Qualification Certification Training (Qual Cert)
Contractors are currently facing greater challenges with hiring and retaining drivers. Today it’s more expensive to pay drivers with inflation and wage increases than ever before. Now, with the new driver training requirements released by FedEx Ground, we predict contractors will add extra costs to their monthly expenses. FedEx Ground announced a new training program for P&D drivers: Qualification Certification, also known as Qual Cert.
What is Qual Cert?
Qual Cert is a new P&D driver training program developed by FedEx Ground to standardize training across the network. Before, drivers were required to have at least 1 year of driving experience in the past 3 years, or 5 years of driving within the past 10 years.
If drivers did not have the required experience, they could complete the Entry-Level Driver Training Program (ELDP) or the L10/L20/L30 program to drive with FedEx Ground.
Now, drivers do not need any driving experience or to complete ELDP or L10/L20/L30. Instead, all existing and new drivers must undergo Qual Cert regardless of their experience. Even if a driver has 10 years of driving experience, they will still be required to complete the training program.
How Will the Program be Rolled Out?
FedEx Ground is now releasing Qual Cert into the network. Contractors who came into the space or renewed their contract after April 2, 2022, will have 45 days after signing the contract to begin Qual Cert with the team. New contractors entering the space must begin the Qual Cert training program immediately.
Program Overview and Driver Qualifications
For your drivers to receive this training, you must use one of FedEx Ground’s approved vendors, which include GroundCloud, J.J. Keller, Impact Solutions, and Smith Systems. The first step in the program is to identify a qualified vendor. Next, you will need to determine who will be your certified trainer. Typically, your trainer will be your BC or lead driver. Your trainer will need to attend an in-person training provided by your qualified vendor to become an official, certified trainer. This course is a 5-day in-person training.
Once the training is complete, your certified trainer can train your drivers through the new Qual Cert program. The training program includes the following:
Classroom instruction
Observed behind-the-wheel road time
Quizzes and evaluations online
Road test
Note: All drivers (existing and new) will have to go through the training. There will be a limited amount of time allowed to train existing drivers.
Challenges With the New Training Program
While Qual Cert provides a significant advantage in hiring drivers with no experience, it does present various challenges that contractors will face.
Training Location
The classroom portion of the training requires contractors to have a training location. FedEx terminals do not designate places for you to conduct training. This means contractors must find and rent a facility or room, adding another expense to their balance sheet.
Class Size
The way the course is structured, it’s not recommended that you have more than 4 drivers training simultaneously. However, the challenge with having a small class size is that you will have to pay for resources frequently, such as the trainer and location. Driver candidates will be training at various times, making it harder to train new drivers.
If you train one candidate at a time, the cost per candidate training will be extremely high. If you push and wait for multiple candidates to be ready for training, you will lose candidates who take other jobs because they can start working/earning sooner.
On-Road Testing
The on-road portion of training does not have to be done by a certified trainer. You can utilize a qualified observer to complete this training portion. A qualified observer is a driver within your organization who has been with FedEx Ground for at least one year and has not had a preventable accident or MVR violation in the last year.
For the on-road testing portion, drivers will be required to complete a 20-mile, 45-minute initial road test, which must be completed and signed by the certified trainer. However, a qualified observer can do all the observed hours for both the empty truck and the laden truck.
Staffing
If your trainer is the lead driver, they will have to take time off the road to conduct the training. You will then need to call in a backup driver or spread the packages among other drivers. Once approved by First Advantage, new drivers will be able to complete their observed behind-the-wheel hours with packages on board.
Save With Our Add-On Service
FedEx Ground’s Qual Cert program will impact contractors across the country, especially smaller operations, who do not have additional revenue in their budgets to spend on the resources for this training.
Bright Flag knows you have enough to worry about when hiring qualified drivers. That’s why we are excited to offer a new add-on service to our existing recruiting packages for FedEx Ground contractors: Qualified Certification Training.
With this new service, you will pay a flat monthly rate of $300 per month for unlimited training for new and current drivers.
Contractors will need to be GroundCloud customers. Those using other vendors will have to sign up for a GroundCloud subscription before they can use our virtual classroom training. This service cuts the time commitment in half for the contractor and training drivers.
The Benefits of Using Bright Flag
You do not have to worry about finding or paying for a location (our Certified Trainers will conduct the training virtually). For virtual training, you can have up to 10 drivers complete the training at once. Both new and existing drivers get the same material, so you can have both in the same class to facilitate scheduling.
The Certified Trainers conducting the course are former BCs and will be supplementing some of the core curriculum with relevant, real-world examples and photos to train drivers. Certified Trainers will spend significantly less time being pulled from their operations to classroom training (non-revenue generating activity) and instead focus on running the operations.
Your certified trainer or qualified observer will conduct the on-road training portion.
Drivers can complete their quizzes and evaluations online.
A certified trainer will conduct the final road test. Do note that you will still need a designated parking lot area for the on-road testing portion.
Reserve Your Spot Today
Don't hesitate to contact our team if you have questions about the Qualification Certification training program. You can also reserve your spot to begin the process. Our team looks forward to working with you.
