Extra set of benefits may keep drivers onboard
To paraphrase redneck comic Jeff Foxworthy, you might be experiencing a driver shortage… if companies start offering you stuff to help you keep your drivers.
Well, it' sure not funny, but it's happening. Just the other day we got word of a new package deal — a comprehensive set of extra benefits — aimed at helping fleets keep drivers from jumping ship just because someone else is paying slightly more or has a slightly spiffier truck to put them in.
CompuNet Credit Services calls its new product (their lingo, not mine) “Driver Assist.” As its name suggests, it's a package of 20 services tailored toward alleviating some of the vexing issues drivers face over and over in their workaday lives.
According to the firm's marketing manager, Charlotte Keller, Driver Assist targets four key areas of concern to drivers: bonds and legal fees, travel and road service, personal-accident insurance coverage and healthcare savings.
“Meaningful benefits build driver loyalty, which in turn reduces driver turnover and the cost of hiring and training new drivers,” Keller rightly contends. “Benefits are also an important element in attracting new drivers.”
She points out that providing extra “security” benefits tuned to drivers' concerns about life on the road gives them “peace of mind — and the reassurance that their company is looking out for them and their families
“Benefits, especially security benefits, reinforce the partnership between the driver and carrier,” Keller continues. “That partnership is the best hope for reducing the number of drivers who leave a company and avoiding the per-driver expense of driver turnover — which means greater profits in the long haul.”
Without further ado, here in brief are some key provisions (for more information, visit www.driverassist.com) of the four-part CompuNet package:
Bond and legal fees
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Up to $25,000 bond to secure release if driving and charged with a moving violation or criminal charge.
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Reimbursement of legal fees up to $200 for moving violations and up to $2,000 for criminal defense of involuntary manslaughter or vehicular homicide.
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Reimbursement up to $500 each for attorney's help in filing and collecting for damages to your vehicle or bodily injuries received in a multi-vehicle accident.
Travel & road services
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Up to $500 assistance for lodging, meals or transportation if vehicle is disabled due to an accident
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Up to $500 bereavement-travel reimbursement for commercial transit or rig storage if parent, child or spouse dies when driver is over 100 miles from home.
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Up to $100 road-service reimbursements for battery boost, tire service, fuel or parts delivery or locksmith.
Personal accident coverage
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Up to $420 emergency benefit
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Up to $60,000 hospital room and board
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A $10,000 accidental-death benefit
Healthcare savings
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Neighborhood pharmacy discount of 10% to 50% on most acute-care medications.
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Mail-order prescription plan for maintenance medications ordered in 30- to 90-day supplies
We at FLEET OWNER do not know how much this package will cost a fleet to purchase. Nor do we know if CompuNet is offering these services at the best price.
What we do know is that such a package is bound to be as big a benefit to the fleet offering it as to the drivers getting it. Shop around if you like, but give this idea some serious thought. You — and your drivers — could well benefit.
