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With a quarter of all traffic accidents across the UK involving someone who is driving for work, it is key to identify at-risk drivers.

Part of the role of a fleet manager and something a good fleet management system will be able to do, is to identify at-risk drivers or high-risk drivers.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, more than a quarter of all road traffic accidents across the UK involves someone who is driving for work.

There are some rigorous health and safety laws to help companies identify and manage drivers most at risk of being involved in an accident. However, it’s often down to the fleet manager to identify these drivers and do something about it.

What is an at-risk driver?

The term “at-risk” can mean different things specifically when talking about a driver. Generally speaking, however, it refers to a driver most likely to be involved in a road accident or with a track record of picking up driving violations.

It isn’t as simple as just accepting they might cause an accident. It’s the duty of a fleet manager to identify at-risk drivers, and do something to mitigate the risk they present.

This can range from providing advanced road safety training, to limiting how much they’re driving, or even removing them from the road. It’s up to the manager to evaluate the risk and take the necessary action.

Why is it important to identify at-risk drivers?

The obvious answer is that that risky driving causes road accidents, so there’s a serious safety issue to the driver and other road users. There are also various knock-on effects of road accidents that can cause some serious long-term effects on a business, too.

There is the potential for costs to mount up. From repair and employee costs due to damage and injuries to increased fleet insurance premiums. Your company’s reputation may also be damaged. Especially if accidents keep happening or your drivers are known for driving recklessly. There’s a real cost associated with that. Then there’s the chance that either of these things can also have an effect on morale within your organisation.

What are the signs that a driver is at-risk?

There are two parts to identifying at-risk drivers. There are some factors that may or may not be in their control, then there are some red flags directly related to how they’re driving:

Age – either young and inexperienced or elderly.

Convictions – the more driving convictions a driver has, the more likely to re-offend.

Complaints – if you’re receiving complaints from other road users, that driver is acting irresponsibly on the road.

Here are some driving habits to look out for – all of which are identifiable with fleet management software:

Speeding – anyone breaking the speeding limit on a regular basis is putting themselves and other drivers at risk.

Hard breaking – again, driving on breaks is a hazard to other road users and bad driving practice.

Long hours – fatigue was the cause of more than 1,500 road accidents in 2018.

Fuel consumption – Excessive fuel consumption is an indication that a driver is driving erratically.

It’s your responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act

Not only should you want to minimise the risk of accidents within your fleet, but you also have a responsibility to do so as directed by The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations act 1993.

As a fleet manager or the person responsible for the actions of your drivers, you are required to carry out regular assessments to assess risks to the health and safety of your employees. This also means ensuring that others are not put at risk due to the actions of your employees.

The wording in the act states, “So far as reasonably practicable”, because we all know accidents are going to happen. It’s being able to prove you did everything you could to identify and minimise risky drivers. If you’re communicating with your employees, and where applicable taking action on health and safety issues, you will be acting lawfully.

 

Looking after fleets can be mystifying. FleetCheck aims to demystify fleet management.

Keeping a fleet of vehicles on the road takes an awful lot of organisation.  Once upon a time, fleet management was largely about handling practical tasks as they arose in order to keep vehicles legal and drivers productive.  Data was minimal; technology basic.

Modern fleet management is a very different story – every day your business is bombarded with information from all directions – information about where the vehicles are, how much they’re costing, how they’re being driven, the contracts they’re on, the fuel they’re using, the upcoming to-do list.

This information is gold dust for fleet managers – it tells you all you need to know about fleet performance, efficiency and economy – but the sheer quantity of data and delivery formats can create confusion for even the most switched-on of fleet managers.

Do you have it covered?

Another consequence of an increasingly complex fleet management culture is emerging; one that is perhaps even more concerning.  With a growing number of parties and suppliers having input into the fleet, roles are becoming blurred, creating uncertainty of who is ultimately responsible.  We frequently hear the following statements during conversations with companies running fleets:

“My vehicles are leased, so it’s not a problem – the leasing company manages my fleet for me.”

Many businesses choose to lease their cars and vans with an inclusive maintenance package. It’s a good idea, helping to spread the cost of maintenance and removing managerial issues of having to look for suppliers.  However, just because you have chosen ‘with maintenance’, you should not assume that your vehicles are actually being maintained.

In smaller businesses especially, there is often a circle of assumptions – employers assume that the driver and leasing company are carrying out maintenance; drivers, that it is the responsibility of their employers and the leasing company and the leasing company, that the issue is being tracked by employers and drivers.  (Leasing companies know that the legal responsibility for ensuring that the vehicle is maintained lies with the employer and so their systems are often set up to be reactive rather than proactive).  It’s an issue of confused responsibility, and a potentially dangerous mistake to make.

“Vehicle tracking is fleet management, isn’t it?”

