If you ask a dispatcher why a driver is complaining about a new app, and they say, “Drivers hate change,” they’re likely wrong. What’s more, this assumption could be causing your best drivers to jump ship. The truth is, most “change resistance” isn’t about change. It’s about a reasonable response to a new tool that makes their job harder, not easier.
Drivers aren’t afraid of tech, they’re tired of doing it twice
A driver starts a new day by receiving a load request from the dispatcher. The driver then checks the details with the rate confirmation sent by the broker, and logs the working hours on the ELD. After processing everything on different applications, the driver also needs to update the status of their work for the customer on a separate application. Since none of these applications is integrated, the driver has to manually enter the same piece of information multiple times on all the applications.
This is not about drivers being scared of technology. This is about an existing broken process reinforcing their fear that new technology will lead to more surveillance and less trust. Every new application is judged against this fear when it comes to adoption. When the new application also requires manually entering the same information and shows no visible value, drivers very logically don’t wish to use those applications. They are not really rejecting the technology – they are simply rejecting the redundant paperwork added to a job that already gives them plenty to do.
The real culprit is systemic, not generational
It’s easy to assume that pushback will disappear as older drivers retire and are replaced by digital natives. However, younger drivers also have to re-enter and re-type information, and they are equally frustrated by the process. The problem lies in the design and connectivity of the systems, not in the age of the users.
Most technology solutions available to fleets are designed to overlay existing legacy systems which were not designed to interact with each other or share data. Most carriers have a mobile app, a tracking solution, a document scanning solution, a rate and quote platform, and multiple EDI carrier portals. These solutions work well on their own, but when a driver has to extract the data from one solution and re-enter it into another one, the connected systems aren’t working in harmony.
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Consolidate the workflow, not just the app
The solution is not to develop yet another driver app. Instead, the focus should be on resolving the root issues associated with the existing driver app. For example, if all load details, rate confirmations, and tracking updates are automatically funneled from a central source into the driver’s tool of choice, then the problem of duplicate entry is eradicated, and so is most of the frustration.
This is how a good freight management system justifies its cost. When dispatch adds a load to the system, the driver adds nothing, and when customer service checks a load, the details are the same as the driver’s details. The CSR doesn’t need to ask the driver for load info, crossing their fingers that the driver even got the load request in the first place. The info is all right there in their respective screens. The driver’s app is a window, not a door – a display for existing data in the FMS. No additional entry, no extra confusion over out-of-date load details, and no need to dig through another heap of papers. It’s the API integration between the FMS and the mobile app that makes this sort of flow possible.
Roll it out like drivers are the customer
Even with a well-thought-out system, the implementation can fail if drivers are not taken seriously. Start with a small group and involve some long-serving drivers – the ones others respect – in the decision-making process before you even select a provider. Their doubts will be valuable. If an app or paperless log doesn’t meet their standards, it won’t meet the rest of the fleet either.
Training is important and often under-resourced. Asking a driver to sit through a video isn’t training. They need to get a feel, with a real person either in the yard or in the cab, for how much easier their lives will be. Position every or almost every feature as “this is how it improves your life” – not “this is how it makes you more compliant with the letter of the law.” No driver cares about the letter of the law, they care about getting fewer calls and less paperwork and more time off and money.
Measure after go-live, not just before
Many implementations are tracked until the day they are rolled out, and then nobody bothers to see if the new system is actually an improvement. Keep tabs on completion rates for any training sessions. Collect data on errors in order entries, before and after the new system is in place. Have a driver see how long it takes to complete a task like closing a load and compare it to the old number. Get feedback from drivers, regularly.
If the numbers don’t look better, go back to either the workflow or the configuration. This is ongoing, not a one-time switch.
You don’t want to lose good drivers. According to the American Trucking Associations, the country was short 80,000 drivers in 2018 and if nothing changes, we’ll be short more than 100,000 drivers in a decade. For companies that can’t spare experienced drivers, an app that’s just “OK” and makes the day longer, not shorter, isn’t good enough. Fix the data flow, and the resistance mostly takes care of itself.
