Free program presents expert advice on financial management for self-employed drivers
The Julio Simões Institute, the social arm of the SIMPAR Group, launched the Direção Certa (Right Direction) program in July this year, focusing on financial education for the group's self-employed truck drivers. According to the Institute, the free program offers an 80-minute training course with expert guidance on managing freight money, truck maintenance, input purchases and other forms of management.
The manager of the Julio Simões Institute, Bia Andari, explained that the Institute's mission is to improve the quality of life of professional drivers, who are part of the supply chain for all the group's businesses. "Self-employed truck drivers in Brazil have various needs, such as safety and better road conditions, but when we help them reorganize financially, this will have repercussions on their health and safety," she said.
Bia pointed out that in order to develop the program, the Institute relied on research so that the content could be made assertively for this audience. According to data from the 2019 CNT Profile of Truck Drivers Survey, approximately 361,000,000 self-employed drivers admit to being in debt. In addition, it was found that 40% of these professionals with debts deal with amounts that exceed R$ 21 thousand.
The course lasts 80 minutes and is divided into four different modules: freight money; credit and financing; your reserve for the future; and prevention to save money, which are considered essential points for better financial management for these professionals. "It's not a conventional financial education course, it's a course very much applied to the driver's day-to-day life. We identified the greatest needs based on the driver's behavior and on research, and brought in specialists who translated this for them," said Bia.
In the first stage, access is allowed for JSL drivers who have a BBC Digital bank account. According to Bia, the aim is to extend the program to the entire public by 2025. "We don't want to go in a hurry, we want to go effectively with them. It's an arid subject, so we want to be with them on this journey. At the beginning we want to understand if we are meeting everything they need," he added.
Read the full story at: Julio Simões Institute offers financial education program for truck drivers