Another example of commonly misguided responsibility is telematics.  The sheer level of data delivered by today’s highly intelligent systems has eclipsed fleet operators’ initial expectations of what telematics could do for them. No longer is it simply about knowing where your vehicles are, and how fast they’re travelling.  The data is extraordinarily valuable, but it’s important to remember that telematics alone cannot be mistaken for fleet management – it has to be supported by a robust system that uses the data captured by telematics to underpin key tasks and routines.

Robust systems are crucial

Clearly all of these problems are further compounded if companies entrust their management to inadequate systems such as spreadsheets or manual diary systems.  These methods simply aren’t designed to manage something as complex and high-risk as the fleet, and companies who insist on sticking with manual systems are extremely exposed, both legally and from a cost point of view.

Happily, smart data can make it easy to achieve all of these responsibilities.  Smart data means having access to information about every part of the fleet operation, plus the means to (a) collate the information easily, (b) view the information in a way that’s appropriate for your business and your role, and (c) to act upon findings.

It’s not just about data accessibility. How you use that data that is just as important

Today’s business leaders know only too well that a completely robust, efficient fleet operation is reliant on two key factors: smart data and ownership of responsibility.  You may be lucky enough to have a network of the most trusted, proactive suppliers, but the responsibility of fleet management lies ultimately with you, the company.

Making the jump to fleet management software will address the issues and give you peace of mind that your fleet is safe, legal, cost-effective and that your policies are robust…if used properly.  And that’s the critical ‘if’.  Using fleet software will give you the capability to run your fleet in a way that you never even imagined, resulting in cost savings, total administration efficiency and complete confidence in your legal compliance.  But achieving all of these things means embracing the change and taking advantage of the data and functionality at your disposal.

Learn to use your data and reap the rewards

In today’s technology-driven industry, data has never been more accessible.  Collating and viewing that data is, however, more challenging, and many businesses fail completely when it comes to acting in response to the findings.

However, in failing to use data effectively, businesses are missing a trick.  Actually, a multitude of tricks. First, your business may be missing out on valuable opportunities to save money.  There’s data out there that will instantly highlight high cost vehicles, excessive fuel consumption, lease contract penalties, fuel theft, unauthorised vehicle use and a range of other avoidable costs.

Secondly, failing to have an effective overview of vehicle and driver activity could leave your company vulnerable to prosecution, should an incident occur that resulted in an investigation by the authorities.  And finally, a lack of effective processes in place to handle data efficiently will almost certainly mean unnecessary resource and costs are being spent to processing the information manually.

 

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Many employers choose to lease their cars and vans with an inclusive maintenance package. It’s a good idea, helping to spread the cost of maintenance and removing managerial issues of having to look for suppliers.

However, just because you have chosen “with maintenance”, you should not assume that your vehicles are actually being maintained.

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Fleet maintenance is a term used to describe the process involved in keeping all vehicles within your organisation well maintained and in good operational order.

Having effective fleet maintenance processes ensures the vehicles in your fleet are safe, ready to use, keeps operating costs down, and provides some other benefits.

It’s been proven to be more beneficial both from a cost and a safety perspective to invest time and money into maintaining a fleet as opposed to dealing with issues when they arise.

Here are some of the key reasons why you should implement strategic fleet maintenance processes within your business:

You’ll Improve the Safety of Your Drivers and Other Road Users

Safety comes first. Maintaining a fleet of vehicles to a high standard improves the road safety of a fleet, and that can’t be ignored. 

You’ll be aware of why drivers carry out daily walkaround checks on their vehicles.

It’s an essential part of a driver’s role and helps to identify potentially dangerous issues or defects before using their vehicle.

There’s only so much a driver can spot with a daily check, however. Plus, a lot of the common defects that drivers spot, such as worn tyres, warning lights, fluid leaks, etc can be avoided with maintenance.

In a nutshell; a well-maintained vehicle is less likely to break down, faults will be spotted sooner, and the risk of a fault-related accident is reduced.

You’ll Reduce Your Fleet Repair Costs

Vehicles and most of the parts on them last longer when they’re well maintained. If you work in the fleet industry you’ll be very familiar with how expensive even the most routine part replacements can be.

So, while it might be more expensive in the short-term to invest more into maintaining your vehicles, it will almost certainly save you money in the long-term.

Combined with the fact that you’ll spot potential issues sooner as discussed above, that’s less time in the workshop and more time on the road too.

For some businesses, a vehicle being off the road can cost hundreds a day is lost hours or the need to hire a replacement. Being proactive with maintenance is more cost-effective than being reactive.

You’ll Reduce Your Operational Costs

It’s not just on the obvious vehicle parts that need replacing where you’ll save money. Depending on your business, there are a number of areas where you might see operational cost savings.

