Approximately 1.35 million people die in road crashes each year; on average 3,700 people lose their lives every day on the roads. Can you imagine? Such a high rate of fatalities! So how can you secure your fleet from such casualties? A fleet management system with driver behaviour solutions can be the right answer for your business.
Driver behaviour monitoring solution aid the controlling and supervising processes of your fleet. It can not only assist managers and reduce their work by a great deal, but also ensure the safety of your fleet.
So what exactly is a driver behaviour management solution and why is it important for fleet business?
What is Driver Behaviour Management?
A driver’s driving pattern can make or break fleet businesses. They are ultimately people who are in control of all resources like vehicles, fuel, and consignments on roads. Owners can only trust that their employees are responsible enough to take care of the vehicle on road.
But change is slowly happening. Most fleet management systems have integrated driver behaviour management into their functions. This helps owners to observe employees’ driving habits even when they are out of sight.
The software has events that when detected will send an alert to managers that are in charge.
What Events Trigger Alerts?
All practices considered to be careless or harmful for fleets and drivers are events in the system. There are a total of five such events:
Braking
Drivers should avoid practices like harsh and sudden braking. Every time the software detects a harsh braking event, it sends out an alert to managers. Drivers should always be mindful of being gentle with their vehicles. This maintains vehicles in good condition.
It is important to note that not all instances of harsh braking are due to the fault of a driver. In such a case, drivers can explain the road’s situation to their managers.
Overspeeding
Drivers often drive their vehicles at a speed that is above the safe range. While overspeeding is bad on less busy roads, it can be fatal in congested areas. It endangers the people on road and causes serious accidents.
Driving vehicles faster than advised also leads to fuel wastage. It disturbs the equilibrium of engines as they work faster than they should. That also causes engines to depreciate a lot faster than usual.
Engine Idling
Leaving a vehicle in a state of rest while its engine is still running will mean a waste of fuel. Using this fuel for working will be much more useful and profitable for businesses. Most drivers do not realise that idling consumes a lot of fuel.
It is only after calculating total losses do we understand the gravity of losses. Fleet management systems alert managers every time it detects idling.
Harsh Cornering
In a rush to complete their tasks, drivers often ignore the basic rules of the road. Harsh cornering is one such practice that though important, can be very easily overlooked.
It is very difficult to control a car that is moving fast. In case another vehicle is coming from the other side of the corner, preventing a collision would be impossible. Tires also wear down rapidly with constant cornering misconduct.
Abrupt Acceleration
Suddenly accelerating a vehicle puts immense pressure on its engine. If an engine is under pressure, then it is bound to consume more fuel than its optimal state. It also depreciates the engine’s quality, the need to replace it arising a lot sooner than normal.
Businesses will also have to bear excess costs of damages these vehicles suffer and it hinders the profitability of their fleet.
Effects of Bad Driving Practices
We know that a bad driver is like a disaster waiting to happen. They compromise their own safety along with the safety of automobiles they are in charge of. Let us have a look at some ways in which bad driving affects fleets:
Accidents
Did you know that bad driving is the cause of almost 80% of all road fatalities? Inattentive drivers endanger the lives of not just people around them, but also put themselves in harm’s way.
Road accidents can damage automobiles beyond repair and can add to the operational cost of a business as well. In an accident, if a driver suffers injuries, their productivity is also affected. Thus, losses suffered by a business after such incidents are huge.
Consignment Damages
Delivery of fragile consignments is a huge responsibility for any driver. Such consignments can vary from one another. There might be glass products or inflammable substances like petrol travelling from one location to the other.
In case a consignment incurs any damage, fleet owners bear the consequences. Such mistakes can cost a business both its reputation and monetary losses. That is why it has become important for drivers to adopt safer driving techniques on road.
Vehicle Depreciation
All the ill-driving practices mentioned above affect a vehicle’s quality in some way or the other. With time passing, this regular damage done to vehicles piles up. It then starts causing bigger issues for drivers and fleet owners.
Vehicle maintenance is one of the major expenses of any fleet business. Constant wear and tear of assets, such as vehicles is normal.
Excess Fuel Consumption
There is no way to shield a fleet from the consequences of rapidly rising fuel prices. But managers must make efforts to reduce businesses’ fuel expenditure and wastage. Did you know that vehicles can consume 0.8 gallons of fuel with one hour spent idling? A long-haul truck idles about 1,800 hours per year, so imagine just how much money businesses are losing here.
Of course, the biggest problem of fleet owners’ lives is engine idling. But practices like overspeeding and acceleration also play a role in fuel wastage. They pressurise the engine into working harder than the ideal. Thus, fuel consumption goes up.
Fines
Nobody likes to pay for road tickets. With several unattended vehicles on the road simultaneously, ticket costs can accumulate to be huge. This is why driver behaviour management is very important.
