Fleet safety is a business issue, and it’s one that can end up either costing or saving you, depending on how you address it early on. Any business that owns company vehicles and requires employees to drive them faces risks that extend beyond standard vehicle liability and damage claims. And this is true at any size. Whether you run two vehicles or two hundred, fleet management comes with serious responsibility, and serious exposure. Keeping your drivers and vehicles protected takes planning and coverage, and Althans Insurance Agency is here to help, with commercial auto coverage to fit your needs.
Why Fleet Safety Matters
When your workers are out there taking care of your business, on the road, you just want to ensure that everyone is safe. It’s good for business, and your company’s reputation to employ safe drivers. Clients and vendors know that they can trust your drivers with their products and are more likely to rely on your services when they know that you take safety seriously. But a lack of fleet safety can have just as much of a negative impact.
A serious accident when driving on the job can lead to both direct and indirect costs:
- Injuries to employees, other drivers, or pedestrians
- Vehicle and property damage
- Lawsuits
- Lost productivity
- Vehicle downtime
- Higher repair expenses
- Potential increases in insurance costs
- Reputational damage
- Administrative work
- Delivery or service disruptions
- Training replacement drivers
On the other hand, a strong fleet safety program can help your business to reduce preventable accidents and better manage the financial and liability risks associated with business driving.
How Fleet Owners Can Aim For Safety
There is a lot that business owners can do–from driver selection, training and supervision to documented safety practices–to help ensure that their vehicles and drivers do not pose a safety risk while on the road. While implementing a safety program cannot automatically protect a company from liability, it goes far to mitigate risk and reduce potential problems. Here’s what to know.
Implement Written Fleet Safety Policies
Fleet safety has to be so much more than simply telling employees to "drive safely." Instead, businesses should implement a written policy to establish employer expectations. These can involve anything from insisting on seat belt use to having a zero-tolerance standard for dangerous habits like distracted driving, cell phone use and speeding. Impaired driving is also an obvious no-go.
On the part of the employer, they must ensure that vehicles are properly inspected and maintained on a regular basis. They also need to reliably report any accidents that occur and prevent the personal use of company vehicles. Strict passenger policies and a serious approach to drivers who incur traffic violations must be enforced to maintain safety. Before an employee is authorized to drive for a business, they need to clearly understand the policies in place. Ideally, these would be in writing and readily available for all to read. Policies need to apply consistently across the organization, including to managers and experienced drivers, and should be reviewed periodically as needs and operations shift.
Hire and Screen Drivers Carefully
A fleet safety program begins before an employee ever receives their keys. When choosing authorized drivers, companies need to obtain certain details about employees’ driving habits and history. This can include a valid driver's license, driving experience, motor vehicle records, relevant violations, and accident history. Employees who will be expected to drive or operate specialized vehicles will need to carry or obtain appropriate licensing or certification. It is up to each company to establish consistent driver qualification standards appropriate for their operations that also meet applicable laws.
Because driving risks can change over time, it’s important to continue monitoring driving employees after hiring, along with assessing existing policies and protections.
Provide Ongoing Driver Safety Training
Safety training is necessary for onboarding, but it shouldn't stop there. Whether you handle training in house or bring in certified experts to train your fleet crew, you need to ensure that they can properly handle key tasks and challenges. These can include defensive driving, understanding proper following distance and speed management, intersection safety, and backing up and parking. Highway driving presents its own risks, along with driving in work zones, at night, and in adverse weather. Should an accident occur, you must provide clear instruction on procedures to follow. In all cases, training should be tailored to the vehicles that employees will actually operate.
If drivers are expected to be behind the wheel during late hours and for long stretches of time, it is vital to develop policies for fatigue and impaired driving. Employees must understand the risks associated with driving while fatigued or during long and overnight shifts and companies should have clear procedures in place if a driver is no longer able to safely proceed. Businesses operating regulated commercial vehicles should also understand any applicable federal or state hours-of-service requirements and stick to these.
Maintain Fleet Vehicles Properly
A reliable driver is only as safe as the vehicle they are driving. When maintenance and upkeep are ignored, it can lead to countless avoidable incidents. A preventive maintenance program may regularly address the state of a vehicle’s tires, brakes, lights, windshield wipers, fluids, mirrors, safety equipment, steering and warning lights. It is also a good idea to stick to manufacturer maintenance schedules and operating conditions, and to ensure that the proper types of vehicles are being used for the corresponding tasks.