Some of the possible savings include; improved fuel economy due to vehicles running optimally, and less time with vehicles off the road due to breakdowns.

Just think of routine parts that are changed during vehicle servicing. Oil filters, oil, air filters, etc. All of these can increase fuel consumption when they’re not clean or running optimally. The same applies to tyres that are worn or not running with the correct pressure.

All you have to do is start to multiply these factors across a large fleet of hundreds, even thousands of vehicles and you’ll start to get a picture of how much it could be costing you.

How Does Fleet Management Software Help With Fleet Maintenance?

There are a number of features built into our Fleetcheck fleet management software that will help you better maintain your fleet.

Most importantly, you can set any number of reminders or flags against vehicles for when they need to be checked or serviced so you never miss an appointment.

It already has a proactive defect and tyre management and servicing and vehicle advisory repair alerts built-in among other features.

We also have a smartphone app for driver walkaround checks, which integrates with our software in real-time so you can catch defects early and get them resolved.

As a fleet grows in numbers, it becomes almost impossible, or at least not economically viable to maintain everything on paper records or spreadsheets.

Fleet software enables you to grow your fleet at scale, without adding any more man hours into the maintenance. Plus, you’ll never miss a service, MOT, or any other vehicle maintenance appointment.

Raising awareness around fuel usage within your organisation is one of the “easy wins” to make a positive impact on your bottom line and save money.

If that isn’t motivation enough, saving fuel also has a positive impact on the environment, reduces oil dependence costs, and increases energy sustainability.

We’ve covered some ways you can make substantial fuel savings across your fleet of vehicles before.

However, there are also a number of things individual drivers can do to reduce fuel consumption. Here are some of the more impactful driving techniques and behaviors that can save a noticeable amount of fuel:

Be Light-Footed on the Accelerator

I hate to say it, but company vehicle drivers are the most guilty when it comes to putting their foot to the floor.

Excessive accelerating and overall speeding are the largest contributing factors to excessive fuel usage.

The most effective way to increase mpg usage is to use the highest possible gear and to accelerate slowly. This might not go down well when you tell your drivers running a tight schedule, but there’s a definite trade-off that can work as a win-win.

Use Momentum to Your Advantage

This is highly dependent on the traffic conditions, but being able to flow with momentum means you’re using the accelerator pedal less.

Such as cruising on a decline, allowing the vehicle to slow for a slip road, and so on.

It’s important to remain in gear when doing this, don’t be tempted to coast in neutral. Not only is this more dangerous as you don’t have as much control over breaking, but modern vehicles have a fuel cut-off switch when in gear anyway.

Go Easy on the Air Conditioning

I’m not suggesting you make the inside of your vehicle anything less than comfortable, but switching off the AC when it’s really not needed will also save fuel.

Depending on the vehicle, how far you have your AC turned up, and some other factors, it’s estimated that using air-con can add up to 10% to fuel consumption.

Don’t Leave Your Vehicle Idling When Not Necessary

If you’re doing the kind of work that means you’re idling a lot, whether this is in traffic or when you’re exiting the vehicle, you should probably be switching the engine off.

It’s estimated that just two minutes of idling is equivalent to driving one mile in fuel usage. Not only does the fuel usage add up, but the additional wear and tear on the engine will also lead to increased usage and other maintenance costs over the life of the vehicle.

Use Cruise Control Where Possible

Cruise control will save fuel when driving long distances on a flat surface without the need to change gears, speed up, or slow down. So, motorway driving, in particular.

It’s estimated that just 34% of people use cruise control where possible. It’s one of the most underutilised forms of fleet technology we have available.

Fleet Management Software Holds the Answers

If you’re serious about saving money and having a positive impact on the environment by reducing fuel consumption within your organisation, fleet management software holds all the answers.

With accurate reporting, you can monitor fuel usage for each individual vehicle as well as across your fleet as a whole.

This gives you the ability to identify where you can make fuel savings, as well as tracking the results with real measurable data.

We’ve built in a number of tools and reporting options within our FleetCheck software that hundreds of fleet managers have used to make fuel savings.

You can schedule a demo or a call with one of our team here if you want to discuss how FleetCheck fleet management software can help you save fuel amongst the various other benefits a robust software offers fleet managers.

Backloading is a term used to describe utilising spare space on a vehicle and planning a journey for multiple stops to reduce the distance travelled and increasing productivity.

Effectively, it’s an exercise in logistics. By planning for roundtrip hauls you can better utilise space a vehicle has available to increase productivity, reduce mileage, and as a result save time and money. It’s not a process available to every business. But for those that can take advantage of backloading, there are some considerable savings to be made.

What are the benefits of backloading?

Cost savings – Always near the top of any list of benefits is the potential to save money. If you have space on a truck that could be used to transport some goods, it’s costing you money not using it. You’ll have to spend money on fuel when those goods are transported, and possibly man-hours if a separate journey is made to transport those goods.

