How Bad Driver Habits Increase Fleet Costs

19 Mar 2020

Bad driving habits drive up fleet costs in big ways. When this happens, your entire organization pays. These are some of the bad driver habits that can rob your entire organization of profits and growth.

Wastes Fuel, Driving Costs Higher

One of the big cost factors is that bad driver habits waste fuel. These habits can cost your fleet an enormous amount of money each year and include the following types of behaviors by drivers:

Speeding
Excessive idling
Aggressive accelerations
Distracted driving
Hard braking

Finding a way to discourage these types of behaviors among drivers and adopting policies that explicitly discourage them is the fastest way toward improving your bottom line year after year.

Drives Up Insurance Costs

Bad driver habits cause more accidents, more injuries, and less tolerance by insurance companies. These organizations, like yours, are in business to make money. Fleets that continuously cost their insurance providers money pay more for their services in the form of higher premiums.

Results in More Speeding Tickets

Speeding tickets also drive up insurance premiums and can result in a bad reputation for your fleet. This can cost you vital clients in addition to the rising costs of tickets, additional fuel, and wear and tear on your fleet vehicles.

More importantly, when it comes to the safety of your fleet, your drivers, and other vehicles on the road, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirms that speeding is a factor in more than ¼ of all traffic fatalities. Which can cost your fleet in ways that dig deeper than the financial sting of speeding.

Requires Frequent Maintenance and Repairs

Hard braking, aggressive accelerations, and distracted driving can lead to the necessity of more frequent maintenance and repairs. Many of these repairs are completely preventable by adopting safer driving habits and improving your routine maintenance scheduling process.

Causes More Accidents

Accidents result in more legal fees for your organization, lost time on the road, lost productivity for drivers, and lost profits for you. This doesn’t even include the costs of lost cargo and lost repeat business in the aftermath of accidents.

Stopping these bad driver behaviors can be instrumental in reducing your costs and improving profits. But how can fleet managers change these behaviors without riding along with their drivers every mile of their travels?

GPS fleet tracking can help you monitor drivers when they are out of sight in order to take corrective actions and change those bad habits for good. Contact us here at LiveViewGPS at 1-888-544-0494 to learn more about your GPS fleet tracking options.

You Are Here: LiveViewGPS Blog » How Bad Driver Habits Increase Fleet Costs

About George Karonis

George Karonis is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of LiveViewGPS Inc., a company he established in 2008 with the vision of making real-time GPS tracking more reliable, affordable, and accessible for businesses of all sizes. Over the past two decades, he has built a reputation as an innovator in GPS tracking, fleet management, asset monitoring, and Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PTToC) communications. Under George's leadership, LiveViewGPS has grown into a nationally recognized provider of GPS tracking solutions, serving businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, law enforcement organizations, and public works departments throughout the United States. The company's technology helps organizations improve operational efficiency, protect valuable assets, increase driver safety, and reduce operating costs through real-time location intelligence. Before founding LiveViewGPS, George developed a background in security, surveillance, and emerging location technologies. His passion for innovation and practical problem solving has driven the development of products that combine dependable hardware with easy-to-use cloud software, giving customers actionable information when it matters most. In 2018, George expanded into nationwide Push-to-Talk over Cellular communications by launching PeakPTT, providing businesses with rugged, instant communication solutions that operate over LTE and Wi-Fi networks. His focus has remained the same throughout his career: delivering dependable technology backed by exceptional customer service and long-term customer relationships. George regularly writes about GPS tracking, fleet management, asset protection, business technology, and communication systems. Through this blog, he shares industry insights, practical advice, and emerging trends to help organizations make informed decisions about tracking technology and connected operations.