RISK MANAGEMENT 6 Building Blocks to a Safer Fleet

Beginner’s Guide to Risk ManagementThe Building Blocks of a Safer Fleet

Fleet risk management is a complex operation that requires continuous effort to ensure all the necessary steps are being taken. Neglecting any vital details, either by accident or by design, can prove disastrous.

Businesses that take a proactive approach to monitoring and controlling risk tend to be forward thinking, more adaptable to change and therefore more robust.

Teletrac Navman is here to help fleet owners and managers understand exactly what they need to address to be legally compliant. This ebook deals with basic procedures, the operational foundation that supports risk management for a well-run fleet.

Today, technology plays a significant part in this process, and here we explain how technological solutions help sustain an effective fleet risk management strategy.

I hope you find this useful.

Sid Nair, Sr. Director of Transport and Compliance

www.teletracnavman.com

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DVIRs are required by law. Furthermore, by consistently monitoring vehicle maintenance issues and routine inspections, fleets can reduce downtime and remain productive.

Vehicle inspections are the first line of defense in managing maintenance and safety. On a daily basis, drivers must submit maintenance records and complete a Driver Vehicle Inspection Report or DVIR. The fleet manager/owner receives the report, which is mandated by the Department of Transportation, regulation 396.11, and indicates if there are issues regarding the vehicle or equipment that must be resolved.

In-vehicle tablets allow drivers to walk around their vehicle and perform their inspection with the handheld device. They display a list of inspections drivers must carry out and once these are marked as complete, the information is automatically saved in the telematics portal allowing fleet managers to quickly access the digital reports for upcoming audits.

The benefits to a business of catching maintenance issues in good time can be sizable — for example, extending the life of a vehicle, avoiding equipment violations or unplanned vehicle downtime.

Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports

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Don’t forget “gray fleet” drivers. License checks apply just as much to employees who drive their own vehicles for business purposes.

If drivers work with or for your business, you need to maintain proof that you check their operator licenses, that they are certified to drive vehicles in the appropriate class or cargo restrictions, and that any highlighted issues are resolved.

Simply looking at your employees’ driving licenses on a regular basis does not meet this requirement. Your drivers’ qualifications must be documented.

While you can perform a verification process manually through the motor vehicle department in the applicable U.S. state, dedicated online services offer license checks, automated reminders and even alerts if a license changes, which removes much of this burden.

Scheduled License Checks

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A good driver training topic is recognizing the speed limit of the road. The mapping function in many telematics systems allows the fleet manager to adjust for terrain and traffic.

Understanding your drivers’ attitudes toward safe driving behavior on the road is valuable when considering fleet risk. But seeing which drivers speed is only part of the story. Telematics systems offer reports that show driver behavior over time and alerts that signal both fleet managers and drivers in real-time about unsafe driving behavior, which allows you to identify patterns.

Using these systems, which can be configured to track individual driver behavior regardless of vehicle, managers can recognize deficiencies or unsafe practices, alert drivers in real time when an issue arises, and develop coaching or training programs to reduce risk.

Recognizing patterns in behavior and what causes them (rather than simply an instance of speeding or braking) means you can focus your effort on driver training where it is really needed.

Driver Performance Management

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Driving style analysis is an ongoing process. Use the scorecards to measure and review on a regular basis to support continuous improvement.

Based on a series of predetermined actions, such as harsh braking, sudden acceleration or cornering at speed, driving style analysis produces a scorecard for each driver showing how regularly they exceed limits determined by you. This provides real evidence of which drivers need training and what to focus on. The information collected allows fleet managers to identify unsafe behavior and better train and coach their drivers’ performance on the road.

As an analytic tool, the scorecard is an objective measurement that helps you form a realistic assessment of deficiencies within your operation, for risk management that is based on actual data rather than personal incident reports. It allows you to proactively tackle driver behavior issues, to deliver feedback and training to your drivers.

Driving Style Analysis

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Regular, consistent communication between the office and the field provides clarity, streamlines many procedures, can help reduce duplication of effort and inefficiency.

The flow of information between drivers and fleet managers is useful for reasons in addition to managing driver behavior. Real-time communication between drivers, dispatchers and managers is one component in an overall system-wide approach for your business.

Communication between driver and office is available in the form of one-touch, standard text messages (such as “return to base” or “call home”), text windows that allow individual typed messages, or forms that include an invoice, a job order, delivery directions and more, that in series can be used for sending and receiving step-by-step instructions. In this way, not only driving but field and jobsite activities can be coordinated with the office — so that staff members spend less time on administrative tasks and work more productively.

Effective Fleet Communication

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Telematics technology can also be used to monitor axle weights and tire pressures, helping you keep on top of preventative maintenance issues.

Keeping your vehicles well maintained is a critical part of fleet management, effective customer service, and overall fleet productivity. But it is also a requisite of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in compiling the BASIC (Behavior Safety Analysis and Safety Improvement Category) score that measures a commercial motor vehicle operator’s safety performance.

Telematics systems can help keep maintenance and diagnostics reports, providing key service data that would otherwise go unseen. Planned maintenance schedules alert you when service is due. For example, service intervals or MOT dates, driven either by date information or odometer readings.

Forward planning ensures the relevant legal boxes are checked in terms of risk management. But it also allows you to make smart business decisions, for example servicing vehicles on quiet days or ensuring preventative maintenance is carried out to extend the life of your vehicles.

Maintenance Scheduling

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It’s not only about riskDeveloping and implementing a fleet risk management strategy is not a ‘nice to have’... it is absolutely essential and doing it right requires an ongoing commitment.

By employing the right technology, risk management becomes a proactive part of your business and it confers significant benefits. Instead of only managing the risk and dealing with legalities, it offers opportunity for improvements across your fleet and your business.

From lower insurance premiums, reduced maintenance costs, safer drivers and fewer accidents, the benefits are there for the taking.

© 2016 Teletrac Navman Group of Companies

About Teletrac Navman

Teletrac Navman, the combined company formed by Teletrac Inc. and Navman Wireless offers GPS-based fleet optimization products and services, including real-time vehicle tracking, electronic logging, communications and analytics that enable companies to monitor, measure and improve operational costs and efficiencies. The company’s technology currently tracks more than 500,000 vehicles owned by over 40,000 organizations on six continents, making it one of the world’s largest fleet management software solutions providers. The company, headquartered in Glenview, IL, has offices in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.

[+1] 800.835.3872teletracnavman.com