10 Ways to Make Your Fleet Safer

Managing a fleet is challenging work, particularly when you have vehicles spread throughout your city and state. There’s moving vehicles, heavy equipment and dangerous chemicals. These are only a few of the possibly dangerous things drivers and fleet staff encounter each day at work. Because of threats like these, it’s important you uphold safety policies for creating a safe and healthy workplace. Below are 10 ways to make your fleet safer.

1. Make Safety a Priority

Fleet operations must make safety a priority to keep it on the minds of staff and drivers. Your fleet staff should know their well-being and safety is important to your company. Safety policies and information should be accessible to everyone. Keep First Aid kits nearby and safety data sheets for chemicals visible.

Drivers should take precautions too. They need to follow all traffic laws as well as rules you enforce such as:

• Sudden braking
• Aggressive driving
• Quick acceleration

You can use telematics to track the behaviors of your drivers and ensure they’re following safety rules.

 Regularly Provide Safety Communication

Communication is the starting point for making safety a part of the company culture. Safety should be included in every email, meeting, policy and publication. Managers and drivers should leave every conference call and meeting with safe driving on their minds.

3. Offer Safety Incentives

Provide incentives to the drivers most safe on the road.

4. Offer Defensive Driving Courses for Drivers

Education on safety can help avoid and prevent accidents. Often, accidents aren’t your fleet drivers’ fault. There are a lot of unsafe drivers on the highways and roads, but when your drivers are taught proper defensive driving methods, you can help them avoid accidents with other unsafe drivers.

5. Improve Vehicles Maintenance Process

Safe fleets don’t just mean safe drivers. You need to also ensure your vehicles are safe too. You can keep your fleet performing at its highest level with things like:

• Regular vehicle inspections
• Preventative maintenance
• Staying up-to-date on vehicle recalls

6. Screen and Choose Drivers Wisely

This helps create a safe and reliable team. Set clear hiring standards and a comprehensive screening process for new hires.

7. Train Drivers

Training can help ensure your drivers know all vehicle safety procedures and policies. They should have easy access to information on safe driving techniques and strategies, including defensive driving instruction. Training should be on an ongoing basis.

8. Manage Accident as They Occur

This helps regulate accident costs. Establish an investigation and reporting process that works like your general accident reporting process. All accidents and crashes, no matter the severity or outcome, should be reported to management as soon as possible.

9. Invest in GPS Fleet Tracking

Tracking driver behavior and milegate helps increase safety, regulate unnecessary drive time and conserve fuel. A common dangerous behavior is speeding which can lead to citations, accidents and cost your company money in repairs and fuel. Using a GPS fleet tracking device provides you with round the clock access to the behaviors of your drivers from your mobile device or desktop. You’ll receive automated alerts any time a driver shows poor driving behavior, which will help you increase driver productivity and fleet safety.

 Enforce Healthy, Safe Behaviors

For you to promote long-term workplace safety, you have to enforce ongoing safe and healthy behaviors. If you only focus on safety once or twice a year, it won’t have a lasting effect. You should ensure your fleet’s safety and health is always at the forefront. For you to do this, keep records of both unsafe and safe behaviors of all employees.

Implement all of these fleet safety tips to reap the benefits of a safer fleet.

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