Speeding – How carefully are you managing your fleet drivers?
Sep
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Obviously, employers want to take whatever measures are necessary to limit their liability in these cases, and one area that can help greatly is by effectively managing speeding.
Managing speeding saves money – and lives
Fleet managers face the challenge of proactively managing their drivers without being like ‘helicopter parents’, monitoring their every move while hanging around them like a shadow that won’t go away.
At the same time you can’t afford to not manage driving. With speeding accounting for over a third of all traffic accidents and corporate manslaughter laws becoming stricter, employers need to protect themselves, while keeping both their drivers and the public at large safe.
A 2005 study of all work-related injuries also showed that over a fifth of all deaths were caused by traffic accidents, and at an average of $21,000 for each vehicle-related work injury each accident can represent a huge financial cost to employers.
Reducing the incidence of speeding amongst your drivers also has some immediate benefits in the form of fuel savings or reduced insurance premiums. For example, every 5mph over 65mph will reduce fuel economy by 7%. With fuel being one of the largest operating expenses faced by fleets this can significantly impact on profit margins.
Fleets with a safe driving record are often eligible for discounts on insurance premiums of around 15%, another reason to manage speeding amongst your drivers.
The right tools to manage speeding
To help you do your job you need to have the right tools. For fleet managers that means using GPS tracking to monitor your team. GPS fleet tracking involves both GPS hardware units attached to company vehicles linked with fleet tracking software, such as Telogis Fleet.
Telogis Fleet gives managers an online dashboard that can be securely accessed from anywhere to monitor the entire fleet in real-time. It works in conjunction with Telogis Mobile, software that runs on the driver’s GPS device, or PND.
A GPS fleet tracking system provides a complete management tool to not only minimize speeding but provide appropriate oversight and efficient methods of reducing incidences of speeding.
How does it work to manage speeding?
The first step in managing speeding is to talk with your drivers. Let them know what your company guidelines are, and measures you are taking to monitor and manage speeding amongst drivers.
With GPS fleet tracking installed, active monitoring of driving can commence. It’s made up of a couple of different elements.
For drivers, Telogis Mobile will warn them when they exceed the speed limit in a given area. This is particularly helpful in locations where speed limits can change frequently and drivers find themselves in a new speed zone with a different limit. So, simply by raising awareness, drivers can be encouraged to slow down when appropriate.
For managers, Telogis Fleet records and reports any speeding incidents, which can be printed as a report or instantly sent to their manager for attention. Depending on the severity and frequency of these incidents you can decide what measures should be taken, such as driver coaching or BTW training.
Telogis Fleet also allows you to customize how the GPS device will monitor speeding. You can choose to report any speeding, or only speeding is over a certain threshold and/or for a sustained period of time. This way you can control how closely you monitor speeding events.
Doing what you can to manage speeding
Regardless of the measures you take, there will always be some drivers who insist that speeding is a necessity and will try to justify their actions. But as an employer you can’t afford to be apathetic about it.
If you don’t actively manage speeding, you are likely paying a lot more in fuel, maintenance, insurance and worker costs than you should be, not to mention exposing your fleet to the risk of being found guilty of corporate manslaughter.
By implementing a GPS fleet tracking system to monitor and manage speeding, you are fulfilling your responsibilities as an employer, while showing tangible evidence that you have done all you can to create and promote a safe driving environment.
