Imagine a scenario where your fleet driver runs into an awful accident, away from any visible civilization. Now, this is a condition that your fleet business, nor any, should ever face. But accidents are bound to happen. You can't fight against nature! But who said that you can't fight against the human errors that result in tragedies?
Here's where telematics comes to your rescue. This technology would help you arrest preventable accidents while curbing the imminent damages. In fact, when the fleet of Rural Electric Cooperative leveraged the GPS tracker for cars, a form of telematics solution, it was able to save the life of one of its employees.
As the driver was met with a gruesome accident in the wilderness, he was immediately able to hit the Panic button (a feature that's offered in many GPS trackers), to notify the company of the accident. That Panic button was his knight in shining armor that day since his phone wouldn't take the signal across.
When at once, the company received this SOS signal, it was able to immediately send the rescue team to the exact location, with the help of the navigation data obtained from the GPS tracker.
The best part, a single investment saved a very precious life, and conversely, a family, and the business indeed!
This is just one story among the billions out there with technology Fleet businesses taking their safety measures to the next level.
And just like REC, you can also protect your drivers. Read on below to garner knowledge on how you can enforce the safety of your fleet drivers.
Drive Your Drivers to Safety
1. Monitor Your Drivers with GPS Tracking System
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 56% of the road casualties rise from aggressive driving. And if you notice, most of your fleet drivers would tend to indulge in tailgating and harsh-braking.
This behavior poses a high risk during rainy and snowy days. And, poor lighting down the lane can efficiently disrupt the driving flow of your drivers.
Should your drivers ever cross the speed limits just to get the deliveries done in a jiffy, boy, you can imagine the result.
This is why most of the fleet businesses affix a real-time GPS tracker in their fleet vehicles. This technology would help you to monitor the behavior of your drivers. The consequence, your drivers would try their best to let go of their dangerous driving patterns.
Even if they ever violate the driving ethics, you can always catch them in the act.
So, GPS trackers are efficient means of monitoring your drivers to prevent any accidents happening to them. Additionally, having the best GMRS radio provides a dependable backup to GPS tracking systems, ensuring constant communication, safety, and coordination in critical situations. Simultaneously, if despite following the rules, if any of your drivers run into an accident, help would be just a click away.
2. Use Dashboard Cameras to Exonerate Drivers and Evaluate Accidents
Dash cam for trucks and cars is the perfect solution for your disciplined and undisciplined drivers.
Visualize a scene, where your driver drives within the speed limit, adhering by all the traffic rules. Yet, your driver's truck and another light-duty vehicle collide with each other.
Thankfully neither of them is hurt, but neither would claim the blame on his name, too.
And here's where your dash cams would come in handy. It would have recorded the whole situation. Thus, it would be your legit proof to get your driver acquitted from the false charge.
On the flip side, assume that your driver is in the wrong. True, it would cost you a fortune, but it would also help you make a good punishment for your driver. This way, he'd never think of violating the norms ever again, while this would be a warning for the rest of your fleet drivers.
3. Ensure Regular Fleet Maintenance Checks
A poorly maintained vehicle can easily blow up in the face of an accident, and it's much worse when it is the causal factor for a road calamity.
Although you might think that cutting back on maintenance checks would reduce your expenditures, be informed that it can threaten your business by a great deal.
Now, please don't be offended, but the truth must be asserted.
Things like brake failures, worn-out tires, and malfunctioning headlights are some of the common factors that have made historical casualties. However, if you have all your fleet vehicles checked upon schedules, your drivers would be safe, and so would the other sojourners on the trail.
4. Follow Effective Routing for Time Constrained Deliveries
Were you aware that your drivers take drastic, desperate steps to ensure that all deliveries are made on time?
This includes jumping traffic lights, tailgating, overtaking slow-moving vehicles, applying sudden brakes, and the list is endless.
Now you must understand that not all drivers indulge in such frantic driving for fun. Some are indeed coerced into such measures.
Let's illustrate this.
To reach a particular delivery destination, your driver would have numerous routing options. But what is he knows only one route, and that too, the most hazardous and time-consuming one?
Wouldn't much time be wasted?
Here's where you must heed the advice to install GPS systems on all your fleet vehicles. This way, by obtaining real-time information, your drivers would know which is the shortest path in times of distance and time.
Into the bargain, your drivers can procure knowledge on the terrain nature to effectively steer their course. This would not only buy your drivers plenty of time but would also assure their safety.
5. Offer Consistent Driver Training and Incentives
And so on forth, don't take post-recruitment driver training lightly. Only consistent training will curb the bad driving habits of your drivers. If this is left unattended, there's every possibility for your driver's old man to re-surface.
You surely can't afford that for your business.
Besides this, statistics quotes that driver training can reduce 15% of fuel costs, and 20% of defensive drivers would least likely run into head-on collisions.
A remarkable benefit, right?
And as the fruits of the training begin to get reflected in their driving, be sure to encourage those improved drivers by rewards and other incentives. Motivate them; thus, they'd never turn away from the rule-book.
Footsteps to Follow
If you haven't done anything so far about your fleet drivers' safety, you really must now. Do all that's in your power, by investing in sound telematics solutions, to keep your invaluable employees safe.
You can only prepare and prevent; you can't afford to repair and repent.
This one-time investment in technology is your life-time investment in safety!
Go, shield your drivers from harm's way.
