How Safe Is Your Fleet?
Whether your SME relies on national or international logistics, or if you have a small cadre of sales professionals who carry out the bulk of their duties from the road, you as the SEO of your business have a duty of care to your employees. Keeping your fleet safe is every bit as important as ensuring that your premises is safe and secure. If you’re unaccustomed to the logistics of fleet management, however, this may be easier said than done. Many SME owners wage a constant war against overhead costs, fickle customers, inconsistent employees and the ongoing tightrope walk that is customer retention. Thus, when their employees leave the physical presence of the workspace they can fall into a habit of… out of sight, out of mind. Needless to say, failing to keep up with your fleet and assembling an infrastructure that guarantees their safety could potentially leave you and your enterprise vulnerable to litigation. Here are some pointers for ensuring that your fleet is safe, accountable and representative of your brand while they’re on the road or dealing with clients on their own turf…
Training, training, training
When it comes to maintaining consistency in your customer experience and ensuring that everything your employees do is informed by your mission statement your 3 biggest priorities should be training, training and… training! Nowhere is this more important than in your fleet maintenance. Your employees will be on the road, exposing your brand to the general public and everything they do will reflect on you one way or another. Training must be delivered regularly and consistently as well as being reinforced by weekly briefings.
Dash cams
Unfortunately, we live in a world where not everyone shares your work ethic, honesty and principles. There are some who, upon seeing branded vehicles will try and assign blame in a collision or deliberately create or stage an incident to make money from litigating against businesses. Installing dash cams will protect your drivers while also ensuring that they’ll be able to contact The Rybak Firm PLLC to make a claim if they are injured in an accident that is not their fault. Any one of these dash cams is a great investment for your fleet.
Telematics needn’t be hella expensive
Of course, dash cams aren’t the only technologies that can benefit your fleet. Telematics systems can allow you to monitor your drivers to check that they’re running on time while also ensuring that they avoid road accidents, traffic pile ups and any other phenomena that might compromise their safety. They needn’t be terribly expensive. There are a plethora of inexpensive or free telematics apps which can be downloaded onto any smartphone or device.
Driver accountability
As responsible as you are for the wellbeing and safety of your fleet, you must also built accountability for your drivers into your operations. They must sign a disclaimer saying that they have undergone all relevant training and be responsible for the upkeep and reasonable maintenance of their vehicle. They should also carry out a series of safety checks at the end of each working day.
When your fleet is safe, well trained, well equipped and fully accountable, they will always make you proud on the road!