Building an Advanced Fleet Safety Program: Strategies to Protect Your Team and Business

Safety is a top priority for fleet managers, especially as road accidents remain a significant challenge for commercial drivers. In 2024, it's projected that over 34,000 traffic deaths will occur in the U.S. Fleet managers must take action by implementing a robust fleet safety program to mitigate risks and protect both drivers and business operations. From driver coaching to proactive vehicle maintenance, this guide outlines the steps to build an effective safety program using advanced fleet management technology.

Building an advanced fleet safety program

Safety is both a top priority and a challenge for fleet managers and organizations of all sizes. Unfortunately, road accidents for commercial drivers are common and can cause devastating consequences including injury or even death for drivers or others involved in a collision. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 18,720 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the US during the first half of 2024.1

Mobility professionals must work with the zero deaths vision that “acknowledges that even one death on our transportation system is unacceptable and focuses on safe mobility for all road users.” 2

Aspects that influence driver safety include:

• Driver fatigue: According to the NHTSA, there were 693 deaths from drowsy-driving-related crashes in 2022.3

• Speeding: Another 2022 statistic from NHTSA reports that speeding was a contributory factor in 29% of fatal road crashes in the US.4

• Driver distraction: The NHTSA also reports that distracted driving claimed 3,308 lives in 2022.
• Technical defects of vehicles: Vehicle defect-related crashes have been a persistent safety concern for decades, with design flaws, manufacturing errors, and lack of maintenance leading to numerous incidents. In the most recent study by the National Library of Medicine, the main cause of a traffic accident is a vehicle defect, the following ones have been identified for the US: “poor condition or inadequate inflation of tires (35%), braking system defects (22%), and other parts constituted the remaining (43%).”6

What is a fleet safety program?

A fleet safety program can be defined as a company's plan to reduce the risk of collisions and improve the safety of their fleet operations and drivers. 

The use of fleet management technology as part of a safety program allows organizations to quickly and efficiently gather insights about driver behavior, vehicle maintenance data and other operational efficiencies that can help lead to a safer workplace.

Prioritizing the safety of your organization involves the creation and implementation of a robust fleet safety program that will cover areas such as:

• Analyzing individual driver behavior behind the wheel.
• Implementing safer daily operations and setting proper expectations.
• Prioritizing fact based driver coaching based on data-driving insights.
• Promoting driver daily vehicle inspections and preventive maintenance programs.

Going beyond driver behavior

It’s not only important to monitor driver behavior, but also understanding a driver’s style behind the wheel and their driver scores. It is recommended that you hold individual coaching sessions with your fleet drivers in order to use specific data and situational examples to address unwanted behaviors and track improvement.  Getting buy-in from your employees, setting proper expectations for vehicle management and recognizing improvements made are all important elements of improving driver behavior.

Driver coaching is a long-term safety commitment

Effective safety programs can require a lot of initial effort, but the good news is that your time invested can be paid back quickly in reduced collision costs, improved driver safety, vehicle repairs/downtime and insurance costs.Fleet management technology can provide safety insights and a  detailed overview of the trends and evolution of driver behavior. 

Once you have a better understanding of reoccurring driver behaviors, you can have a fact-based coaching session to discuss specific individual behaviors and set goals that will help to keep your drivers safe, mitigate the risk of accidents and help them become better drivers. 

You can also gamify this improvement process to keep your drivers informed of their progress and engaged in meeting goals. As well as reward those who meet their goals either individuals or as a team. 

Fleet management technology, like the Verizon Connect dashcam solution, brings together HD video, artificial intelligence (AI) and the power of a fleet management system to help you customize driver coaching sessions and create a culture of safety. The AI alerts the driver in real time when unsafe behaviors are detected, and the manager is notified within minutes.  

The 2025 Fleet Technology Trends Report shows that 75% of respondents using in-cab video solutions were able to improve safety and 42% reported reduced accidents costs.

Preventative vehicle maintenance program

Combining daily vehicle inspection reports (DVIR) with preventive maintenance can help to keep vehicles in optimal condition for use, and help to mitigate the risk of accidents due to failure to perform required vehicle maintenance. 

Preventive maintenance is a regularly-scheduled process for routine updates, such as tire rotations and oil changes, as well as bigger fixes. This type of maintenance is critical to manage the health of all fleet vehicles and should be performed on regular intervals.

Establishing a reliable fleet maintenance program that combines DVIR checks, and regular vehicle maintenance inspections can make a big difference in fleet safety and overall vehicle health.

Learn how to create an effective fleet safety program with 8 key steps. Improve driver behavior, reduce accidents, and lower costs with fleet management technology. 

How to build and implement a fleet safety program

Once you have determined the key elements of your safety policy and understand the core values of your program, it is time to build it and customize it to your company's needs.

1. Define your fleet safety goals: Set individual objectives and collective objectives for the team. Determine the margin of improvement required and set a time period to achieve them. This will be the roadmap for your fleet safety program and for the whole team to follow.
2. Choose the fleet management technology that fits best for your company: Determine the advanced technology that will help you achieve your goals, such as AI dashcams. Advanced fleet management solutions allow you to have accurate data-driving information that you can analyze to see how the plan is developing and what needs to be improved.
3. Define a safety council team: Choose a team of people who will be responsible for helping your fleet safety program run smoothly. Make sure they receive the necessary training- a ‘train the trainer’ approach so that managers and supervisors know how to use the platform correctly and can work efficiently to interpret safety events as they occur.

Determine who will be in charge of which areas of your fleet safety program. Each area will be covered and detailed feedback can be given on insights that will then be shared on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) to make drivers aware and take action. 

4. Get the team onboard and communicate: Inform the entire team of the new initiative that will prioritize their individual and collective team safety. Talk openly about the pros and cons of having a fleet safety program and make sure you are on the same page: prioritize team safety, promote a safe work environment and help them become a safer driver. 
5. Implement the fleet safety program: Establish a launch day to kick-off your safety program. Reinforce your expectations and give employees the explanation behind any new safety policies. Activate the protocol and determine regular meeting periods for analysis, review and improvement.
6. Monitor, measure and coach: Analyze the daily fleet insights, individually and collectively, to see the evolution and/or trends and take action as needed. Has your team achieved the targets set? Has the driving style of your team improved? 

• If you have achieved your improvement targets, it is time to communicate this. Thank the team for their commitment to improve safety. Set new targets for improvement in that or other areas. 
• Share performance data-driving safety insights, set up driver coaching sessions and work individually and collectively to improve safety. 
• It is an ongoing process, there is always room for improvement.

7. Address risky behavior in near-real time: 

Some driving behaviors, such as harsh driving, speeding, driver distraction, driver fatigue, are very risky and have to be addressed quickly. Set up alerts when these incidents happen to get notified almost in near-real time and prepare to take action. 

Helping you to create a safer workplace

Promoting a safe working environment where your team understands that their safety is your #1 priority is critical to the success of your fleet safety program. Verizon Connect fleet management software technology can help. 

If you would like to see how fleet management technology can help support your fleet safety program, schedule a live demo today. 

Sources:

• 1https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813633
• 2https://highways.dot.gov/safety/zero-deaths
• 3https://www.nsc.org/road/safety-topics/fatigued-driver
• 4National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2022). Speeding
• 5National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2022). Distracted Driving
• 6https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10907794/