Crash Course

With the challenges PCOs are facing today, including government regulations, increased product costs, labor shortages, etc., having safe drivers behind the wheel of their cars and trucks may not be at the top of their list of priorities — but it should be.

Operating a fleet of service vehicles accounts for a substantial portion of a pest control company’s expenses. And when service vehicles are involved in accidents, it stands to reason that fleet operation costs will increase. Unfortunately, America’s highways and roads are more crowded and more dangerous than they have been in years past, meaning it is more critical than ever for PCOs to do everything in their power to ensure that their drivers are safe and cautious behind the wheel.

The strenuous driving conditions that exist today have filled our nation’s roads with frustrated (and even hostile) drivers. This is not good news for a service vehicle operator. When other drivers, particularly those in non-commercial vehicles, spot a service vehicle on the road, they perceive the vehicle as being slow and may try to pass it at all costs, oftentimes making risky maneuvers to do so.

But it’s not just other drivers that are causing headaches. Service vehicle operators also face internal driving pressures that may lead to poor driving decisions. For instance, it doesn’t make a good impression if a pest management professional shows up late to an account. As a result, that professional may try to cut a few corners and take unnecessary risks on the road to get to an account on time if he or she is running late.

Service vehicle operators also face the challenge of operating a cumbersome vehicle in a crowd of smaller, easier-to-manage vehicles. As many pest management professionals will tell you, the specific designs and modifications of pest control service vehicles make driving more difficult. Service vehicles are often loaded with pesticides, spray rigs, cages and traps, ladders, etc., which all reduce visibility.

In fact, many pest control companies have modified their service vehicles to increase driver visibility. Guy Young, fleet manager for Western Exterminator Co., Irvine, Calif., says his company has made a number of modifications to its trucks to help the company’s drivers see better. "We’ve positioned the hose reel so that they can see better than they were able to in the past," he says. "We also put a chemical box right on the back of the truck and took the tailgate off. That chemical box was also lowered 24 inches for better rear window visibility. By the end of the year all of our vehicles will have little 2-inch stick-on mirrors to give them a little more visibility along blind spots when they change lanes."

CHANGES ARE NEEDED. Still, Western, like many other pest control businesses, is seeking ways to improve its accident history company wide.

"The amount of accidents our technicians have been involved in has generally increased and I can’t figure it out," Young says. "We are, as a result, stepping up and modifying our safety program. I don’t know what the effect will be. We are going to change our method of teaching and try to be a little more proactive."

Young theorized that inept driving and traffic jams are largely to blame for the increase in accidents. As a result, the major area the company is refocusing its training efforts on is defensive driving.

"The training side is what we are trying to beef up a little bit," Young says. "When our new employees go through the week-long training classes at our centralized office, we spend half a day on driving and vehicle-related issues and have (technicians) watch video tapes and take a test."

Western also stresses vehicle safety during monthly follow-up training sessions. "We’ll review everything from filling out accident reports properly to vehicle maintenance, but mostly we’ll go over driving tips like not following too closely," Young says.

Young added that the company has equipped its service vehicles with "How’s My Driving?" bumper stickers. He says the bumper stickers help the company keep a tab on some technicians and also help technicians remember that they are billboards on the road and poor driving is bad for the company’s image and business.

Cooks Pest Control, Decatur, Ala., offers a similar training course. New technicians go through 160 hours of training, which includes pest control application, termite training and vehicle safety, according to Jim Brazelton, property and fleet manager for the company.

Brazelton says driving topics stressed in the courses include: teaching proper stopping distance between the driver and car in front of them, making sure the person behind them is aware they are going to change lanes, the use of proper signals and teaching what is the safe driving speed in certain hazardous areas.

A representative of Orkin Pest Control, Atlanta, Ga., says the company has been experiencing a steady decline in the number of service vehicle accidents. "Strangely enough our fleet size has increased and our accident rate has decreased," says Greg Crocker, director of safety and loss control at Orkin.

Crocker says the company has reduced the frequency of accidents it averages per 1 million miles. In 1997 Orkin averaged 10 accidents per 1 million miles and it now averages 6.4 accidents per 1 million miles. Crocker attributes the drop to a thorough screening process and follow-up review program he implemented 2½ years ago.

"We do a host of things starting with a pre-hire MVR (Motor Vehicle Registration) process," Crocker says. "We certify our technicians to drive based on a point system, reviewing their MVR history before they are hired. After they are hired we send them through a computer-based defensive driving course."

Once technicians pass the test and are hired, Orkin performs follow-up evaluations. Orkin randomly pulls its technicians’ MVR records and if they discover a technician has reached a certain point total, they will require that technician to re-take the defensive driving course in order to reduce the point total.

CONCLUSION. With money paid out in insurance costs, vehicle repairs and in some cases lawsuits, vehicle safety is becoming an ever-increasing focus of PCOs.

And with more and more vehicles on the roads today, in all likelihood, driving conditions won’t be getting any safer. If PCOs are to keep the driving expenses they incur from service vehicle accidents at a minimum, they must take a proactive approach and do everything they can to put the safest drivers and safest vehicles on the road.

The author is assistant editor of PCT magazine.

ENCOURAGING SAFE DRIVING HABITS

Driving accidents will happen — but they will happen with less frequency — if PCOs prepare their drivers for the hazards of the road. The following is a list of measures PCOs can take to promote safe driving:

• Post a safety record of each driver in clear view of everyone else. The number of accidents, tickets,
complaints or bad observations may be posted.

• Use a quality control follow-behind schedule. Have a supervisor follow an employee for a period of
time at a discreet distance to evaluate his/her driving skills. Post these results.

• Conduct spot inspections and daily vehicle safety inspections to ensure that the vehicles are safe to
operate. Items to check include: tires, headlights, turn signals, windows, windshield wiper and
cleaning fluid, safety belts, oil and engine fluid levels, spare tire and changing equipment and first
aid and emergency kits.

• Have a quarterly prize offered to the employee(s) who have perfect driving records. Use these
employee evaluations for raises and promotions.

• When supervisors ride with employees, have them evaluate their driving skills in addition to their
pest control and customer service skills.

• Ensure that management is given the same treatment as all employees.