If you own or manage a professional truck driving company, you should consider implementing a recognition program into your business strategy. According to the American Trucking Association (ATA), there are an estimated 3.5 million professional truck drivers working in the U.S. Unfortunately, many of these drivers work long, hard shifts without any recognition from their respective employer. Whether you’re looking to improve your company’s numbers, reduce turnover driver turnover rates, or encourage better safety on the road, a truck driving recognition program will help you accomplish these goals and more.

When Should Truck Drivers Be Recognized?

Now for the question that’s probably burning a hole in your mind – when exactly should you recognize truck drivers? There are a couple of different ways to approach a recognition program in this industry, one of which is to base it around safe, accident-free mileage. If you were a fly on the wall at some of the leading trucking and logistics transportation companies, you would probably notice that most of them have a ‘safe driving’ club. For instance, you could launch a ‘million mile club’ where truck drivers are recognized and rewarded for driving a full one million miles without causing an accident.

You don’t have to cap your recognition program at one million miles; other companies also create milestones at the 1.5 million, 2 million and even 3 million driving miles. These numbers may seem out of reach, but you would be surprised at how many professional truck drivers reach 2 and 3 million safe driving miles.

Of course, another idea is to recognize truck drivers based on their time spent with the company. Perhaps you can reward truckers for staying with the company for 1 year, 5 years and 10 years, increasing the reward on each increment. One of the key benefits in doing so is that it boosts employee confidence with the company, reducing the chance of them leaving. Be sure to check out our previous blog posts for more information about the benefits of recognizing trucks drivers.

Recognizing truck drivers with a crystal 3D truck award or a personalized truck driving recognition plaque for example will encourage better safety on the road. There’s no way to completely prevent 100% of accidents from happening, but using a recognition program is one simple step that will promote better highway safety.