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5 Ways to protect your fleet

When your trucks hit the road, keeping your drivers and vehicles safe is your highest priority. While protecting your fleet from accidents is essential, it is also important to ensure your drivers know how to protect themselves from potential insurance scammers they may encounter—and the wrongful accident claims and costly liabilities those scammers could bring.

Whether you are a fleet owner or a manager, these five tips can help you prepare and protect your drivers before they head out on their next trip.

1. Add dashcams to your fleet

If you don’t have them already, installing dashcams in your trucks offers helpful on-board technology that benefits both owners and drivers. In the case of legitimate accidents—whether your driver or another vehicle is at fault—dashcams in your fleet help you get the facts quickly and accurately, which are critical for a swift resolution. The video footage from dashcams can also protect your fleet from potential scams and fraudulent claims.

Dashcams and on-board telematics also give managers and owners useful data when investigating accidents and preventing future safety events. Dashcams notify your team of unsafe behaviors so you can work with your drivers to stop bad habits before they turn into an incident.

The dashcams are there to help those in the cab and the home office get the facts and achieve optimal performance going forward.

2. Upgrade your driver coaching

The more you can open the lines of communication between you and your drivers, the more improvements you’ll see in overall safety. Driver performance and behavior trends captured from dashcams and in-cab technology are a great tool for inspiring coaching conversations with your drivers. At HDVI, you’re partnered with a personal Fleet Services representative that will help you review and understand your telematics data and identify insights that will help when connecting with your drivers about their performance. Also, our team can give you tips to help your drivers spot and avoid potential scams.

3. Reward safe drivers

Start a reward program for your fleet if you haven’t already. Giving your team an incentive to drive more safely makes them an active contributor to your fleet’s safety initiatives—and helps them avoid potential hazards like speeding, hard braking and distracted driving. Fleets of all sizes offer drivers rewards or recognition programs that give bonuses or raffle entries for optimum on-the-road safety.

In most cases, dashcams and ELD reports are used to track and score driver performance, with rewards given to those drivers who meet or exceed safety standards. Our HDVI representatives have experience with a variety of incentive programs and can help get a rewards program started.

4. Make vehicle maintenance a top priority

Regular vehicle maintenance is critical to keeping the trucks in your fleet rolling and your drivers protected from incidents that could be caused by equipment failures.

As fuel prices increase and shipping rates go down, many companies may look for ways to save money. Skimping on vehicle maintenance can provide immediate savings, so fleets often try to run tires just a little longer or bring back a trailer to their own shop when the brakes fail rather than paying for an expensive professional repair.

Fleets taking shortcuts will end up paying the price in the long run, especially when the cut corners become apparent during roadside inspections at high-tech weigh stations. Inspection violations can add up to severe fines and penalties for the drivers and motor carriers. It also raises their CSA Basic scores, which will raise their insurance premiums at renewal. It also raises their ISS Score (Inspection Selection System Score). As this score goes up so does the likelihood of being inspected again, resulting in further fines.

5. Establish accident protocols for drivers

Make sure your drivers know what to do in the unfortunate event of an accident. Whether your driver is a witness or involved in the incident, the below steps can help ensure the situation is handled safely, and insurance carriers can properly cover the incident—or weed out fraudulent claims.

• Call 911 immediately, especially if anyone appears to need medical attention.
• Seek medical attention for any injuries and keep records of treatment received.
• Exchange contact, vehicle, and insurance information with other drivers.
• Take photos of any injuries and damage at the scene.
• Request a copy of the police report.
• Look around for nearby traffic or security cameras that may have captured the incident.
• Gather witness contact information at the scene.

Contact us today to learn more about how to prepare and protect your fleet.