What is transport training? A complete guide

Our modern industries heavily rely on transportation. From transit and shipping to distribution, it’s the lifeblood of today’s economy. Unfortunately, when transportation accidents occur, they can disrupt entire supply chains and product distribution systems.

Protect your fleet team and your goods with transport training. Not only will your workers complete their daily transports more efficiently, but they’ll also be safer on the road. Use this article to learn everything you need to know about designing and conducting transport training.

What is transport training?

Transport training is specialized training that teaches your team how to conduct safe transit operations. It covers technical skills like driving, vehicle maintenance, and traffic laws. It also discusses how to effectively manage and contribute to a transport system, including good communication, adaptability, and inventory management.

The main goal of transport training is to improve your team members’ performance. With practical driving skills and fleet management knowledge, they’ll be able to handle the tasks and challenges of your company’s daily transport operations. They’ll also learn how to be defensive drivers—knowing how to avoid accidents and follow local and state traffic laws. This way, you can enhance your day-to-day operations and maintain a well-trained fleet team.

Why is transport training important?

Regular transport training is essential for any company that conducts transit operations. It helps maintain or even improve the quality of your daily transports by upskilling your fleet team. They’ll gain a better understanding of your company’s supply chain, handle challenges while in transit, and adapt to any changes in their schedule or traffic regulations.

Your fleet drivers can also protect themselves from accidents on the road. The Bureau of Transport Statistics estimated that in 2021, about 2,500,000 people were injured on U.S. highways, with around 125,000 of those injuries affecting truck occupants. A driver safety program can reduce the number of accidents that could happen to your fleet team.

An effective transport training program is a valuable investment in your transport operations. You can be assured that your team is compliant with road safety standards and government transport regulations. By following these standards, your company can avoid fines and improve your fleet team’s overall performance. This will lead to fewer transport delays, increased output, and higher customer satisfaction.

5 Essential skills of a transport driver 

Transport training can focus on a variety of topics, but here are 5 skills that every driver needs to master.

Driving

Driving skills are the foundation for any transport driver. Beyond the skills needed for a professional license, a transport driver must feel comfortable handling unusual situations on the road. This could include scenarios like maneuvering around obstacles, dealing with difficult weather conditions, or taking a forced detour. A great driver knows how to stay safe on the road, no matter the circumstances.

Vehicle maintenance

Transport drivers should know how to maintain their vehicles, especially while on the road. When their vehicle isn’t in top condition, they should be able to identify the problem and understand how to fix it. Common vehicle check-ups include changing tires, refilling oil and other fluids, and replacing the battery.

Knowledge of traffic law 

Every road has its own signs and rules. Your drivers should know how to follow all the traffic rules that apply to them. This is especially important for companies that frequently use interstate or intercounty transport routes. Your fleet team should be aware of the specific traffic rules and regulations in each area they travel through.

Communication 

One important interpersonal skill your transport drivers must practice is communication. They should know how to share information about their routes, cargo, surroundings, and their condition on the road. Your fleet drivers should also be aware of any updates on deadlines, traffic, or road conditions. An efficient transport process requires everyone to be on the same page.

Flexibility

Another important soft skill your drivers need is flexibility. Road conditions can change at any time: traffic can appear suddenly, a flood may close certain routes, or a tire may go flat. Your drivers should be prepared for any situation that could arise while they’re on the road.

How to develop your transport training program

Now that you know the basics of transport training, you can start building your own training program. Let’s go through the best steps you can take to make an effective transport training curriculum.

1. Do a training needs analysis

Before researching topics, you should survey your fleet team on what they need training in. Training is much more effective when you equip your drivers with practical and relevant skills they need for their day-to-day tasks.

This can be done through a training needs analysis—a process conducted by your HR department to identify skill and knowledge gaps. By doing this, you’ll know what your fleet team needs to learn to be competent and safe drivers.

2. Create measurable learning goals

After you’ve identified the key skills and knowledge your team needs to master, you can set specific goals for your training program. Make sure your goals are S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). These are standards for effective and attainable goals. Here are some examples of SMART learning objectives you can use:

• Reduce road accidents by 60% by the end of the year.
• Achieve a 100% compliance rate with traffic laws and transportation standards.
• Decrease late shipments by 30% within six months.

