Mr. Bruno Hounkpati is the Director, Logistics, Lafarge Africa Plc. In this interview with ABIOLA ODUTOLA, he outlines how the cement manufacturer’s Driving Institute initiative was designed to change the behaviour and perception of truck drivers on the road. Excerpts:
What is the objective of the Driving Institute’s initiative?
It is a project of research conducted to analyse the cause of truck accidents in the country. What we came up with was that, the driver’s behaviour was a major factor in all the accidents. We decided that we needed to do something that was completely different, as we could not be doing the same thing always, and get a different result.
What are you doing differently now?
We have prepared a comprehensive roadmap to assess 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 is not different from what obtains in the United Kingdom or United States. 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 in Calabar, Cross River State, and the next phase is in Lagos, while the third one would be based in the North as well.
Nature, nurture and culture influence attitudes of drivers. How does the school address drivers’ behaviours or actions that are often determined by some other factors?
We understand that drivers’ actions are determined by several actions, but our message 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.
How can they make the 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 the ‘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 vehicles’ population in Nigeria – about 11 million – 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.
Can you value human beings life? So we are not looking at the cost. For us, it is not about who has to pay. We don’t expect any return on this. That is not what we want to achieve; we value human lives more than the cement, which is the most important thing
In terms of accountability, are there measures in place to ensure that the drivers meet up with contractual obligations to their customers?
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 because safety on the road is key to Nigeria’s economic rebound. 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?
We would definitely partner with states and other government agencies. Already, we are working with the Federal Road Safety Commission. 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.
Even if you look at the school we have in the country today, I am not sure they follow the same process. We are going to follow in this school, which is about having the four big steps approach.
This means Step Zero is the screening process that makes sure you select the right people. The first one is that you take them through the training, which takes four months, before moving to the second step, which involves putting them on a simulator, to test in real terms, all the situations they are likely to face in the course of their duty, which you cannot do without really having the type of equipment. We have state-of-the-art equipment that we bought for the purpose. Then you have the third, which involves taking them on the road to apply what they have learnt and practised on the simulator through proper demonstration on the road. When that is finished, coaches are attached to these drivers. This is the reason it is called the school of the future. We believe that is the best way of addressing the driver behaviour issue that we are facing in this country, and we would continue the partnership with not only the states and NGOs alone but also with the industries.
In cases where some logistics services are outsourced, how do you ensure the rules are not flouted?
We expect drivers to behave the same way, whether we are watching them or not. Today, what we are doing is, we monitor whatever they are doing on the road. That itself is making them to comply with some of our rules. What we want to achieve at the end of the day is that, even in the absence of monitoring, we expect the driver to still behave the same way by adjusting his speed to the road condition and by driving the right way.
Who pays for the service?
Can you value human beings life? So we are not looking at the cost. For us, it is not about who has to pay. We don’t expect any return on this. That is not what we want to achieve; we value human lives more than the cement, which is the most important thing. If you look at the direct cost that we put in this, it boils down to the impact we are making; what lives are we saving; how many people are we touching by this initiative? That is what we are interested in. We are investing and we will continue to invest in this. We are investing in drivers. We pay and we will continue to pay because we believe it is the right thing to do; we will continue to do that as an organisation.
