How using regular freelance drivers can improve site safety

When builders’ merchants need additional driving resource, availability is naturally one of the first concerns. Can you get the right driver, with the right qualifications, where you need them and when you need them?

But there is another factor that can make a big difference: consistency.

Using experienced temporary drivers with years of experience working in the building materials industry, and who return regularly to the same branches, can bring a merchant benefits that go well beyond convenience. It can help create safer, smoother and more predictable operations for the merchant, the driver and the customers they deliver to.

Familiarity makes a difference

Every builders’ merchant branch operates slightly differently. There may be specific vehicle movements, loading procedures, designated areas for customers and pedestrians, particular rules around loading and unloading, and many other restrictions that drivers need to know about.

A driver arriving at a branch for the first time needs to absorb all that information while getting to grips with a different vehicle, route and delivery schedule. But, if you bring back a driver who already knows the branch, much of that familiarity is already there from day one.

They know where vehicles are expected to go. They understand the branch’s procedures. They’ve already done the safety induction, and they are familiar with the team and know what is expected of them. That reduces uncertainty and helps the working day run more smoothly.

Knowing the job, not just the vehicle

Driving a builders’ merchant vehicle is a very specialist role. Drivers can be handling long, heavy or awkward loads, operating lorry-mounted cranes or Moffetts, delivering into construction sites and residential locations, and working around customers, contractors and members of the public.

This is one reason Specialist Driver Resourcing focuses solely on the builders’ merchant and building materials sectors.

Our full-time drivers work regularly within merchant environments and many have decades of industry experience. They undergo regular training, receive ongoing health and safety and best-practice briefings, and many hold qualifications covering HIAB, Moffett and FLT operation.

That sector knowledge matters – a driver who understands the materials they are carrying and the environments they are entering is better placed to recognise potential problems before they become incidents.

Regular drivers become part of the team

There is another benefit to using the same temporary drivers that can often be overlooked. When a freelance driver works regularly with the same merchant, relationships develop. Branch teams get to know the driver and their capabilities. Drivers become comfortable asking questions when something does not look right, and know the right person to go to. 

Rather than feeling like an unknown agency driver arriving for a single shift, a regular driver can start to operate much more like an extension of the merchant’s own team. At SDR, many of our customers repeatedly ask for the same drivers by name for exactly this reason.

Our drivers are fully employed by SDR and stay with us for the long term. That gives us the opportunity to build continuity between drivers and customers rather than constantly supplying unfamiliar faces.

Fewer mistakes and better safety

Better safety is valuable in its own right, but it can have a direct commercial benefit to any business. Our own operational data shows our experienced, sector-specific drivers incur around 10-15% lower vehicle accident and product damage costs than typical ad-hoc agency drivers.

There are good reasons why this is the case. Experience with delivering building materials helps drivers understand how different products need to be transported and handled. Familiarity with merchant operations reduces the number of unknowns they encounter during a shift. And regular training keeps safe working practices front of mind.

The result can be fewer accidents, less damaged stock, less vehicle damage and fewer operational disruptions.

Moving beyond last-minute driver cover

There will always be occasions when merchants need someone at short notice. Sickness, holidays, unexpected demand and changing delivery requirements are an everyday part of running a transport operation.

But using temporary drivers does not have to mean accepting a constantly changing pool of people. Building a relationship with a single, specialist driver provider makes it possible to create a more consistent group of experienced drivers who understand your business, your branches and the particular demands of building materials distribution.

At Specialist Driver Resourcing, we supply more than 20,000 shifts to builders’ merchants each year, supported by a UK-wide team of experienced drivers and a dedicated compliance and resourcing operation.

For merchants, the goal is simple: when you need additional driving resource, you should be able to bring in someone who can get on with the job safely, professionally and with the minimum possible disruption. And the more familiar that driver is with your operation, the easier that becomes.