Commercial Fleet Safety Basics

Your entire business relies on safety. After all, unsafe and improper driver activity or faulty vehicles and equipment can result in accidents that cause injury, hefty legal fees, repair costs, and an increase in your insurance premium.

If you haven’t review your security practices or standards in a while, this list will help you get started

Make sure your drivers meet requirements

A surefire way to ensure you’ll fail in your safety efforts is to hire inexperienced, unqualified drivers.

When vetting new drivers, perform a thorough background check and screening to guarantee they check off these boxes:

• Valid driver’s license
• At least 21 years old
• 2+ years of driving experience
• Certified to operate a commercial vehicle
• Has not been convicted of major violations, such driving under the influence, felony, hit and run, texting while driving, or excessive speeding.
• Adhere to applicable qualifications

Once you’ve hired a driver, he or she should start out riding along with another more experienced driver who will observe them before they hit the road on their own.

Remember that even once you’ve hired drivers, you’re work ins’t done. Regular evaluations ensure they still meet your qualifications. Which brings us to our next point…

Monitor and evaluate drivers on an ongoing basis

Just because a driver fits the mold of what you’re looking for in the beginning, doesn’t mean they will always perform their work to the level you expect. Using a GPS tracking camera system, you can keep an eye on drivers even when they’re on a trip hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Ensure drivers are wearing their seatbelts, remaining at a safe speed, not hard braking or turning, or practicing any other inappropriate behaviors reduces the likelihood of a dangerous and costly accident. Additionally, using the information gathered from these systems, you can review employee performance on both an individual and team basis to note areas of success and where you can improve.

Monitoring your drivers is a huge step in ensuring safe practices. However, if you don’t set the stage and routinely remind employees of your expectations when it comes to safety, they may fail to meet your expectations.

On-boarding and regular safety training

You want your drivers to meet the criteria explained above, but there are also skills and knowledge that can be taught, both when they first start working for you and throughout their time with your company. 

On-boarding should be performed for every new hire before he or she hits the road, where the basics of your business, processes, expectations, and other information is communicated and tested upon to confirm drivers have learned and retained it. Regulations can change, as can the way you do business as you evolve, so additional, ongoing training sessions should be a critical part of your fleet safety program.

With interior vehicle dashcams, you can look out for both good and bad behaviors to use examples within your training. Seeing a real-world situation helps information stick far better than a generic scripted training video.

Regular vehicle inspection

it’s not just your drivers that need management and consistent review. In fact, your drivers could be driving perfectly, but if a vehicle is having issues, you’re still creating a hazard to your driver and others sharing the road. 

Create a maintenance plan for vehicles that includes inspections, regular maintenance, and repairs. Inspections should include checking the following:

• Batteries
• Gauges (oil, coolant temperature, warning lights, etc.)
• Fluid levels
• Tires
• Wiring
• Transmission
• Belts
• Brakes
• Power steering
• All lights on the interior or exterior of the vehicle (headlights, brake lights, emergency flashers, turn signals, etc.)

Drivers should be keeping an eye on these items throughout the trips as well. Create a maintenance evaluation for for drivers to complete before and after every trip.

Fleet Safety is Not Optional

Please keep in mind these are just the basics for safe fleet management. There are specific rules and regulations for different industries, vehicle sizes, geographies, materials transported, and more that you must also be aware of. In setting up your fleet safety program, put all your rules and expectations in writing for all employees to review and adhere to. 

A comprehensive program with GPS tracking and dashcams will promote safe fleet management and give you peace of mind. Learn more about how FleetOptix can help you protect your drivers and others on the road — as well as your business.

Looking for a no-contract dashcam solution that can integrate with your existing GPS platform? FleetOptix provides a unique look into your fleet － contact us and get a free quote of our system today.