5 Ways to Simplify Fleet Driver Management for Logistics HR Teams

Fleet drivers are always on the road, and many times aren’t within easy reach. Understandably—driving is their job.

Nearly everywhere, inflation is on the rise and so is a workforce shortage. As in many vocations, qualified driving candidates are tough to find, even tougher to recruit and, because they’re so dynamic, some of the toughest to onboard and manage from an HR perspective.

Until every rig’s cab is set up with a wireless tablet, mini desk and micro printer—and this configuration could soon be in the works for the next generation of drivers—you have to be as agile in your HR communications as drivers are in transit in order to catch them. Paperwork is a necessary reality, and these days you often have to handle it over drivers’ cell phones and other devices.

Whether you’re a fleet logistics company or a company that manages its own staff of drivers, Docusign can help streamline your driver HR communications. Here are the top five ways we’ve identified to simplify fleet driver management and onboarding: 

1. Use eSignature and Docusign Payments for a spectrum of HR tasks

In the transportation logistics industry, it’s not uncommon for your firm to hire full-time drivers and also independent drivers, who then slowly expand their respective companies by hiring subcontractors. Encouraging “prime” drivers to engage their subs at a moment’s notice demonstrates great flexibility. It’s also easier to be agile when you can schedule various subcontractors through a main contractor.

Docusign eSignature helps you not only transmit job offers for modification or acceptance by full-time employee drivers, but also request W-9s from independent operators through the platform, and gain signoff on Master Services Agreements and  Statements of Work from those contractors. 

In turn, prime contractor drivers can use eSignature to just as quickly engage their subcontractors.

eSignature is also essential for promoting action on critical HR forms, including completion of the recently mandated Transportation Security Administration’s Security Threat Assessment. Used to counter terrorism, the form’s submission triggers a background check on a driver and is often needed for specific driving situations. Two scenarios: Drivers who carry hazardous materials (HAZMAT drivers) and those who need to enter airport jurisdictions.

2. Remind a driver to sign through an automated SMS message

Tracking down a driver to get a signature is now easier than ever, with Docusign eSignature with SMS Delivery reminders. SMS allows you to easily remind a driver when it’s time to sign — by text message, which always appears as a notification on a driver’s mobile device home screen. The text contains a link to your cloud-based agreement, opened by simply tapping a link in the text.

You can also see where a driver stands in the process of an agreement through SMS, such as when they’ve opened a form, signed it or sent it back to you. 

3. Take advantage of Docusign ID Verification to prove a driver’s identity

How can you be positive a driver is who they say they are, upon initial engagement during fleet driver management? Docusign ID Verification has you covered.

Simply request a legal form of identification from a signer during the agreement process—such as a driver’s license, passport or state-issued ID. Your driver scans the document, then uploads the scan.  

Docusign ID Verification will analyze the ID features, such as security markings and watermarks, to ensure validity. And your document process continues. Securely.

4. Use clickwrap for acceptance of onboarding docs and training materials

Frequently used to accept website or mobile app privacy policies and terms and conditions agreements, Docusign Click is also a quick method for legally indicating driver consent, to, say, onboarding documentation, maximum hours-driven-per-week policies or owner/operator training materials.

All drivers have to do is read and click “I agree” on your company’s driver portal. With that click, you’ve captured driver consent, and they’re able to move into your main content. Clickwrap is often used on company intranets, where employees and contractors acknowledge and then read job-critical information. 

5. Automate distribution of COVID and other policies through bulk send

Sometimes you don’t need to individualize your communications – you just need every driver to sign the same document. Some examples: a pandemic policy change or a shift in direct-deposit payment terms.  

Rely on Docusign’s bulk send feature to streamline the process and make sure you get the signatures you need to safeguard your company. 

With bulk send, you don’t have to worry about drivers’ returned forms that are incorrectly signed; by adding a clear graphic tag, you can immediately direct a driver to where they need to add their name.

The process is easy and painless, and each recipient gets their own unique copy of the document to sign and return.

Make your case for easier fleet driver management 

Whether you’re managing HR for drivers across town or across the country, Docusign eSignature and its compatible Agreement Cloud applications can help keep you up-to-date, compliant and sane. 

Learn more about the Docusign Agreement Cloud for HR.