Fleet managers must do everything possible to ensure their employees drive safely. Fleet safety systems provide measurable and actionable data to support this goal.
Fleet management solutions can streamline processes like logging service hours, vehicle inspections, etc. They can also help managers coach drivers remotely when face-to-face meetings are impossible.
GPS Tracking
Fleet managers use GPS to track drivers and their vehicles, which helps to pinpoint unsafe driving behaviors such as speeding, harsh braking and more. Then, this data is automatically customized and alerted to managers based on specific rules they’ve set. This helps quickly address problem areas and reduce the risk of at-fault accidents and operational costs.
Drivers can receive feedback and coaching on their performance through fleet management systems that offer virtual safety reports. These reports are useful for assessing drivers’ performance and offering suggestions for improvement and extra training. Some systems even include a driver rating and score to encourage friendly competition and motivate drivers to raise their standards.
GPS solutions also make it easy for fleet managers to plan safe routes for their drivers, with geofencing and mapping capabilities that allow them to set specific ranges for drivers to travel within. This can help ensure they stay on a route to visit an unauthorized customer and minimize the amount of fuel they consume.
Real-Time Alerts
Fleet managers and drivers don’t have the time to monitor their entire route or determine high-risk areas every hour of the day. Fleet management systems can automatically analyze telemetry data to detect and alert drivers of poor driving behaviors, like excessive speeding or hard braking, that waste fuel and increase the likelihood of an accident.
Safety alerts can also be customized to specific regions and road conditions, such as warning drivers of upcoming mountainous areas where they should slow down or turn their hazard lights on to avoid getting caught speeding. Driver performance can be monitored through real-time dashboards, scorecards and reports, making it easy to identify high-risk drivers and develop tailored coaching programs.
Fleet management systems can also improve the productivity of your fleet with streamlined compliance activities and tools that automate hours of service documentation and vehicle inspection workflows and monitor the status of federally mandated documents like permits and licenses. This helps your fleet stay in compliance and avoid costly fines for noncompliance. Learn how a fleet management system can help you build a better safety culture, keep your drivers safe, and optimize your business with GPS tracking, real-time alerts, and driver behavior monitoring.
Preventive Maintenance
Fleet management systems have a wide range of benefits for companies, but driver safety is an especially important benefit. A decreased accident rate will help lower downtime and maintenance costs while enhancing general fleet performance.
One of the ways that fleet managers can improve driver safety is by establishing preventive maintenance policies for drivers to follow. These will allow them to spot and address potential problems before they become more serious. This can also reduce the likelihood of mechanical failure, another common cause of accidents.
Fleet managers can also use telematics technology to monitor driver behavior. This will enable them to spot drivers engaging in risky behaviors and provide individualized coaching and training. Fleets can even create incentive programs to encourage safe driving habits among their drivers. These could include financial bonuses, recognition programs, or other rewards that will help drivers keep safety a top priority on the job. They can also implement a remote coaching workflow to ensure drivers get the support they need.
Driver Behavior Monitoring
With a clear and comprehensive system, fleet managers can easily spot poor driving habits in the drivers they oversee. This allows them to provide feedback and coaching to encourage good driving behavior.
Driver behavior monitoring can be set up with telematics solutions to track vehicle usage, speed, and other factors that impact driver safety. By analyzing this data; fleet managers can see when a driver is over-accelerating or abruptly braking. They can also monitor when a driver is wasting fuel or driving aggressively. This enables them to create personalized training programs for the specific drivers who need them.
The driver scorecards provided by most telematics solutions allow fleet managers to compare a driver’s performance over time, week-over-week, or quarter-over-quarter. It helps fleet managers spot the drivers who need additional training and will enable them to turn their driving habits around before they cause costly damages to company vehicles and at-fault accidents. Fleet management systems incorporating positive recognition featurescan also help drivers feel rewarded for driving safely, making them more conscious of the safety rules they must follow on the road.
Fuel Management
The more time drivers spend behind the wheel, the higher the risk of fatigue and accidents. Fleet tracking solutions can help manage driving hours, ensuring employees do not work over their legally allowed limit and take breaks as needed.
Efficient fuel usage is one of the most important fleet management goals. A telematics solution can individually monitor fuel usage, expenses and maintenance schedules, allowing managers to see what’s wasting time or draining gas — like route inefficiencies, unsafe acceleration or vehicle idle times.
With a telematics system, fleet managers can save on fuel costs by optimizing routes and scheduling maintenance cost-efficiently. A telematics system can also provide immediate communication between fleet managers and drivers, allowing them to address any negative behaviors immediately. This can be coupled with reward programs that motivate drivers to drive safely, reducing safety violations and accidents while improving efficiency and fuel economy.