ClearDrive online training programs will now be available for commercial drivers, Instructional Technologies Inc. announced.
Instructional Technologies provides an array of training solutions across the transportation industry, and said its ClearDrive programs will be accessible for delivery van, work truck, and commercial sedan drivers. The defensive driving courses available on the system are meant to aid in safety improvements for delivery, mobile sales, vocational, and service fleet operations.
There are many courses which cover the safety issues drivers will most often have to face along urban and residential routes. These challenges include: common distractions, planning, fatigue, hazards, stops, space management, parking, speed control, loading, unloading, and customer interaction and communication, said ITI.
“Whether driving is the job, or driving gets your employees to the job, good defensive driving habits are essential for preventing crashes and injuries, and limiting a company’s liability,” said CEO and founder of ITI, Jim Voorhees. “According to the 2019 Travelers Risk Index, one in four businesses have had an employee get in a distraction-related crash while driving for work. ClearDrive can cost-effectively deliver the training your mobile workforce needs to reduce that risk and improve safety for your employees and other motorists.”
All courses utilize ITI’s unique advanced learning management system, which is backed by the company’s quarter of a century in training truckers. The program is based on master-level learning principles that require drivers to score 100% at each step of the course before moving on to the next section.
“With the increase in deliveries to homes and businesses during the coronavirus shutdown, risk mitigation is even more important for delivery and light-duty vehicle fleets,” Vorhees explained.
ClearDrive, while focusing on hazards that are often associated with driving operations in which drivers move in and out of vehicles frequently, also offers short and simple courses. ITI says its programs use easy-to-understand presentation methods that are logical and progressive, along with fast-moving narration, so that drivers can learn about important safety techniques quickly and efficiently.
Instructional Technologies, Inc. also has course add-ons that aim to help drivers prevent injuries on the job, with programs like OSHA and warehouse courses. Additionally, companies can implement methods offered by ClearDrive to create custom-made courses tailored to a specific company’s standards and needs. A transportation company can work with ITI’s production team to make a unique course program just for its employees.
Voorhees explained that these courses are especially important to fit into a company’s new business practices with all the changes brought on by COVID-19. “A ClearDrive professional defensive driving course is the first step toward keeping drivers on the front lines, and others, safe.”
A particular innovative system offered by ClearDrive uses ITI’s Sentix Pro, a learning management system with seat-based pricing. ITI says Sentix can simplify the on-boarding process for new and beginning drivers as well as manage training outlines, and that it gives automatic assignment tools for training based on telematics and hiring dates.
Users can track progress and course competitions in Sentix, as well as schedule courses for any specific group in ongoing training. The learning management system implements HR systems into its programs.
ITI is currently offering free training regarding operating during this time of pandemic. The course is called “COVID 19: What Delivery Drivers Need to Know,” and helps delivery drivers better understand the effects that the coronavirus will have on their work and on the industry as a whole, as well as how it can affect their safety on the job. The course trains these drivers by using step-by-step directions on how best to keep themselves and others safe while they continue delivering essential goods in the wake of the virus.
“[While] hauling critical supplies across North America every day, professional truck drivers are on the front lines of the global COVID-19 pandemic,” said Voorhees. “This information will help stem the spread of the virus and keep drivers safe during this critical time.”
The online course also offers up-to-date information straight from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding coronavirus systems, how the disease is spread, and what to do if you get sick. Some of the driver-specific topics it covers include: how and when to clean or avoid frequently-touched areas both inside and outside the vehicle, what important regulatory changes are in place at this time (such as Hours-of-Service rule changes and CDL expiration guidelines), operational concerns (such as shipper closures), ways to avoid distracted driving, how to manage stress in a difficult situation, and lifestyle changes (like reducing person-to-person contact in break rooms, driver lounges, and at vending machines).
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