Coaching, not catching: rethinking driver support in the era of dashcams

July 2, 2025

In trucking, coaching used to mean something simple: a senior driver offering tips to a rookie in the yard, a safety manager riding along to help with a tricky backing maneuver, or two drivers swapping advice over coffee. It was informal, personal, and built on mutual respect.

Then came telematics and dashcams. With technology came data, and with data came a new model: coaching triggered only after a safety event.

In the CarriersEdge May 2025 Inside Driver Coaching webinar, Mark Murrell, Jane Jazrawy, and Michael Miller explored how coaching has changed, what fleets are doing right, and how safety teams can make coaching a proactive, human-centered part of everyday operations.

From mentoring to monitoring

Technology was supposed to make coaching easier. But as fleets leaned into dashcams, telematics, and training systems, something got lost. The old model—drivers helping each other, safety managers giving hands-on support—gave way to alerts and assignments. Now, many fleets are looking at how to bring the human part back into the coaching equation.

What coaching really means

Let’s be clear: coaching is not the same as training. Assigning a defensive driving course after a harsh braking event might check a box, but it doesn’t build skills or trust. And showing a dashcam clip without discussion? That’s just pointing out a mistake.

Real coaching is relational. It’s an interactive, two-way conversation that helps drivers make sense of what happened and explore what they could do differently next time. It asks: What support do you need? What’s getting in the way?

And while dashcam footage can prompt self-reflection, real progress comes from a coach helping a driver think through the context, decisions, and bigger picture. Coaching is about growth, not correction.

If coaching feels like whack-a-mole, look deeper

Coaching isn’t just about fixing behavior. It’s about surfacing problems you wouldn’t see otherwise. If the same issue keeps showing up across multiple drivers, it’s time to zoom out.

As Murrell puts it, “If you're having somebody who needs continuous coaching—or you're having a whole bunch of people that need coaching—on following too close, I would bet that there's something else going on.”

If you’re coaching one driver for following too closely, that’s a conversation. If you’re coaching ten drivers for the same thing, it’s a clue. Something else is going on.

Maybe dispatch is underestimating trip times. Maybe routes are tight, traffic is unpredictable, or there’s (spoken or unspoken) pressure to “make up time” on the road. No amount of coaching will solve the problem until you address the root cause.

Good coaches are your best diagnostic tool. They hear the stories, spot the patterns, and bring those issues to light, if you give them a channel to do it. That’s why coaching shouldn’t live in a vacuum. When something keeps popping up, connect the dots, and connect your departments. Safety, operations, dispatch—they all play a role in making sure the fix sticks.

Build a coaching program that works

The best coaching programs don’t start with a massive rollout. They grow intentionally. Whether you’ve got one coach or a team across multiple terminals, what matters is structure, clarity, and support. Coaching shouldn’t be an afterthought or an on-the-go fix. It’s a long-term investment in driver performance and fleet culture.

Start small and scale with purpose

You don’t need to launch a fleet-wide program overnight. Start with a pilot: one terminal, one team, or one issue (like HOS or backing). Use that to test your approach, gather feedback, and refine the structure.

Some fleets assign coaches by geography; others assign by expertise (hazmat, load securement, etc.). There’s no one right way. Flexibility is key.

Choose the right coaches

Great drivers don’t always make great coaches. The best coaches are curious, empathetic, and able to guide a conversation. When choosing a coach, ask how they’d approach a difficult subject and watch how they listen, not just what they say.

They don’t need to be top performers in every metric, but they do need strong communication skills and a genuine interest in helping others grow. Driver feedback matters, too. Include it in coach evaluations to keep the process grounded and fair.

Train and support your coaches

Coaching is a skill. It’s a muscle that can be built. Give your coaches tools and support to succeed:

• Soft skills training: emotional intelligence, feedback styles, leadership, and managing difficult conversations are all important skills for a successful coach. CarriersEdge is about to launch a new course, Difficult Conversations, built to help coaches and managers who struggle with uncomfortable discussions. You can pair it with the Leadership Styles course to build confidence and communication skills in your coaches.
• Clear expectations: how often to coach, what to cover, and how to follow up. Frequency, focus, and format all matter and it’s important to set clear expectations for your coaches.
• Regular support: check-ins with safety, feedback from drivers, and peer learning. Opportunities to meet, share, and grow. Some fleets create coaching committees or regular peer meetups. It’s a simple move that pays off in consistency and morale.

Make coaching part of the system

Ad-hoc coaching doesn’t scale. If it only happens when there’s a problem, or only when someone has time, it won’t deliver consistent results. To get real value, fleets need to embed coaching into their operations as an ongoing, structured practice. That means tracking what’s happening, evaluating progress, and connecting the dots with your training efforts.

Document everything

If it’s not documented, it didn’t happen. That’s especially true when it comes to insurance, audits, and legal defense.

Create a process to track coaching sessions: who was coached, on what topic, and when. That documentation doesn’t just protect you. It helps you evaluate your program, compare coach performance, and see what’s working.

Integrate coaching and training

Too often, fleets treat coaching and training as separate silos. That limits the impact of both.

Let insights from coaching inform your training calendar. If your coaches are constantly working on following distance, maybe it’s time to revisit that module fleet-wide. Likewise, if you roll out training on distracted driving, have coaches follow up with conversations and support.

When coaching and training reinforce each other, drivers hear the same message from different angles, and it sticks.

Decide who to coach

Coaching shouldn’t be limited to drivers who are struggling. Top performers need support too. And when everyone gets coached, the stigma disappears. Some fleets even let drivers choose what they want to work on each quarter. And coaching doesn’t have to stop at the driver level. Dispatch, operations, and office staff can benefit just as much.

Final thoughts

Telematics and dashcams are here to stay. So is the data. But if coaching is only about catching mistakes, you’ll miss the real opportunity.

Fleets that get coaching right are using it to build trust, spot systemic issues, and support every driver, not just the ones who made a wrong turn. That’s not just safer. It’s smarter.

Let coaching be the conversation that makes your whole system stronger.