3. Choose relevant training topics 

Now that you’ve set your goals, you can start finalizing the training topics you need to cover. There are standard topics like road safety, defensive driving, and vehicle maintenance. You can include practices related to your industry’s specific operations, such as HAZMAT transportation training, load securement, and traffic regulations in other states or countries.

4. Plan your training outline

With your outline, you can start designing your training program and creating learning content. This is where you decide how, where, and when you will train your fleet team. Make sure to create a training program that best fits your team’s schedule and learning needs.

5. Prepare an evaluation metric 

The last component of your training program should be an evaluation metric. This helps measure how well your team responds to the lessons. It could be a rubric, an employee feedback sheet, or any recorded progress on your learning goals. These insights can lead to lasting improvements in your training program.

A well-designed training program can enhance employee performance and retention by equipping your fleet team with reliable and effective skills. They’ll also be encouraged to continuously improve by staying updated with the latest transport regulations and following required safety practices.

Key transport training topics & recommended courses

The only thing you need before you start conducting driver training online or offline is learning material. Here are five key transport training topics and courses that you can include in your training program.

Driver safety

• Recommended Course: Driver Safety by SC Training (formerly EdApp)

This is the main skill set for any transport driver. It talks about how your fleet team should behave on the road to safely deliver their cargo or passengers. It also covers how they should guard themselves against accidents, dangerous road conditions, and aggressive drivers.

Your team will learn these important topics:

• Safe driving practices 
• Road conditions
• Basic vehicle maintenance

Defensive driving

• Recommended Course: Defensive Driving for Heavy Vehicles by SC Training

Another essential driving skill is mastering defensive driving. This is a style of driving that focuses on moving slowly and safely, predicting how other drivers will move, and identifying any potential threats or hazards on the road. Learning how to drive defensively is the cornerstone of safe and efficient transport operations.

Load securement 

• Recommended Course: Load Securing for Land Transportation by SC Training

An important truck driver training topic is load securement. Any heavy load or hazardous chemical that is placed on a truck must be fastened and secured in its bed. Without any load securement method, the contents of your truck will be damaged and may fall out of the vehicle. It's an essential practice for any transport company that delivers large amounts of cargo.

Some practical skills included in this topic are:

• Vehicle maneuvering in the warehouse
• Using tie-downs and other load securement methods
• Pre-trip and post-trip safety inspections

HAZMAT transportation

• Recommended Course: HAZMAT Transportation Training (US) by SC Training

Your fleet team may be assigned to transport hazardous materials or HAZMAT. If your company has these operations, your drivers must be trained to properly handle these dangerous chemicals. They must also comply with the practices, standards, and packaging requirements for their assigned chemical set by the Department of Transportation and other regulatory bodies.

Your fleet team will learn these safety practices:

• Reading chemical labels
• Proper packaging for each chemical
• Using an Emergency Response Guidebook

Upgrade your transport training with SC Training

Developing a training program can be a costly investment without the right tools. Here at SC Training, we can give you all the training tools you need with one powerful LMS for transport training.

Offer high-quality transport training with these features:

• Mobile-first microlearning content: Make learning easy for your transport teams through mobile and bite-sized lessons. With SC Training, your drivers and staff can get quick, simple training right on their phones, so they can learn no matter when or where they are.
• Editable pre-made courses: Don’t have time to create a course? Just pick what you need from our complete training library. It has over 1,000 courses you can customize, including transport courses, that cover industry best practices.
• Practical assessments: Track your team’s performance with our in-person assessment tool. Evaluate skills on the job directly from your mobile device—no more paper checklists.
• Course management: Control every aspect of your courses. Set due dates, recurring schedules, and custom learning paths to keep your team on track. Automate compliance with mandatory courses and certificates, and even translate content into 100+ languages.

Let us handle the hard work with features that can simplify your training process. Join brands like DHL and Australia Post in transforming how your teams learn.

Deliver comprehensive transport training today. Sign up for SC Training now!