How C.R. England keeps 120 fleets of truckers connected

When you think about truckers communicating, the first thing that often comes to mind involves a ham radio and using CB slang. But organizing fleets of drivers and keeping them connected to non-drivers and their managers requires something a little more... Advanced.

For C.R. England, a prominent and family-owned company that handles truck driver training, deliveries, and transportation solutions, a good communications platform was a must. They had a simple platform for communicating with non-drivers, but didn’t have much for their drivers.

With over 6,000 drivers and 120 fleets, that needed to change.

Erik Ekberg (Talent Acquisition and Organizational Development Manager) and Athena Fresques (Organizational Effectiveness Coordinator) knew they needed something that could keep everyone connected, whether they’re drivers on the go or working from an office. Could they find a platform that would work?

The drive to Dialpad

C.R. England’s IT department looked at a few communications platforms, and quickly decided on Dialpad. One big factor in the decision? Dialpad’s call recording feature:

Since Dialpad can be used on computers and mobile devices, drivers could access the calls and meetings from anywhere with the press of a button. (As long as they’re not driving, of course.)

Building culture with weekly calls (that everyone wants to join)

C.R. England uses Dialpad for recurring “Driver Huddle” conference calls, where the fleet managers review their fleet’s performance and goals, call out drivers for the great things they do, and even hold little competitions between fleets.

With each fleet consisting of 40 to 60 drivers, and over 100 fleets, you might think that it would be difficult to get a decent attendance for these meetings. Nope.

Each meeting has engagement and participation of around 80 percent or more. It turns out that the drivers really enjoy the meetings—they’re great for team-building, they help the fleets set and meet goals, and just being able to talk with their fellow drivers is actually pretty nice.

In fact, even before the meeting officially starts, the calls are filled with banter, jokes, and conversation, building the camaraderie between drivers. “It just really builds an engagement with that fleet, and they all become this big group of great friends on this call,” Erik explains. “Then the call ends and they’re looking forward to it again next week.”

Not to mention it’s so easy to join in on the calls. All it takes is the push of a button, whether they’re at their computers or on the phone. If a driver has to miss a call, like if they’re on the road, the calls are recorded and they can catch up on everything afterwards (complete with transcripts and post-call summaries):

Easy management and frequent updates

Not only is it easy to hold meetings, just managing Dialpad is also incredibly simple. Athena can add new lines quickly, adjust permissions as needed, and set managers and employees up with their own accounts right from her online dashboard.

Of course, the training is also done over Dialpad. Video meetings make it easy to connect face-to-face over long distances, share screens, and even record calls for later reference or review.

C.R. England has been using Dialpad for years at this point, so they’ve seen how it’s grown and improved over time. Each improvement builds on the last, and just when they think it can’t get any better… it does.