopping. Each obstacle is scored, and winners are determined based on the best scores.
The key to success is to ensure that the challenges reflect the skills drivers need on their routes. For example, in the waste industry, drivers are frequently required to back up, so the course includes several backing challenges. If the course is developed for school bus drivers, the challenges should focus on turning, driving in a straight line, and stopping instead of backing maneuvers. - Participation and Engagement. At Republic, we held a national championship every other year. The event was a great success, but our primary focus was on the qualifying “ROAD-eo” events. Having local events is key to ensuring the highest level of engagement. The local events were tied to seasonal family picnics that included food trucks, events for kids, and Touch-A-Truck activities.
The results
Rolling out skills-based training and a ROAD-eo competition brought clear benefits. While the primary goal was to reduce incidents and reinforce safe driving habits, the program had a wider impact across the operation. Here’s what we observed and where we see room to grow:
- Safety Improvement and Engagement. Skills-based training and drills focus on prevention of fixed object incidents. That said, in addition to incident reduction we also saw better communication between drivers and supervisors.
After implementing drills, we found that drivers were more likely to approach supervisors about challenging stops on their routes. For example, in some cases, we were able to eliminate hazards by simply changing time of service. - Other Areas of Opportunity. When it comes to hands-on training and ROAD-EOs, think bigger than drivers. As time progressed, we expanded the competitions to sectors beyond waste and recycling. Today, Republic has drills and ROAD-EOs for heavy equipment operators, fork-lift operations and even mechanics.
Conclusion
Start small with hands-on skills training and drills for your drivers. The initial time investment from your fleet management team will be noticeable, but the long-term benefits — safer operations, stronger communication, and improved employee engagement — are well worth it.
Give your team space to adjust. It takes time for both supervisors and drivers to build comfort with a new approach.
And don’t go it alone. Connect with peers who’ve already launched similar programs. Their experiences can help you spot early roadblocks and uncover new ways to strengthen your safety culture.
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