Delivery Driver Accidents On The Rise - How Can You Protect Your Drivers?

If you have delivery drivers, you’re at risk of losing tens of thousands of dollars in cost of loss per year. Perhaps you’re at risk of losing millions per year if you’re large enough.

Accidents are a common part of any transportation business. We’re not talking about the trucking industry, either. Even light-duty and non-CDL drivers are at risk. The small accidents add up to hamper your growth. The big ones might put you out of business. Worse yet, accidents for delivery drivers are actually on the rise.

The good news is, you don’t need to accept accidents as the cost of doing business. You can take cost-effective steps to reduce your risk, prevent accidents and injuries, and save your company piles of money in mitigated cost of loss.

How Dangerous is Being a Delivery Driver?

Delivery drivers are at risk of accidents, injuries, and even losing their lives every day. Remember: this isn’t trucking. This is for delivery drivers behind the wheel of vans, sedans, SUVs, and non-CDL box trucks. According to this article from Moneyinc.com, being a delivery driver is the eleventh most dangerous job in the country. 

As dangerous as it is today, studies show that the risk is increasing. NBC News points out that nearly 1 in every 5 Amazon workers was injured in 2021. This is a 40% increase from 2022. And it’s not just Amazon. Comparing the numbers from 2021 with 2019 - which was an all-time high in five years - accidents are getting more common.

It’s clear that your company and your drivers face risk, and the risk is growing.

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Why Is This Industry Dangerous?

To find our answer, let’s compare delivery drivers to similar transportation industries. Truck drivers and bus operators need special licensing, have to attend a CDL school, and go through training with the companies that hire them.

Delivery drivers face the same risks as truck and bus drivers, but receive no extra training or special license from the government. In all reality, delivery drivers are professional drivers, but they aren’t held to a higher standard or given additional resources.

Your employees share the road with reckless drivers and pedestrians and cyclists who take too much risk. Without the extra training, your employees don’t know how to avoid risk in order to prevent accidents. The result is people getting hurt, or worse, killed. And you’re the one paying for it. 

3 Ways to Protect Your Drivers & Your Company

As we said above, delivery drivers face the same risk as truck and bus drivers but receive no extra training. That means it’s up to you. If you want to reduce liability, accidents, injuries, and cost of loss, you need to take control of the situation. You need to invest in cost-effective methods for reducing accidents for delivery drivers.

1. Online Self-Directed Training

The cheapest and easiest way to train your drivers is to invest in online self-directed training. You simply pay your drivers their hourly wage to go through professionally-developed courses that educate them on essential defensive driving techniques.

You can’t rely on a clean driving record. You could be hiring an unsafe driver whose luck runs out on your time. That’s why we recommend companies use online training for new hires, monthly refresher training, and remedial training after an accident or incident.

A program like The Fleet Safety Course will help you achieve:

• A 20% or more reduction in accidents
• Massive reductions in cost of loss, saving you tens of thousands of dollars
• A more engaged and productive workforce

The investment in online training will pay for itself twice over in no time.

2. Defensive Driving Instructor Training

If you have enough drivers, you likely have instructors as well. These are folks you pay to teach new and existing drivers how to do their jobs safely and efficiently. The problem is, many companies fail to adequately prepare their instructors.

Without proper training, your instructors will not be effective in their roles. Worse yet, they might be teaching your drivers the wrong things. That’s why it’s important to invest in training for your instructors.

Best-in-class companies invest in LLLC Instructor training. This program trains your instructors in LLLC defensive driving so that they can train your drivers. By investing in this program, you’ll have proven instructor and driver curricula that are easy to implement.

3. Track Your Training

The goal of instructor and driver training is to reduce accidents and injuries. However, if the worst still happens, you need to be prepared.

Companies regularly face lawsuits due to traffic accidents. Oftentimes, the company driver wasn’t even at fault, but the plaintiff is hoping for a settlement.

If you have online training and a system that tracks it, you can build your defense against frivolous lawsuits. The Fleet Safety Course includes access to a learning management system that allows you to track, record, and run reports for training.

You’ll always be able to prove that you’ve done your due diligence in preparing your drivers.

Accidents Are Up, But Yours Could Go Down

Just because accidents are up across the industry doesn’t mean yours have to go up as well.

Accidents happen when companies prioritize efficiency and budget over safety, fail to train their drivers, and don’t set their driver instructors up for success. In other words, accidents are up because the industry is short-sighted.

You don’t have to suffer the same fate. You can save yourself time and money while protecting your employees. Take the first step today by signing up for your 14-day Free Pass to the Fleet Safety Course.