If your business uses vans to get your products or services where they need to be, then drivers are key to your success. At Webfleet, we believe that empowering drivers means empowering your business to reach new levels of productivity. That’s why we’ve conducted a van driver survey with nearly 1,000 van drivers across Europe—to help you understand what’s happening for drivers on the road.

From these exclusive insights, along with a range of revealing facts and figures from other sources, we get a clear picture of what van drivers think about their work, the problems they encounter and the support they need. 

We’ve compiled these actionable findings in an eBook, The European Van Driver Report. We’ll summarise the key findings for you in this post, along with insights specific to the UK. But for the bigger picture on helping your drivers perform even better, you’ll want to download the free report. 

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Key findings from Webfleet’s van driver survey 

Though our report contains a broad range of findings, two points in particular stand out. Firstly, the biggest challenges faced by van drivers seem to be consistent from country to country. In most regions, road safety, traffic congestion, parking and road infrastructure came up repeatedly. 

Secondly, while the majority of van drivers say they want a more digitised workflow, they have limited access to advanced solutions that could help them deal with those challenges mentioned above. When given a long list of potential digital solutions designed to support drivers, including professional navigation, AI-enabled dashcams, electronic proof of delivery and advanced tyre solutions, on average just a third of drivers said they used each one. Yet when asked how much they want to use each solution, the majority reported that they would like to in every case. 

Despite this, job satisfaction remains high for European van drivers with the vast majority reporting that they are either extremely satisfied or satisfied with their job. Our research also showed that delivering a good service to the end customer is a high priority for professional drivers. 

Viewpoints from the van driver survey

Safety: When we asked European van drivers what would make their jobs better, ‘Increased road safety’ was the most common answer. Elsewhere they ranked ‘Getting home safe’ as the second most important thing related to their job. 

Traffic congestion: 68% of drivers ranked traffic congestion as either extremely challenging or challenging, making it the joint most challenging issue cited in our report. 

Getting the job done well: 48% of van drivers say ‘Doing my work well’ is the most important thing for them relating to their work.  

Access to technology: Drivers tell us that they have limited access to digital solutions designed to help them stay safe, avoid traffic or improve performance.

What’s happening in the UK 

UK van drivers were relatively calm about their challenges when measured against the results of the rest of the continent. Particularly, use of multiple apps (35%), deadlines and ETAs (39%) and maintenance tasks (37%) rank much lower than the total for European drivers.  

But the common challenges of traffic, parking and road safety remain significant in the UK. Here’s what that looks like statistically in our van driver survey results: 

• 61% – traffic congestion 
• 61% – finding parking spaces 
• 61% – driving behaviour of other road users 

In conclusion

The drivers we spoke to for our van driver survey delivered some resounding messages regarding their daily work. In particular, the need for safer roads and less time in traffic came up again and again. Also, we see how van drivers are deeply committed to excelling in their professional field, taking pride in getting the job done and pleasing the customer. 

All of this should be music to your ears, since more safety, less traffic and happier customers matter to you and your business too. So, you and your drivers want the same thing. The question is, what can you do to help them achieve it? 

We have 20-plus years of fleet management expertise. Could you use some guidance on empowering your drivers with safety and productivity tools? We’re happy to answer all your questions. Just book a free consultation with us.