Drivers know that their managers will be alerted every time they make a driving error. Thus, they make conscious efforts to be better at their job and gain favour from higher authorities. Due to this, the amount of tickets drivers might receive is also reduced.
Increased Insurance Cost
Insurance companies tend to look at the driving records of fleet drivers before deciding on their premium cost. If the on-road records of drivers are clear, companies will have to pay less for insurance.
This is especially helpful for large fleets as the combined premium costs for all the vehicles can be huge.
Benefits of Driver Behaviour for Business
Having a fleet management system can be beneficial to businesses in several ways. Some of these benefits are:
Better Safety
Consignment safety is one of the top priorities of a fleet owner. Driver behaviour management reduces any chance of fragile goods getting damaged. For a driver, safety will also include the protection of their vehicle on the road.
Better drivers will have a positive effect on fleets with reduced vehicle accidents. Ensuring the safety of fellow travellers on the road is also important. Fleet management software will be able to help with this using its driver behaviour management solution.
Reduced Maintenance Cost
We have discussed above how vehicle wear and tear leads to higher maintenance costs for fleets. The more damage your fleet incurs, the higher its maintenance cost. This is exactly what fleet management software tackles. It makes sure that drivers exercise safer driving habits while efficiently completing tasks.
While using a fleet management system, managers can also make use of the service and maintenance feature. It reminds the managers of all servicing procedures for their vehicles a couple of days before they are due.
Less Fuel Consumption
A lot of emphasis in driver behaviour management is on fuel consumption of fleets because it is very easy to waste fuel. Preventing this is easy with software as it allows managers to keep track of their drivers.
Status reports of drivers will inform managers if the driver is idling, overspeeding, or accelerating in real time. Thus, it allows for necessary actions to be implemented immediately. Businesses can reduce fuel consumption by 20% by monitoring and training drivers properly.
Increased Productivity
Automation of all processes of driver monitoring saves managers a lot of time. This helps them focus on other tasks instead of just keeping an eye on their fleet at all times. Alerts are sent to them about all the driver’s activities to make sure they are up to date about their fleet without any issues.
Drivers too are able to complete tasks better when the automobiles they drive stay in a better condition for a longer period.
Insightful Reports
Fleet management systems keep a record of all reports from drivers in a systematic order. This can be very useful for managers who have access to these reports. They can assign tasks to drivers on the basis of their capabilities. For example, more careful drivers get fragile consignments to transport.
Many driver behavioural issues arise because drivers are unaware of their harmful habits. Owners can use software reports to determine who amongst drivers needs more training. This will help drivers understand the gravity of practices they employ on road.
Increased Employee Retention
Using driver behaviour management doesn’t just mean continuous surveillance of drivers and their practices on the road. If used correctly, managers will also be able to detect all the dedicated drivers of their fleet. This will make it easier to incentivise deserving drivers who put their hard work into maintaining good road habits.
This helps managers to gain the loyalty of their drivers. It also puts forth an example for other drivers, encouraging them to do their job more meticulously.
Regular alert systems can also act as a witness for any case of an accident where drivers are not at fault. If managers received no driver behaviour alerts, then there is a very high chance that the driver was not at fault in case of an accident.
Longer Lasting Fleets
A well-maintained fleet is way less likely to break down than an unattended one. With driver behaviour management solutions, vehicle wear and tear reduce significantly. This is because aggressive treatment of a vehicle can cause slow but great damage to its quality.
But with driver behaviour analysis, drivers become cautious of their reckless actions. With this, vehicles not only last long, but the expense of buying new vehicles also reduces.
Better Reputation
Your employees’ driving reports can become your biggest strength. When you have statistical data to prove how efficient your business is, clients will trust you with their consignments easily.
As time passes, you will be able to complete tasks flawlessly with help from fleet management software. As it is said, happy clients are the biggest advocates of a business.
Increase Overall Profits
We have discussed in detail how a fleet can advance forward with the help of driver behaviour management. If talking in monetary terms, fleets tend to lose a lot of money on accidents, fuel consumption and fleet maintenance.
Reducing road accidents and increasing vehicle quality will elevate your business’ savings. The software cuts down your expenditure through fuel savings, diminished requirements for new vehicles and so much more. This leads to better returns and hiked profits.
Employment
Driver behaviour management is not just beneficial for fleet businesses. As we mentioned above, a good driver report portrays the business in a favourable light. Nobody wants to deal with incompetence.
In the End
You now understand how a driver behaviour monitoring solution works. Leaving your vehicles at the hands of drivers without supervision can lead to harmful situations but can also garner losses. To make sure your fleet remains healthy and fit, having an eye on their habits is ideal.
A fleet management system like TrackoBit can make your job so much easier. You can be in control of your fleet at all times with its GPS tracking system.
Contact us now and get a demo to witness our compatibility with your fleet.
