For any transport or logistics business, the fleet is always an important part of the proceedings. The better that you can take care of your fleet, the better a position the business will be in on the whole.
That will mean increased safety and security for staff, longer life for the vehicles in use, and the ability to keep delivering – literally – to your clients, day in and out. You need to know what you can do to properly take care of your fleet, and in this article, we are going to look at some of the best ways to do that.
Get Your Drivers To Care For The Vehicles
The vehicles themselves need to be taken care of, and that means that you need to persuade your drivers to take care of them as best as they can while they are on the road. You might want to audit how well they do this to ensure that they are doing it right. It’s important to have a specific policy in place that each driver is aware of so that there can be no confusion around this. That, along with educating your employees on the importance of looking after their vehicles, should ensure that the vehicles are taken care of much better.
Keep An Eye On The Road – Even From The Office
Anyone who runs a transport business will soon discover the need to have eyes on the road, even when they are sitting in HQ. With a visual feed of what is going on out there, you have much more control over proceedings, and the ability to see where some of your problems might be originating. Then, if there is something that someone is doing which is damaging a vehicle or likely to cause harm to themselves, you can stop them in their tracks before they do some damage. The best dash cam will show you the inside of the cab and the road outside, so you have a great view of what is going on at all times across your fleet.
Service Your Vehicles
In the same way that the people in your employ have a duty to look after their vehicle while on the road, you too have a duty to take care of them the rest of the time. The most important thing you need to do is to service your vehicles frequently, as this will ensure that they keep running smoothly. Regular servicing – at least once every six months – is a powerful means of taking care of your fleet, and not something that you should overlook.
Look Out For Early Warning Signs
As well as servicing, it is vital that you look out for any early warning signs on your vehicles, to ensure that they are in good repair. If it appears that anything is wrong, it is generally cheaper and easier to try and fix it early on, rather than wait until it is a bigger problem.
If you make sure of these, you should find that you are taking much better care of your fleet in no time.