Keep your fleet safe in a slowdown

Anyone that has owned or managed a business for any length of time knows that the occasional slowdown in trade is inevitable.

Businesses of all sizes, across a wide range of industries, experience slow periods. It may be down to market forces outside your control, a seasonal dip that passes organically, or a sign to streamline your processes or improve your offering.

Whatever the reason, it is important to remember that this is not a time to panic. Slower periods can be a great time to take a good look at the inner workings of your organisation, particularly when it comes to vital but often overlooked areas such as safety and security.

To help you remain proactive at all times, here are four simple ways to improve fleet safety during a slow period.

1. Create geofences

Place geofences around key areas such as depots and employee houses to help keep your vehicles and equipment where they should be.

Set your GPS fleet management system to trigger alerts whenever a vital asset is operated or moved outside an authorised location. In the event of theft or unauthorised personal use, live location data can be used to track and, if necessary, help recover your asset.

2. Manage fleet maintenance 

A slow period can be a good time to ensure that your vehicles are in peak condition, without having to take them out of service.

Routine servicing such as brake pad replacement, oil and filter changes and engine tuning can all improve the roadworthiness and safety of your vehicles. Taking this proactive approach to maintenance can help reduce the risk of accident and breakdown, improving the overall safety of your fleet.

3. Refresh policies and processes

While road safety is high on the agenda for most fleet-reliant businesses, many have a set it and forget it approach to safe driving policies.

A quiet period is a good opportunity to take a look at these policies and ensure they are still fit for purpose. Now is also a good time to refresh drivers on their safety responsibilities, ensure all employees are adhering to any schemes you have in place, and look for areas to improve safety practices and processes.

4. Take time to coach

 Our fleets create a wealth of information that can be harnessed to improve the performance of our drivers and technicians.

Data collected on key events such as speeding, harsh driving, idling, start/finish time, MPG and much more contains countless coachable moments. However, it’s not always easy to find the time to put it into action.

Take this opportunity to spend some time with your drivers off the road. Use real world behaviours like those listed above to coach safer and more economical driving habits.

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