FLEET MANAGEMENT
At most companies’ fleets represent a
sizeable asset register and managing a
fleet effectively and efficiently is critical
to a company’s bottom line and, like
every other strategy, it comes down to
getting the foundations right.
South Africa has an inordinately high
number of road crashes with an average
of forty people killed on our roads daily.
The statistics for business fleet owners,
too, remains stubbornly unacceptable
whether it is looking at major, fatal
crashes or annoying bumper bashings.
Apart from the devastating loss of
lives for which one can never attach a
rand value, there are many other op-
erational costs associated with crashes
that need to be factored in, including
increased downtime, cost of repairs,
vehicle procurement or hiring of re-
placement vehicle, as well as screening,
hiring and training of new drivers. With
the current economic slump, these costs
need to be avoided where possible.
International research as well as
first-hand experience has shown without
a doubt, that there is no substitute
for a comprehensive company fleet
safety programme that looks at the
driver, the vehicle and environment in a
holistic fashion.
An average annual reduction of up-to
20% in fleet operation costs can be
achieved by the implementation of the
following five essential pillars:
Management buy-in
The single most important element that
can make a significant difference to any
strategy is the buy-in and support of top
management. This safety culture must
go beyond paying lip service, with fleet
safety actively embraced and promoted
across the company 24/7.
Management needs to allocate
sufficient resources for training,
monitoring, incentivising, recognising
and evaluating company fleet drivers as
a vital and extremely valuable link in the
chain. Unless management prioritises
the importance of this critical function it
will remain a tick-box exercise and staff
members across the line will place fleet
safety on the back burner.
Develop a comprehensive fleet
safety company policy
The development of an effective
company fleet policy is one of the most
important foundations of a pro-active
fleet safety programme. Carefully craft-
ing such a policy will pay off handsomely
in more ways than one and will be
relevant for years to come. A fleet safety
policy that is not regularly reviewed and,
worse still, not properly implemented,
is of little use. In order to be effective,
it needs to be a living document that
responds to the needs of a growing fleet.
A comprehensive fleet safety or trans-
port policy should cover various aspects
of driver fitness, vehicle fitness, correct
documentation, loads management,
Five essential pillars of
proactive fleet safety
BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA | February 2023
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