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There are many issues affecting how businesses run their fleets. With customer expectations higher than ever, the bottom line being squeezed by rising fuel costs and more legislation coming in to force regarding health and safety, it is easy to see how important issues can get lost.
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From 6th April 2008 companies found guilty of causing death due to health and safety negligence can be fined unlimited amounts of money. This new law puts the onus firmly on the employer to ensure they are protecting their employees and the public from any danger they may face from the company’s activity. If there was a work related death, the responsibility is shifted on to senior management to prove there was no negligence on the part of them or the company otherwise charges could be brought. The law only has to prove that a high proportion of the cause of the accident was due to internal procedures and senior managers and directors will be held accountable. |
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In terms of companies running small or large fleets, it is exceptionally important that drivers and vehicles are the safest they can be and that you comply with Health & Safety legislation.
There are steps you can take to mitigate the risk of a corporate manslaughter claim by taking the safety of your drivers and the public seriously and using preventative measures and constant monitoring to avoid problems.
TEN WAYS TO HELP YOU AVOID THE PROBLEM OF CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER
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Regularly check the driving licenses of all your employees |
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Understand and check the working hours of your drivers |
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Keep detailed and complete records of all accidents and investigate and conclude the cause so best practice can be implemented |
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Organise an external or internal risk assessment to highlight problem areas |
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Compile a code of practice for drivers to follow and regularly test their knowledge |
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Offer full and comprehensive training for your drivers, concentrating on safety manoeuvres |
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Ensure that any new drivers are assessed by a qualified person when hired |
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Do regular spot checks on drivers and their vehicles including “ride alongs” to assess skills |
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Implement regular servicing and checks on all fleet vehicles including tyres, oil and general condition |
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Ensure your HR policies clearly state the importance of safety and the seriousness of causing an accident |
*Trimble Vehicle Tracking Solutions help you not only manage your vehicle servicing and condition, but can send you reports on driver behaviour including speeding, cornering braking and acceleration to ensure you can monitor the safety of your fleet*
2. Going Green
Another major issue for fleet operators is going green. Legislation and individual responsibility mean we all need to become accountable for what we put in to the atmosphere. For those running fleets, vehicle usage means fuel which in turn means CO2 and it is vital that drivers understand the environmental impact of using excessive fuel, as the less fuel consumed, the fewer Co2 emissions. Green fleets are good for the planet and good for business:running an inefficient fleet can mean additional costs of up to 35% which hits you where it hurts, on the bottom line. Well run fleets can reduce these costs significantly. |
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Manage routing of vehicles to ensure that the best routes are taken for each journey |
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Train and encourage safe and fuel efficient driving at all times. |
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Stop excessive use of vehicles both in and out of work hours |
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Manage vehicle condition – a badly maintained vehicle can add up to 15% on your fuel costs |
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Use your vehicles only where needed, share vehicles where you can and send out the nearest vehicle to a job to minimize mileage |
*Trimble Vehicle Tracking Solutions let you manage the mileage of each vehicle and receive reports on vehicle activity to see where unnecessary or repeat journeys have been made. You can also view your vehicles live on the internet to ensure you give work to the closest vehicle to a job all helping you run a greener fleet*
3. Managing Fuel Costs
Any company with company vehicles can incur substantial operating costs, especially from fuel use. Keeping these costs down is an ongoing concern and can be difficult to manage Contributing to this challenge is the significant increase in fuel prices since 2004 and businesses need to improve the efficiency of their fleet by reducing operating costs tied to fuel use. |
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Driver Routes |
| While some detours cannot be avoided due to road construction or accidents, drivers who repeatedly diverge from pre-planned routes typically drive longer distances and therefore use excessive fuel. | |
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Aggressive Driving |
| A recent study argued that aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) can lower your mileage by up to 33% | |
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Idling Time |
| Excessive engine idling has a negative impact on fuel mileage: Any time a vehicle is idling, it is realizing zero miles per gallon, reducing its average fuel economy. | |
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Vehicle Maintenance |
| Lack of proper maintenance can adversely affect the performance of a vehicle, decreasing the average miles per gallon. Generally, tracking and planning for vehicle maintenance is a highly manual, time-consuming process. |
How to reduce fuel costs
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Driver Training to ensure your vehicles are driven better and more responsibly |
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| In the first instance providing drivers with basic efficient driving information could help but moving forward, constant monitoring is needed as regardless how efficient your vehicles are, a bad driver behind the wheel will cause fuel consumption to go up. | |||||||||
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Stop unauthorized journeys outside of work hours |
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| Companies need to ask themselves what journeys are actually necessary. By identifying what journeys are made outside of work or even repeated or unnecessary journeys are made within work hours, businesses can start to see where the main costs are incurred. By reducing or stopping these journeys entirely huge savings can be made almost immediately. | |||||||||
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Manage routes to bring down mileage |
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| Monitoring the routes of vehicles on specific journeys can help businesses see the quickest most efficient route. If you have a number of vehicles going to the same site, working out the best route that avoids your vehicles idling in traffic or stopping regularly can help reduce your fuel use and of course speed up their journey time. | |||||||||
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Choose energy efficient vehicles and think about the type of fuel you use. |
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| Different fuel types will provide different running cost and environmental profiles. Diesel, compared to petrol, compared to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), compared to natural gas or electric will all yield different results. | |||||||||
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Monitor and control vehicle condition – just a few statistics on this include: | ||||||||
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4. Cutting your tax bill
New Van Tax costs Benefit in kind tax has now changed for those employees who use their vehicles for personal use. The 2007/2008 additional tax charges are now £3000 for each employee and as an employer you must pay the National Insurance contributions of 12.8% which equates to £384 per person. Quite a hefty sum if you have a number of vehicles. In order to escape these costs for both you and the employee, businesses must prove company vehicles are not used for personal journeys (other than for “insignificant” use or the odd journey). This means the onus is on companies to present the evidence of non –use if they want to avoid paying out and this is often difficult to do.
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How to help avoid paying these charges:
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Keep sufficient records to show that private use is restricted to journeys between home and work. |
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Make conditions clear in employment contracts |
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Ask employees to sign a statement acknowledging company policy on what use is allowed and any disciplinary consequences. |
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Keep mileage or other records showing how the vehicles are used |
*Trimble Vehicle Tracking Solutions allow you to see where your vehicles are in real time, any time of day so you can view your vans whenever you like. You can also produce activity reports by time (i.e after 6pm) meaning you can easily prove your vehicles have not been moved after certain times of day, and you can also receive a report on mileage, all helping you avoid expensive tax bills*