Keeping your fleet as safe as possible should be the top priority for any fleet manager. While there is no way to absolutely guarantee that a vehicle in your fleet will not suffer an accident or damage of some kind, there are plenty of things you can do to minimise the risk and create a safe and secure working environment for your drivers.
Read on to find out more and, if you haven’t already, start implementing these techniques into your daily management routine.
Create A Robust Safety Policy
While all fleet managers are surely keen to maximise the safety of the vehicles and drivers in their charge, it can be easy to miss potential dangers through an oversight or a lack of effective communication.
To avoid these common pitfalls, it’s vital that you devise a detailed safety policy for all of your drivers, to make sure that everyone is on the same page and understands what procedures need to be followed.
As you create your policy, you will need to take a number of important factors into consideration, such as whether your drivers take your vehicles home at the end of their shift, and how frequently you inspect each vehicle. You also need to include information about Department For Transport compliance, as all commercial fleets need to adhere to their safety regulations, so it’s vital that all of your drivers have a comprehensive knowledge of the rules.
By ensuring that each member of your team has a copy of your safety policy – and that new hires are provided with their own copy from their first day on the job – you can help to ensure that all members of your fleet are following essential safety guidelines.
Employ Tachograph Analysis Software
Of course, even with a robust safety policy in place, it is possible that some of your drivers may not adhere to either the rules of the road or the strictures put in place by the Department For Transport.
This is where tachograph analysis tools can prove to be of great assistance. If you choose tools from experienced companies such as FleetGO, you will gain a cost-effective and multifunctional software solution that will help to maximise the safety of your fleet.
Tachograph analysis software utilises an intuitive cloud platform to help you control and manage the tachograph files of every vehicle in your fleet. Using these files, along with the built-in checks included with the software, you will be able to see whether or not your drives are operating in line with both national and European driving regulations.
With this knowledge, you can minimise the risk of fines or non-compliance penalties, and you will be able to ensure that all of the drivers under your remit are operating their vehicles responsibly and taking breaks when they are supposed to.
Carry Out Regular Inspections
Carrying out frequent – if not daily – inspections of all of the vehicles in your fleet is crucial when it comes to maintaining high safety standards. Regularly checking your vehicles will also help to lower the risk of wasted time and money as a result of a vehicle accident or break-down.
Unfortunately, if your drivers are in a hurry to get on the road, they may not always take the time to properly fill in paper-based inspection forms, and, as a result, might not always carry out their inspections with the appropriate degree of care. Paper inspection forms can also be misplaced or simply handed in late, which can cause various problems, including vehicle repair delays.
To avoid these problems, you can automate the process and use virtual inspection forms, which will be more convenient for your drivers to fill out. As the data can be instantly uploaded, you will also no longer have to worry about lost forms.
By gathering all of the data quickly and efficiently using an online platform, you will also find it easier to analyse the reports and pinpoint which vehicles may be at risk of developing a problem in the near future.
Analyse Your Vehicle Assignment Data
Finally, another way to help improve your fleet’s safety is to assess your vehicle assignment histories to look for any bad driving habits which could be contributing to vehicle deterioration.
For example, if you notice that a particular driver has been assigned to a vehicle, and that vehicle has suffered more brake damage or any other issues than the rest of your fleet, then you may wish to hold a discussion with the driver about their techniques.
After all, if they are prone to poor – or, worse, unsafe – driving habits, such as sharp braking, then this can not only lose your company money, as you frequently have to repair the vehicle’s brakes, but it could even cause an accident.
Final Thoughts
While the productivity of your fleet is a crucial concern, the safety and well-being of the drivers and vehicles should always be the top priority. As you can see, there are a number of tools and techniques you can use to maximise the safety of your fleet and make sure that your team is compliant, both with national and international regulations.
Making these simple and effective changes can not only save you time and money, but can also prevent accidents.
