Running vehicles can be a significant expense. Often these costs are not monitored and simply seen as the cost of doing business however, when not managed correctly, these costs be unnecessarily high damaging the profitability of your business. Poor management of drivers and vehicles can lead to excessive costs in a range of areas:

Fleet insurance

With inflation running high, the cost of insuring vehicles has been rising rapidly as the cost of parts and labour increases. Your insurance premium is normally calculated using your claims history but a discussion with your insurer can help to get things moving in the right direction.

Ask to see a breakdown of all at-fault claims to determine what sort of collisions they were and how they might be avoided in future. Running into the back of other vehicles could be a result of speeding or driving too close, while side swipes might be down to not using mirrors. Accidents while towing might be a lack of appropriate training while collisions in the evening might be down to driver fatigue.

Working with your insurer to understand how collisions occurred and how to reduce the number of similar claims in future is the best way to reduce fleet insurance. Installing vehicle telematics, using fleet management software, or providing better training could all help. Your insurer may even support you financially to do this with a contribution to new technology or a rebate on the premium if you’re able to reduce claims by a certain amount by the end of the year.

Damage repairs

Some of your damage repairs might be carried out without involving your insurance company, especially if they’re below the excess threshold. Replacing modern lights and wing mirrors can be extremely expensive. This is one reason why daily vehicle checks are so important – they pick up smaller damage and ensure drivers can be held accountable. Drivers who regularly damage wing mirrors need to be more careful – they’re costing you money.

Servicing and maintenance

Poorly managed drivers, who are prone to harsh acceleration and braking but not called out for it, can get through brakes and clutches far quicker than other, safer drivers. Not only does this cost more money for additional maintenance, it means the vehicles are off the road for longer.

Tyres

Drivers guilty of harsh braking, cornering and accelerating can get through tyres up to twice as quickly as safer drivers, costing you double for that vehicle over the year. Replacing tyres, as with additional servicing and maintenance, means your vehicles are off the road more often to be fixed, causing expensive disruption to your normal business operations.

Fuel

The cost of fuel has increased massively over the last few years and harsh driving can easily result in your vehicle’s fuel economy plummeting and your fuel spend going up by as much as 50%.

Fines and penalties

Parking fines and speeding prosecutions can often rack up if not tracked properly. These need monitoring as they are not just expensive but can be a key indicator that a driver is at a higher risk of being involved in a collision.

Managing costs

Modern fleet management software can help you manage excessive costs by easily allocating servicing, maintenance, tyres, fuel costs and fines to individual drivers and vehicles. The software reports then allow you to quickly spot an employee whose driving style is costing you money, and gives you the evidence to understand the issue and discuss improvements with your drivers.

Managing your reputation

Reputational risk is a huge concern, whether you’re serving the public or you’re part of the supply chain for a larger contractor. Everybody needs to know they’re dealing with a reputable company that provides a high-quality service delivered in a safe and professional manner. Other road users that see poor standards of driving are only too willing to share those examples on social media – highly damaging if the vehicle in question has your name and phone number emblazoned on the side.

Your future work could be at risk

In years gone by, the negative reputational impact of poor driving and badly maintained vehicles might have only been felt in the aftermath of a serious incident. Now, however, more large clients and contractors are demanding proof of good management practice when it comes to driving for work in order to reduce risk and prevent incidents happening in the first place.