‘Our goal is to prevent loss of lives arising from truck drivers’ road behaviour’
Bruno Hounkpati is the Director of Logistics at Lafarge Africa Plc. In this interview with FEMI ADEKOYA, he talks about how the cement manufacturer’s Driving Institute initiative seeks to change truck drivers’ behaviour and attitude on the road and promot
CAN you give an insight into the objectives of the Driving Institute’s initiative? The project actually started in first quarter this year and it is known as the school of the future. It is a product of research conducted to analyse the cause of truck accidents in the country. What we came up with was that driver’s behaviour was a key piece in all the accidents. We decided that we needed to do something that is completely different, as we cannot be doing the same thing over and get a different result. So we prepared a comprehensive roadmap, which started with an assessment of what we was, in terms of systems and processes as an organisation, and also assessed the transporters we are using and the drivers on how to tackle the challenge of drivers’ behaviour, and what do we do next in terms of monitoring and putting things in place. This was how the driving school came to life and we started as a school of the future. Because we believe we need a proper school different from what we have in Nigeria today. The curriculum being used has nothing different from what is seen when you go to the U.K or U.S. Also, the way we get the drivers to the system is also affected. We want to start from a very good base where we do a good screening and put them in an environment where the content is solid and delivered by highly experienced and excellent instructors. So that is the idea of the school. Now, we are starting with the East. The school is currently located in Calabar and the next phase is in the West which would be based in Lagos and the third one would be based in the North as well.
Considering the fact that nature and nurture influence attitudes, how do you hope to address drivers’ behaviours or actions that are often displayed as a result of reaction from several environmental factors like the state of the roads and actions of other road users?
A driver can make a very big difference. We can talk about the roads and other road users, but the message we are passing on to drivers is that you can make a big difference no matter how the other road users behave. That is the central message of the driving school. You can make a difference, how do you make a difference? By driving according to the road conditions; for example, by not being aggressive when you are driving. Aggressive drivers often drive recklessly, so you anticipate the action of such drivers in your response already. You know that you have right of way to anticipate what he is going to do next. So if each driver on the road can have this in the mind, we will make Nigerian roads safer. It is not only that we are addressing this in isolation but it is a process, we believe we are going to train 2000 drivers in the next two years and we would work with other institutions as well to replicate the same thing across the country, which will have the same impact. If you look at the number of the vehicle population in Nigeria, about 11 million vehicles, that is a lot of drivers you are talking about. So if we go step-by-step, we can train 2000 in three years partnering with other institutions and also replicating these schools, you can imagine the kind of impact it is going to have on the environment. This will need all the institutions, policy makers, the states, NGOS including drivers’ union and transporters’ union to get all these things done. In terms of accountability to the institution and to the society, are there measures to manage concerns about meeting deadlines for deliverables and being accountable for failing to follow regulations and rules?
For us, the safest way is the best way. Nothing should be so important to any customer such that the driver cannot take a stand and do the job safely. Safety is embedded in our rules already. So when a driver is going to deliver to a location, we already factor into account that he cannot go beyond 35 or an average of 40 kilometres per hour. Based on such safety guidelines, we give the expected delivery date to the customer so that they don’t get frustrated. We would never ask a driver to go beyond regulated speed on a road just to meet a deadline. They are empowered to take a stand in their operations. We don’t gain anything by doing the wrong thing faster, and that is the message we pass on to drivers.
How many of the stakeholders do you have in this scheme? Are you also looking at partnering with Lagos State considering it has a similar programme?
We would definitely partner with the state and other government agencies. Already, we are working with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). They are part of the groups that we formed to run the school but beyond that, what we are bringing into the school will make the project the school of the future as we are doing something completely different.