Whether you operate a fleet business or have only a few vehicles that employees use for company duties, road safety should be your top priority. Mishaps can bring big legal trouble for your company, even if they happen due to the employee’s negligence. As long as they are driving on duty, you will have to compensate the victims injured in the crash.
Fleet safety management keeps you a step ahead of such situations. It focuses on preventing accidents in the first place. Investing in it makes sense because it protects your assets, drivers, and the public while preventing lawsuits in the long run. Here are the strategies that you can rely on for ensuring fleet safety.
Routinely inspect vehicles for safety and compliance
The most critical aspect of fleet safety is vehicle inspections. It lets drivers and managers identify potential safety issues and steer clear of future breakdowns and mishaps. Your fleet may have to comply with daily vehicle inspections, which is a great thing from the safety perspective. Even if compliance isn’t essential, following this practice enables you to curb the risk to a significant extent.
Fix responsibilities of drivers to inspect the vehicles before taking them on the road. Having a proper inspection process is a good idea as it ensures that they wouldn’t ignore the critical issues. Further, fleet managers should identify the ongoing safety issues that increase risks and cost money to the business.
Create and communicate safety policies to drivers
Apart from keeping vehicles in good shape, make sure that there are proper driver safety policies and procedures in place. Also, communicated to every employee who is authorized to drive fleet vehicles. Implementing such a program begins with setting standards for your drivers because they play a vital role in cutting down the accident risk. It requires monitoring of your drivers to track the way they use the company vehicles and equipment.
The policy is to be created with great care, considering the fleet size, type of vehicles, monitoring tools, and other aspects of fleet management for your business. Ideally, you need an experienced car accident attorney to guide you about the policy and procedure that drivers need to follow in different circumstances. For example, it should clearly state the precautions they should take when on the road and the procedure to follow when a mishap occurs.
Monitor assets using vehicle assignment history
When you have a fleet, small or large, you will have to assign different vehicles to different employees from time to time. As a part of the safety initiative, it is vital to keep track of the vehicle assignment history. It helps you analyze fleet safety proactively, with insights such as vehicle usage, accident history, and maintenance needs. With this information, managers can make better business decisions for the future.
For example, managers may use data to identify connections between recurring issues and vehicles or drivers. Perhaps some vehicles need braking repair more frequently because a specific driver uses them often. You can invest in training and awareness for that driver to promote safe driving habits and avoid future issues. Similarly, a constant track of accidents can help you pick people who shouldn’t be authorized to operate company vehicles because of poor safety records.
Leverage telematics technology to enhance visibility
Businesses with larger fleets and even multiple employees driving company cars may not want to micromanage your drivers. Tracking day-to-day routines and habits with telematics technology is a smart measure to boost safety and productivity. Investing in this solution may be an expense for the business, but it is worthwhile, considering that you can prevent accidents and lawsuits in the long run.
Telematics can be coupled with fleet management software to enhance visibility with useful real-time data regarding driver behavior, vehicle status, location, and more. Further, it also offers information related to vehicle health so that they can follow a preventive maintenance schedule to prevent accidents. When it comes to driver behavior, telematics tools enable the setting up of alerts to unsafe practices such as speeding and harsh braking.
Fleet safety is an aspect of operations where you shouldn’t take a chance. The financial implications of accidents can be dire, from large compensation for your employees to massive settlements for third-parties injured in the mishap. Further, the stress of lawsuits is something you would want to avoid. Being proactive and spending on safety initiatives is the best way to cut the risk and stay safe from injury lawsuits. It makes sense, whether you own a few vehicles or have a fleet comprising thousands of them.