Driver shortage changes the playbook for private fleet safety

Private fleets are adapting their safety practices due to a shortage of qualified drivers and costly accident litigation, according to a panel discussion at the International Foodservice Distributors Association's 2026 Solutions Conference in San Antonio. Hayden Cardiff, safety solutions vice president at Descartes, and Tim Eckhardt, senior director of safety at Dot Foods Inc., discussed strategies for leveraging existing drivers and utilizing technology to improve safety outcomes.

Eckhardt, who oversees safety for Dot Transportation, the transportation arm of Dot Foods, highlighted the shift from a reactive safety model to a data-driven approach. The company, which operates nearly 2,200 trucks across the U.S. and Canada, has moved away from dismissing struggling drivers and instead focuses on identifying high-risk drivers early and providing targeted coaching and training.

Dot Foods' scoring system assigns a value between zero and 100 to each driver, with those scoring above 70 required to have a professional development plan and be monitored. The company targets the bottom 10% to 20% of drivers for intervention, a group that changes as performance fluctuates. Drivers with scores above 70 receive professional development plans, which may include coaching, additional training, and technology to address specific behaviors.

Eckhardt emphasized the importance of timeliness in addressing risky behavior, urging managers to intervene while incidents or patterns are still fresh. He also stressed the need for personalized coaching, recognizing that veteran drivers and newer employees may require different approaches. Dot Foods has become more transparent with drivers about accident costs, safety policies, and the rationale behind installed safety technology.

The company balances corrective coaching with recognition of safe driving, using camera footage to both identify problems and celebrate good decisions.

Technology plays a crucial role in modern safety strategies, with Cardiff noting that fleets now face the challenge of managing vast amounts of data to separate signal from noise. Dot Foods ties driver performance to compensation, offering a quarterly safety bonus that can amount to nearly 10% of driver income. While the ultimate goal is to prevent serious accidents, some drivers who fail to improve may receive an exit strategy before their behavior becomes a liability.