4 Reasons to Consider a Mobile Training App for CDL Drivers

Training CDL drivers often comes with wasted time, big budgets, and mixed results. Of course, not providing adequate training is an even worse option. You need an easy way to get better results out of your CDL driver training. Whether you’re training new drivers or retraining vets, what options do you have?

There’s a new tool some truck and bus companies are choosing to use: the mobile training app. In this article, we'll explore the reasons why a mobile training app could be a game-changer for a company like yours.

Learn about AvatarFleet's newest training app, Instructor.

The Importance of Training

Accidents for commercial drivers are common and costly. In 2020, there were around 5,000 fatal truck and bus collisions. That number has been increasing each year since.

The worst result of accidents is the pain and suffering they cause. The second worst is the cost it puts on carriers.

The average cost of an accident involving a bus is over $100,000. The average cost of an accident involving a tractor-trailer is $382,000. An accident involving a fatality will easily cost a company over $1 million.

If that seems high, that’s because there are so many hidden costs to accidents. Of course you have costs like tickets, fines, and repairs, but there’s also costs such as:

• Lost time
• Rising insurance premiums
• Loss of business
• Damaged reputation
• And much more

The good news is, accidents don’t “just happen.” They happen when your drivers make a mistake, either because they made a bad choice or they didn’t know any better.

If you implement effective CDL driver training programs, your drivers’ risk of accidents will come down drastically. In fact, any training program worth its salt will save you at least twice as much as you spend on it in reduced cost of loss.

Why is a Mobile Training App the Answer?

First, it’s important to say there’s no silver bullet to solving your safety problems. If your company struggles with high accident numbers, there are likely several factors at play: poor retention, hiring the wrong people for the job, infrequent training cycles, and more. However, a mobile training app could be a tool that saves you a lot of time and money.

A mobile training app is essentially a website your trainers access in order to track your employees’ training progress. They are extremely useful tools for companies that need to teach hands-on skills, like a trucking or bussing company must do. Mobile training apps work well because they bring your trainee’s learning out where it counts: truck or bus side.

A CDL mobile training app will gives you the ability to:

• Easily track, document, and store CDL driver training
• Show video demonstrations of essential skills
• Take video recordings of trainee’s attempts for documentation and follow-up training

There are several mobile training apps out there, but we’ve made the only one that’s transportation-specific. You can check out the Instructor App here.

All of these features work together to shorten training time and improve outcomes, and there are many more compelling reasons that you might want to invest in a mobile training app. For now, let’s tackle the 4 most important.

1. Ease of Access and Convenience

One of the biggest advantages of CDL mobile training apps is their accessibility and convenience. Traditional CDL driver training involves several days spent in the classroom showing videos and presentations on crucial driving topics. Then the drivers head out to the range to practice it. The problem is, they’ve forgotten half of what they learned. They might as well be starting from scratch.

A mobile training app is like cutting out the middleman. You can show your trainees video demonstrations of a specific skill and then let them practice it right then and there, and all you need is a smartphone or tablet for the trainer to use.

2. Standardized Training and Education

All too often, a carriers’ success relies upon each trainer delivering the same level of quality to training every day to every trainee. It’s just not reasonable. Your trainers are likely to forget a step here and there when teaching something such as performing left turns or vehicle inspections. And when it comes to safety, missing one step can lead to catastrophe.

A mobile training app greatly reduces this risk. All of your trainers will all have access to the exact same list of steps that they need to teach your trainees on each unique skill. And, with standardized video-demonstrations, you can ensure each trainee sees it done the correct way every time.

3. Interactive Learning Through Videos

We all have different learning styles, but the most common learning style in adults is hands-on, also called kinesthetic, learning. More importantly, it’s impossible to learn a skill without some amount of hands-on training.

That’s the problem with the traditional driver training experience. We ask new commercial drivers to sit in a classroom learning about driving, then apply what they learned a week later. That is not a recipe for success.

A mobile training app allows your drivers to see a video demonstration of a skill and then try it out for themselves right away. This is a much more effective and time efficient way to train both new and veteran drivers.

4. Documentation and Note-Taking Capabilities

The ultimate fear for a transportation company is a hungry plaintiff attorney finding a chink in their armor. Whether it’s a compliance or training issue, that can cost you a fortune. A mobile training app will scare those plaintiff attorneys away.

Most attorneys are looking for an easy win. If they come to you and see you have miles of training documentation, they’ll pack their suitcase and start the headhunting process again.

Driver Training Should Be Easy

Driver training should make you a more efficient, cost-effective carrier. It should never slow your operation down and cause you headaches. Remember, there’s no silver bullet to solving your safety problems, but if you want a tool that will cut down your training time, you might want to check out a mobile training app.

You’ll be able to train your CDL drivers in less time and get better results. That makes the road safer while making your life easier.