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On Tyrel Wagner’s drive to and from work each day, he passes a school, a post office, a fire station and a bus barn. He never used to give that trip much thought. Then he participated in EquipmentShare’s Driving Simulator Program.
“I used to think driving six minutes to and from work was not that hazardous, but I got to thinking about it after that class,” said Wagner, the general manager of EquipmentShare’s Advanced Solutions branch in Grain Valley, Missouri. “I go by some potentially active sites every day when I go to and from work, so I should pay more attention to who might cross the road.”
That attitude is exactly what EquipmentShare Driver Training Specialist Cody Skees is trying to develop. Transportation incidents are the most frequent cause of on-the-job deaths in America, accounting for 38.2% of occupational fatalities in 2024. EquipmentShare’s CDL delivery drivers, sales representative and field service technicians spend much of their days behind the wheel, and the company is determined to help them be the safest drivers on the road.
It’s EquipmentShare’s mission to build a safer construction industry, on and off the jobsite, and the Driving Simulator Program is the latest advancement toward that objective.
Since January 2026, Skees has been towing EquipmentShare’s simulators in a trailer across the Midwest. At each branch in the region, he sets up shop and guides employees through a series of simulations. Anyone who drives a company vehicle — from the biggest semi to a pickup truck — takes a turn behind the wheel in the class.
“The purpose is to develop a defensive-driving mindset,” Skees said. “It gives you a step-by-step thought process. When you make yourself do that every day, it becomes habitual and you become a safer driver. As drivers, we get way too complacent on the road because we do it every day. This gives people an idea of how fast accidents can happen. Even when dangerous situations aren’t your fault, you can still do things to avoid potential collisions.”
According to the National Traffic Safety Institute, defensive driving programs can reduce accidents by 21%. EquipmentShare’s investment in the simulation program reflects its serious commitment to ensuring every employee makes it home safely after each day of work.
“It’s critical that our drivers are the safest on the road,” Wagner said. “The vehicles they drive deliver our fleet and get our techs to service calls. It’s our business to be there on time, but it’s our top priority to get there safely.”
EquipmentShare is piloting its Driving Simulation Program in the Midwest Region with plans to expand it nationwide.
“The simulations are a low-risk experience builder,” Skees said. “We can’t take a tractor trailer and have them drive through a school zone and have kids chasing balls out in front of them in real time. But we can put them in a similar situation in a simulation, and it builds their thought process of what they need to be looking for so they can avoid a catastrophic collision.”
The Driving Simulation Trailer is a mobile classroom with two simulators. Each simulator has customizable settings that match any EquipmentShare vehicle. Employees participate in six simulations that last about six minutes each.
Participants are docked points for speeding, following too closely, harsh braking and collisions. They have to score at least 70 points on each simulation or they retake it. The simulations are challenging, as Wagner discovered. On one of his virtual drives, he assumed the kids running toward him down the sidewalk would stay on the sidewalk and he momentarily took his eyes off the road.
“When I looked back, lo and behold, the kids were crossing the street,” Wagner said. “I slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. I failed that simulation and had to retake it, but I like to fail sometimes because you learn more from it.”
Skees said he reminds employees that even if they might not be at-fault for their virtual collisions, in the real world those accidents still have serious consequences. A defensive driving mindset puts EquipmentShare employees in a much better position to make their daily drives uneventful.
“I get a lot of people who say, ‘This is stressful,’ because the simulation does throw a lot at you,” Skees said. “Hopefully every day won’t be like that on the road, but they’re all everyday situations you may encounter once a day or once a week or once a month. If people take it seriously and put some thought into it, it can make you a much safer driver.”
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