No matter how secure your vehicles are, no matter how experienced your drivers are, and regardless of how small or large your operations are, there is no way to completely eliminate the possibility of an unfortunate incident involving a vehicle from your fleet. After the pandemic of 2019, the reliance of businesses from all industries on a solid supply chain has increased many folds. Whether you are managing a fleet for a logistics company or your vehicles only cater to your own internal demand, it is vital to have the latest safety systems in place to minimize downtime and develop your reputation as a solid transportation service.

In some cases, it may be the fault of your driver but in other cases, it will be someone else’s fault that creates headaches for you. Moreover, any kind of road accident involving one of your vehicles could potentially lead to legal implications which are not only time-consuming but can also be quite expensive to dismiss. Rather than having to deal with all these problems and potential risks, here are a few things you can do to improve the safety and security of vehicles under your supervision.

1. Insurance

Your first line of defense in the case of an accident will be your insurance provider. Commercial vehicles are expensive assets to acquire, and in the case of a serious accident, they can be extremely expensive to bring back to usable condition. Not to mention, commercial vehicles are at a far higher risk of theft. There are different types of insurance policies that you can opt for, if you are running a small business then getting individual commercial vehicle policies could be a good option or you could consider a fleet insurance policy if you have a large number of vehicles. Moreover, you can also get specialized insurance policies depending on your industry. If you are in agriculture, logistics, manufacturing, etc, there are specialized policies that work for the particular kinds of commercial vehicles used in those sectors.

2. On-Board Safety

With vehicle safety technology growing by leaps and bounds there is a plethora of software and hardware that you can get at very affordable prices to enhance the security of your vehicles. Many commercial vehicles only come equipped with standard security systems and these don’t provide a very comprehensive level of security. A more substantial approach is to invest in a dash cam for commercial vehicles where you can have one installed on every vehicle in your fleet and they will record every moment of every trip each vehicle makes. In the case that the car has an accident or robbery or mishap of every kind, you will have documented evidence that will be of immeasurable value in the case that you need to go to trial for the problem. Even if things don’t go that far you can always use the dashcam footage to evaluate how well your drivers are performing and it will automatically cause drivers to drive better as they know they are being monitored.

3. Hire Talent

In order to keep costs down, fleet managers often skimp on the quality of their driving staff which can have a huge impact on the efficiency of your operations as well the safety. Simply having a commercial driver’s license is not enough, you want a person who has all the qualifications necessary to work with the kinds of products that you are dealing with while also having a reputable work history. If there is anything that you should be willing to discount, that is experience. If a driver is fully qualified and has all the necessary training and certifications but no experience, you know the person is serious about their work and has put in the time and effort to gain all the right qualifications. While risking your inventory and your vehicle with someone who has no qualifications to offer and is agreeing to work for a very low rate will never be a good idea.

One of the biggest problems with fleet management is that you are managing a group of people who do very repetitive work and often have to spend many hours doing it. The best thing you can do is to set up a protective infrastructure that will offer you and your team some protection in the case that something goes wrong and to also invest as much as you can in protecting your assets. While training your staff and constantly upgrading their skills to meet changing conditions is a very good approach, it never hurts to have a backup plan in place. Moreover, with the right technology and systems, you will be lowering your long-term operational cost and also proving to clients that you are a proactive company that is always willing to adopt the latest methods to keep quality standards high.