Tips for monitoring fleet compliance

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Mary Tinsley • Jun 07, 2018 • Fleet compliance

 

Since the Court Sentencing Guidelines were revised in February 2016, as many predicted, there has been a stark rise in the number of prosecutions and the level of fines. As SHP online reports, there has been an 80% rise in the level of fines in the first full year since the sentencing guidelines were introduced. And more worryingly, prison sentences for directors and senior management under the Corporate Manslaughter Act have trebled.

For fleet managers, it therefore pays to take fleet compliance seriously. We briefly revisit the changes to the guidelines and how these may translate to those responsible for driver safety, and what measures those responsible can take to minimise their risk.

The Court Sentencing Guidelines: from lucky escapes to a more proportionate approach

Before the new sentencing guidelines were issued, health and safety breaches were assessed on the level of harm that occurred. Now, the courts are directed to take a much more pragmatic view as to whether the risk of harm was likely to be ‘low, ‘medium’ or ‘high’ and whether that harm was reasonably foreseeable.

So in essence, the law has clamped down on companies where a person narrowly avoided a more serious injury from an accident-waiting-to-happen.

How to improve fleet compliance:

Regular safety inspections

Daily vehicle checks and the usual MOTs and servicing (along with the paper trail to prove they took place) are a requirement for all commercial vehicles.

However, the legal minimum may not be all that is required. If vehicles are heavy-duty (such as construction vehicles) and carry a high degree of risk then it may be deemed reasonably foreseeable that faults would occur in-between services.

A more risk-based approach to safety, which can be included as part of maintenance contracts, may help save you money in the long-term - as well as avoid court.

Monitoring

You can’t improve driver safety within your fleet if you can’t determine what the issues - or who the regular offenders - are.

Telematics software gives businesses an effective means of managing compliance and minimising risk by providing complete real-time and historical visibility of a fleet operation. Features include:

  • Real-time vehicle tracking

With even the most basic software, you can see where your vehicles are - which may alert you to any hold-ups. However, most telematics systems now come with in-cab cameras as standard, which record exceptional incidents as they occur. This helps identify who was at fault - potentially reducing spurious insurance claims. More advanced software alerts you to events as they happen, in real-time.

  • Driver behaviour monitoring & historical reporting

Advanced telematics systems can record events such as harsh acceleration, sudden braking or speeding - all of which increase the likelihood of an accident occurring. These enable you to gather information about potential issues - both driver-centric and operational-centric - that could help you reduce the rate of collisions in your fleet.

  • Compliance management

Compliance requirements such as MOTs, services and daily driver checks can quickly become lost in a sea of paperwork - or forgotten due to time pressures. Telematics software can help by providing mobile apps and alerts to remind your drivers - and you - of what needs to be done and logging once it has been completed.

Some vehicle hire companies, such as ourselves, will include fleet management as part of the package - leaving you free of any associated hassle).

Driver incentives

To improve safety compliance further, incentivising drivers can be a key component of any strategy.

Why not align telematics with gamification? Instead of bemoaning the increased safety measures, your drivers can compete in real-time against other drivers on key metrics such as braking, acceleration, seat belt usage, speed limits and more. This helps foster healthy competition and a sense of camaraderie.

Compliance and driver safety should be at the heart of any business, and as an industry-leading van hire company we want to share our expertise. Our eBook guide explains why it’s vital to implement a fleet compliance strategy, and how it’s possible within a company setting. Download your free copy below.

Download our guide to improving fleet compliance >

Why business compliance should be a top business priority

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