Fuel Bonus - Want Opinions

Why does the award have to be money? Think more creatively. How about PTO? Prizes? Theme park tickets for the family? Dinner at some good steak house? Gift cards? Could be done on an annual or quarterly basis. With a gold, silver, bronze winning structure. This way everyone in the fleet tries to win, improving bottom line across the board with a reward that is significantly cheaper than the fleet fuel savings.

 

That pretty good. You defiantly be someone id drive for.

 

How about a yearly company party to show appreciation for your drivers.
And driver of the month type prize.

I think perhaps if you pay good you will attract the best drivers.

But hire drivers who like to drive your lanes.
If you have your own shop and run exempt trucks you will also hire exceptional drivers. Being most drivers under 30 don't know what paper log is.

 

Personally I never cared for any type of bonuses. Only real money that I can count on. Always Leary of them. Seems like the threshold set by Carrier would always benefit them, not Me. I understand your idea is designed to be a win win, I wouldn’t like it myself. Too much to think about already, trip planning, especially with e logs now. Some Drivers would probably love it. A lot of folks buy into the points, discount , use your card etc. Everywhere I go Ace hardware even has a club,Obviously people love the idea of free or discounts etc. To Me it’s a waste of time.I prefer simplicity, and think a lot of Drivers would also see it as a hassle. My idea of a good Company leaves Me alone, and trusts I will do the best I can regardless. That’s Why they hired Me, and all the others because we’re above average and can be trusted, I think a quarterly bonus, call it what You want, profit sharing, safety, Performance etc. one that is easily obtainable. That is you almost have to be a total #### not to get it. A chargeable accident or 3 late deliveries or excessive speed ticket, no bonus. Otherwise knowing an extra check maybe .02 cpm $300 every 3 mo. With an option to let it build up and be paid once a year $1200 ( based on 2500 miles a week) . I think something like that would be more desirable.Especially for Drivers with families. A little extra outside of the weekly budget. Passive savings. Just my opinion. Keep it simple, If they wanted all the gimmicks, they’d be at a Mega.

 

What do YOUR drivers say and want. Seems to me that's where to start.
And for me there is no way to be fair to everyone. IE no 2 trucks or trailers are created equal.

 

Way back in my mis-spent youth I took some management classes. One thing I remember most is that people are wired to not want to be in the bottom. They want to be a little better than average. Average might be OK, but being way below average? Nobody wants that.

Second, people pay attention to what you track. Just the fact you give people feedback on their numbers (fuel, on time delivery, customer feed back, whatever), will change most people's behavior. We pay attention to what we are told is important. Rate people on the things you think are important in their jobs.

Then I would compose a ranking. I'd keep the scores for each individual confidential between you and the driver, but I would publish who the best "overall" group of drivers was, and reward them financially. Make sure the metrics make your company better. If a guy busts his rear to drive overnight to make a near impossible appointment, there has to be something to offset his increased fuel consumption, because what he did was best for the company.

Penny a miles, nickel a mile, whatever. Just don't give it to just ONE driver. It has to be a significant number of drivers so everyone can expect to attain that "bonus" status. Like at least a third. And I wouldn't publish the grades of those that made it, probably just the minimum grade that made the cut.

To keep the "bonus" group motivated, I'd probably make a "all time" designation for drivers that consistently make the top. Maybe give them the new trucks, or upgraded seats / mattresses/ stereos / whatever you come up with.

 

Our trucks are set at 68 across the board.

We have a dozen glider kits with APU's and a hand full of Cascadias with just bunk heaters.
Gliders have to hit a different benchmark than the plastic trucks.

Any MPG bonus program needs to pay out enough to be worth it to the driver or else its a waste of time.
Some of our poorest performing drivers have had their speed cut back by 1-2 mpg for a month if they are not getting anywhere near target. Only had to do that a few times before the entire fleet knew we meant it.

Our top performers would make $200+ per month consistantly.

End of the day, the more your driver sits, the less he will care about fuel mileage.

 

I'll still take the guaranteed mileage pay and 75mph truck and you can stick your bonus.

I have never seen a bonus program that was fair for ALL the drivers. If anybody thinks there is post up.

If you insist on playing the numbers game then it would be on.
Just saying lol