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The first priority for most fleet managers is the safety of their drivers, passengers and the company property. I wanted to share a couple of things we have learned over the years that can help with the safety of your fleet.
Write down and audit your fleets maintenance schedule. The easiest way we have found to keep your vehicles on the road and operating properly is to do regular maintenance and inspections. There are several reasons that a vehicle might be involved in an accident and tire blowouts and vehicle malfunctions are high on the list. Although vehicles can malfunction even if they are inspected and maintained properly, doing this greatly decreases the odds. We recommend at least having a set process for fluid changes and tire rotations. Manufacturers also include recommended maintenance schedules in their owners manual and you should keep in mind that all makes and models are different.
Have a standard vehicle safety kit in all of your vehicles. There can be some variation due to the job that the vehicle is performing but I will list a few of the more common items.
This is a good list to get you started and can help your drivers in the case of most emergencies. This not only protects your employees/passengers but it also allows for them to assist in an emergency situation for someone else on the road.
For best practice we think doing a weekly or monthly checklist for all of your vehicles can be incredibly beneficial. It is a good way to collect data that you can analyse including tire tread depth and maintenance cost. This can help you better understand when to retire a vehicle due to costs or even which drivers may need additional training or heavier duty vehicles if they are tearing through tires or front ends.
This leads me to my last point. Make sure you are purchasing vehicles and equipment that are designed to do the work you are doing. Pay attention to payload amounts as well as towing capacity if applicable. Also make sure that the materials or equipment that you are putting the vehicles fits nicely. I alway cringe when I see a vehicle going down the road overloaded or having materials or equipment hanging off the back of a truck. Overloaded vehicles or improper equipment is incredibly dangerous and can often lead to unnecessary accidents and downtime.
I hope you found this helpful and maybe even picked up a couple of ideas that can help your fleet.
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