What Is Fleet Risk Management and Do You Need It?

Running a business is nothing if not expensive. From the costs associated with your supply chain to little recurring costs like supplies, heating and electricity, it seems like much of your work is keeping the books balanced.

As such, we’re all guilty of finding ways to cut back on expenditure to help our revenue growth, but whilst many of those cutbacks fall firmly on the side of smart, is it a good idea to cut back on fleet risk management if you’re operating a fleet of vehicles?

The answer is no, but what is fleet risk management, and why do you actually need it? Read on to find out.

What is Fleet Risk Management?

Put at its most basic, fleet risk management is the process of ensuring that you are doing as much as possible to make sure that everyone with a company car within your business is insured, safe and aware of any dangers out on the road.

It helps to keep drivers safe whilst out on the road, reduces your fleet costs and ensures that you’re compliant with the law. But why is it against the law to not engage with fleet risk management? It has a little something to do with…

Your Duty of Care

If you’re a business owner, you’ll likely be aware that you have a duty of care to your staff to ensure that your workplace is safe. In doing so, you must work to prevent health risks from occurring and train staff to deal with any danger which is likely to occur.

What you might not know though is that your duty of care doesn’t end at your welcome mat – it extends out to anywhere your staff will be working, and that includes any fleet vehicles you operate. In effect, this means that you are legally obligated to ensure that your staff are properly trained and aware of potential risks. Failure to do so can result in you being liable for any accidents that occur – something nobody wants.

There are three main areas of risk management that you need to attend to. They are:

Driver

· Driver vetting and selection

· Induction procedures

· Licence checks

· Accident reporting procedures

Vehicle

· Vehicle suitability

· Vehicle maintenance and inspections

· Vehicle security

Journey

· Journey planning

· Managing driver fatigue

· Speed management

· Journey type

It’s always recommended that you work with an outside fleet risk management company, as this will ensure that you are 100% compliant with the law and that your staff are getting the required support in order to do their jobs effectively.