Improved productivity – Improving productivity is always an ongoing goal for any business. By being able to move more goods within fewer journeys, there’s a clear productivity gain. A lot of businesses that implemented backloading are also able to pass on reduced delivery times to customers and improve the total number of deliveries they’re making.

How can backloading help fleet operations?

When breaking down the benefits a level further, there are a number of ways backloading improves fleet operations:

Reducing lead times – Being able to cut lead times on deliveries has a huge positive impact on a business and its customers. It might be the difference that gives you a competitive edge over your competitors. When integrated with real-time GPS tracking software, it can lead to more business for shipping companies too.

More flexibility – Being able to identify space that can be used on trucks to and from their destinations opens up more possibilities for adding goods on either side of the journey. Backloading has become essential to logistics companies, as has using GPS tracking software. Being able to locate a driver and how much space they have available at any given time, opens up the possibility to take on extra jobs across the country.

Can backloading reduce costs?

It’s a process used in several industries, one of which provides a perfect example is ‘the moving industry’.

Moving companies are able to split the costs for multiple companies if they’re able to plan their route and transport furniture or whatever they’re carrying for more than one customer at a time.

Also, being able to pick up another load near to or on the way to their destination saves sending out an additional truck. If you operate storage trucks or carry goods long distances as part of your fleet operations, backloading is something you should look into in more detail.

 

Commercial vehicles weighing less than 3.5-tonnes fall outside of the scope of a DVSA operator licence. They still need frequent, scheduled checks under law, but they are not subject to the same kind of more stringent regulation.

However, to some extent, 3.5 tonnes is an artificial line. Vehicles do not suddenly become more prone to safety issues when they hit this weight. We believe, based on what we see in working with many fleets, is that it is good practice to adopt more of a graduated regime.

Certainly, some of the elements of an O licence, such as pre-use defect inspections and more regular safety checks, should arguably be adopted for sub-3.5 tonne vans, even though they are not strictly legally necessary.

Part of the problem lies with the sheer diversity of LCVs now available. You don’t have to look back too far to a time when there were only really three or four basic types of van in the sub-3.5 tonne sector. Now there are dozens and some are designed for pretty intensive use comparable to a larger vehicle.

Also, we are seeing vans on many fleets run too much higher mileages than in the past. A few years ago, relatively few LCVs reached much more than 100,000 miles because they simply gave up mechanically and were scrapped.

With the rise of better-made vehicles and higher mileage fleets, such as home delivery operations, there are a comparatively high number of vans around that have covered 200,000 miles or much more.

All of these trends are converging to a point where we believe there is a strong argument for more checks, more thoroughly made, more often. There is unlikely to be a downwards extension of DVSA regulation but this is no excuse for fleets not to look at instances where exceeding their strict legal responsibilities might be appropriate.

 

The walkaround check is very much at the front-line of risk management for fleets, whether it is a simple tyres, levels and lights check for a company car driver or the more formal and controlled checks that commercial vehicle drivers have to complete under VOSA regulations.

What these checks have in common is that they are prone to complacency over time, that drivers start to tick the boxes without really looking properly at the areas they are supposed to be inspecting.

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We often hear from fleets that the standard one-sheet safety checks carried out by dealers when servicing cars and vans need to provide more useful information.

The fact is that the current checks, which tend to use traffic light or estimated percentage wear indicators for items such as tyre and brake pad wear, are of limited practical use.

What is not well-known about these documents is that they actually have a legal significance. Health and Safety guidelines mean that any notification of a vehicle fault needs to be acknowledged and addressed by the fleet. However, the problem is that the information provided presents fleets with a Health and Safety issue but no solution.

Take brake pads, for example. The dealer may report to the customer that these are 70% worn but they give no indication to the fleet about when they are likely to actually need replacing. The truth is that it would be relatively simple for the dealer – with the backing of its franchise manufacturer or an independent expert body – to estimate the likely fail date or mileage based on their experience of the vehicles in question and, for the sake of safety, to use a worst-case scenario when making their appraisal. Instead of just saying that the pads are 70% worn, they could state clearly that they are likely to need checking again or replacing in an estimated three months or 5,000 miles, for example.

This would be genuinely useful information for fleets and, of course, would be of advantage to the dealer, who is much more likely to capture the work that has been flagged up if there is a timescale indicated. This applies especially to jobs such as tyres and pads that many dealers tend to lose to fast-fits.

A further complication is that, in cases where vehicles were leased, the safety checks themselves were often passed to the leasing company rather than the fleet. This is an issue because, as explained, the safety check has a legal status. If it never actually reaches the fleet and there is a resulting accident that triggers an HSE investigation, then the audit trail of paperwork breaks down. It is an area that, we believe, needs addressing.