Click to zoom

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.

Don’t despair! Just because the job market is competitive, doesn’t mean employment is out of reach. You’re just a couple of strategic moves away from landing your ideal trucking job.

Firstly, if you haven’t already, sign up to www.truckingboards.com. This active online trucking community has more than 24,000 members and is the ideal place to network and grow your contacts in the industry. You’ll find everything from tax and financial advice to truck driver politics – right through to how to avoid hitting a deer when you’re on the road.

Next, do some research. The best place to start is online. Begin with the website of the companies you’d most like to work for, and be sure to google their names so you can view any recent press releases or news articles. If you research a carrier and discover that they recently laid off 50 staff in your area, for instance, you’ll know not waste your time and energy applying with them. It pays to be fully informed!

If you’re competing for jobs against other truck drivers who have similar skills and experience as you, you need to do whatever you can to stand out – in a positive way.

This means, at a minimum, that you need to fill out your application using correct grammar and spelling. It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised by how many resumes and job applications are riddled with spelling mistakes and sloppy errors. Keep in mind that the word “shift” is just one letter from being a common curse word…

Finally, make sure you submit an email address that is simple and professional, such as RickJones@aol.com. An address such as BigRigRick69@ could give employers a negative perception of you, while a busy address like RickNJones_0871@ is easy to mis-transcribe.

These are simple things that job seekers often overlook, but they can make the difference between a great job and the unemployment line!

Top sites for jobseekers:

www.truckinfo.net
As well as matching truckers with jobs, TruckInfo.net has a trucking parts directory, listings of truck and trailers for sale, a fuel economy calculator and a freight rates bidding forum – plus much more!

www.everytruckjob.com
A free service dedicated to helping professional class-A truck drivers find work, the site currently lists more than 10,000 jobs from 2,500 trucking companies.

www.bigrigjobs.com
With a database of more than 20,000 trucking companies through the United States, BigRigJobs allows you to search jobs for free by state or driver type to find the best match.

www.classadrivers.com
Class A Drivers.com aims to match all truck drivers – from owner operators, company drivers and recent truck driving schools graduates – to their ideal job.

www.all-trucking-jobs.com
After you fill in a brief online application, this site will match company drivers and owner-operators to carriers that are currently hiring nationwide.