Enacting a policy for pre-trip inspections is a good way to ensure that drivers can serve as the first line of defense by reporting any issues they observe. Once any safety problem is identified, it should be immediately addressed instead of allowing a potentially unsafe vehicle to remain in service.
Use Telematics and Fleet Technology Strategically
Telematics combines the forces of telecommunications and informatics to allow the sending, receipt, and storage of information over long distances using wireless devices. It is most commonly used to monitor a vehicle's location, movement, and performance. Modern fleet technology can help businesses to monitor driver speed, the amount of hard braking, rapid acceleration and the overall level of vehicle control. Vehicle location, mileage and idle time can also be tracked, along with personal driving behavior, like seat belt use.
Instead of being seen as invasive, telematics can help companies to ensure driver safety. Fleet managers can also use telematic data to plan better routes, monitor driver safety, and schedule needed repairs. If worrying trends show up, employers can use the data to create additional training programs, identify coaching opportunities, and enforce route changes, among other possible policy changes. Commercial auto insurance providers can also access this data to qualify for premium rates, always mindful of upholding employee privacy, applicable laws, and clear communication about monitoring.
Create a Clear Accident-Response Procedure
Even if you employ all the safety protocol possible and have the safest drivers around, the game can quickly change out on the road. To make things easier for your company and your employers, drivers should know what to do before an accident ever occurs. In fact it’s a good idea to consider providing an accident-response checklist in every fleet vehicle.
A solid company accident-response procedure can cover basic instructions like to move to safety when possible, exchange appropriate information with involved parties, and contact emergency services when necessary. It can also set policies regarding admitting or assigning fault at the scene. Drivers can be directed to document the scene when it is safe to do so, to identify witnesses, and of course to notify their employer promptly. Company owners then need to follow insurance reporting procedures.
Investigate Accidents and Near Misses
Instead of just breathing a sigh of relief and moving on, near misses need to be fully evaluated to understand what went wrong. This creates an opportunity for further training and better appreciation of what drivers face behind the wheel. By the same token, employers shouldn’t treat an accident report as the end of the process. It is vital to understand what happened, the contributing factors at play, and whether company policy was followed.
How Insurance Can Help
At Althans Insurance Agency, we help companies safeguard their fleets from financial and operational risk. Here’s what matters most:
- Commercial Auto Insurance – Covers liability, collision, and damage costs for company-owned vehicles.
- Driver Safety Programs – Training and monitoring reduce accidents and insurance claims.
- Vehicle Maintenance Plans – Prevent mechanical failures and downtime.
- Telematics and Tracking – Technology that promotes safer driving and provides valuable claim data.
- Umbrella Coverage – Adds an extra layer of protection for catastrophic liability claims.
Our experienced agents will help you to make the most of the information you have available to you, while also finding ideal coverage options to provide a meaningful safety net to you, your drivers, customers, and other motorists. In the event of an accident, comprehensive coverage will enable your fleet to quickly rebound and get back on the road. With Althans, your business stays in control, come what may.
Althans independent insurance agency can help your business to review commercial auto exposures and evaluate current limits and deductibles. Our skilled agents can then identify potential coverage gaps and discuss your company’s full range of vehicle exposures. We can help you to explore available risk-management resources and compare appropriate coverage options from available carriers. And as needs or circumstances change, or as a fleet grows or shifts, we’re always here to review coverage options, ideally on a yearly basis.
Commercial Auto Insurance in Cleveland, Ohio
In the end, commercial auto coverage taps into the relationship between safety, cost, and risk. Because a comprehensive fleet safety program isn't simply about preventing vehicle damage. Better driver selection, training, vehicle maintenance, clear policies, accident procedures, and ongoing monitoring are there to help businesses reduce preventable incidents and control the broader costs associated with operating vehicles. Even a well-managed fleet can experience accidents, which is why robust commercial auto coverage is such an important part of a company's overall risk strategy.
Managing a fleet also means managing risks on the road, each and every day. At Althans Insurance Agency, our knowledgeable agents can review your commercial auto coverage, identify potential gaps, and help you to compare coverage options to find that just-right policy that fits your vehicles, drivers, and business operations. Contact our agency and schedule a commercial auto insurance review today.