Running a fleet of car and commercial vehicle drivers can be challenging for companies of all sizes.

As much as your sign-written car or van is an advertisement of your business, the manner in which your staff drive these vehicles is equally, if not more, important.

We have know of the stereotypical “white van man” who has little or no regard for other road users and either just shows bad manners or is potentially dangerous to other road users. One such driver, behind the wheel of your branded van can do alot of harm to your brand at very least, or perhaps more seriously someone else’s life.

Scary stories aside, erratic, irresponsible, inconsiderate, or aggressive driving can also push up the cost of running your fleet in a wide variety of ways:

Increased Fuel Costs – Hard acceleration and excess speed has a dramatic impact on fuel economy which across a fleet of vans can significantly increase your fuel bill

Increased Maintenance Costs – With hard acceleration and erratic driving comes harder breaking and increased tyre wear ultimately pushing up the costs of keeping the fleet on the road

Increased Insurance Costs – Inconsiderate and erratic driving will increase the chance of your drivers being involved in even the most minor of accidents and/or prosecuted for road traffic offences. Insurance claims and drivers with endorsements on their licenses will inevitably increase the cost of your fleet insurance

Increased Staffing Costs – In the worst case scenario if your driver is injured in an accident, not only will you need to pay them sick pay, but also suffer the increased costs/inconvenience of covering their workload whilst they are off work, you may ultimately need to hire additional staff (at additional cost)

Potential Corporate Liability – It is a fact that as a business we are responsible for the actions of our staff. Should a staff member cause harm to a member of the public, or third party property, the business, and its directors could be held liable if the company is seen to have turned a blind eye and/or not mitigated the risk to the public by ensuring its drivers are acting responsibly

By implementing a driver training program, with JCS Fleet, you can vastly reduce the risk of the increased costs associated with the wrong type of driving, and more importantly protect your staff, and the general public from potential harm.

If you would like to find out more about how JCS Fleet can work with your business to deliver an effective driver training program, please get in touch.