As a fleet manager, have you tried everything in the books to cut costs, from eliminating manual yard counts and improving cargo load and unload times? It’s time now to examine your truck insurance costs and see how you can cut costs in that area.
Insurance premiums seem to rise every year, even when you have taken measures to better manage your drivers’ behaviors on the road and have had no accidents. Follow these 3 guidelines on reducing insurance costs and you’ll see an improvement in your bottom line.
- Enforce Good Driver Habits and Prevent Accidents
Your driving record is crucial for keeping your premiums low. Improve it by hiring drivers with clean driving records and fostering good driving behaviors using GPS tracking as follows:
- Speed Monitoring. Make your drivers aware of the fact that you’ll be immediately notified if they go beyond the posted speed limits. GPS tracking will give you the data you need to point out bad driving behavior.
- Prevent Unnecessary braking. Hard braking is an attribute of aggressive driving. You’ll be able to receive alerts for whenever this occurs on your vehicles with GPS tracking, so you can advise your drivers to stop this behavior.
- Route to Familiar Roads. One of the leading causes of at-fault truck crashes is because of unfamiliar road routes. An effective GPS solution will include a real-time and efficient navigation tool that lets your dispatcher route to roads that are most familiar to drive on.
- Traffic Insight. With timely traffic information, you can steer your drivers away from roadway hazards and accidents.
- Limit Unauthorized Use. GPS tracking solutions will also inform you about unauthorized use (such as when a vehicle starts or moves). Prevent improper use of your vehicles, as that can lead you to significant financial damage.
- Reinforce Safety Policies
In addition to the good driver habits, you’ll want to make sure that you clearly outline other safety procedures and policies (such as loss prevention, handling accidents, driving under certain weather conditions, etc.). Writing the rules down or having regular safety training sessions will let your drivers know that your company takes safety seriously; and they’ll be more likely to adhere to the rules.
- Frequent Updates on Vehicle Maintenance
To ensure proper operational conditions at all times, the FMCSA does a systematic inspection of all motor vehicles. Receive vehicle maintenance alerts through a quality GPS tracking software so you can be notified when your vehicles require service.
- Maintain Safety Data for Compliance
Insurance companies determine annual premiums after pulling your safety data routinely.
Stay on top of your data and comply with DOT regulations. In addition to saving yourself insurance costs, you’ll also avoid administrative sanctions and fines.
The Spireon FleetLocate GPS solution provides you with the data you need to enforce good driver behaviors as well as tools for seamless vehicle maintenance. Visit our fleet management page for more information or call us at 800.557.1449 and request a free demo.