Professional Driver Series released to hauling sites
Training videos to focus on safety, efficiency
Gaithersburg, Md. – This week, a new video series will be released to hauling operations that will feature drivers
and managers communicating best practices. Called the Professional Driver Series (PDS), one video will be
released each month to be used as a training tool for managers during the morning crew-outs or AM launch.
“To share best practices or methods among drivers, sites, and Areas across the company is how we will beat
our competition,” says Scott Slighting, director for WM. “The Service Delivery Optimization team has seen
significant time savings and improved customer experiences by simply executing an idea from the experts —
our drivers. But, it’s not about taking short cuts or going faster, it’s about having a safe and effective day.”
The PDS videos are themed to represent ideas that impact safety, customer service or efficiency. The first is
about safety as it pertains to the importance of sequencing using an onboard computer, or onboard unit (OBU).
With this technology, routes can be listed on a tablet in the order in which collection is intended to take place.
However, not having the routes listed in sequence — or not following the right sequence — can increase the
risk for drivers servicing time-sensitive locations, like schools, or during times of high traffic volume. An
additional value to sequencing is to decrease the amount of wasted effort between each stop.
Just how much? The first video demonstrates this principle using actual drivers from Gaithersburg Hauling,
located in central Maryland. During a morning briefing, Driver Kelly Reed was asked to complete five virtual
stops in sequence and then submit the completion notices through his onboard computer.
When doing it in sequence, the process took about 35 seconds. When asked to complete five stops out of
sequence, Kelly had a hard time finding the specific service locations on his tablet, since each location was
mixed in with more than 70 stops for his route. Doing it out of sequence took about 2.5 minutes — nearly
five times longer.
When Gaithersburg Hauling did the math following this demonstration, it found that if it takes just 20 seconds
longer for a driver to report completion of each stop through an onboard computer, that translates to 54 hours
of wasted time each week.
“These drivers learned what many of us already know,” Slighting said. “Scrolling through your OBU stop-after-stop
takes a lot of time.”
Going forward, the makers of the Professional Science Series videos will visit sites throughout North America to
capture the best practices of the company’s frontline workforce. If you have an idea to share, talk with your
manager and perhaps your site will be selected for a future video.
Photo : Driver Kelly Reed demonstrates sequencing.