There’s no doubt that every business operating a vehicle fleet wants its drivers to be happy with the service they are receiving.

Company directors and fleet managers that have been through times when drivers were not content will tell you that it leads to the endless resolution of complaints, fire fighting and re-activity, and it’s incredibly disruptive.

That then makes the fleet manger’s life stressful and in turn he or she passes that stress onto the contract hire or fleet management provider, assuming they use one.

It doesn’t matter how good a business you are, everyone in the fleet sector has endured that awful meeting when a client says they are not happy. When they proceed to list, item by item, where drivers have complained or where the support to them hasn’t worked effectively.

The reason this happens though is largely because the leasing company hasn’t been receiving the early warnings themselves. A bit like stamp collecting, every small moan and gripe has been passed to the fleet manager who has collected them over time and is now throwing the whole book at you.

Driver feedback systems are, of course, a common feature of the fleet sector. However, manual feedback cards when vehicles are delivered etc are hard and time-consuming to distribute, chase and collate. This is why many fleet providers will tell you that their own ‘early warning systems’ have been a little bit intermittent in the past.

There is though a massive demand for driver data because it is seen as a crucial, business-critical, tool to nurture long-lasting client relationships, by anticipating and dealing with service issues well before they reach the fleet manager’s desk.

This is why our online driver feedback system, Touchpoint, is soaring in popularity at the moment. And if you haven’t yet seen the system I would recommend you join the growing list of FN50 companies that are considering it, because it’s a vital tool in an increasingly competitive market.

It also means you have your own direct feed into the opinions of drivers which brings enormous benefit. Not just as an early warning system, but as a tangible way of managing your suppliers and to be more pro-active in your overall account management. It will also ultimately enable you to benchmark your driver support against the industry averages, which will enable strategic decisions to be made with far great clarity.