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Make your startup faster and safer: Top 6 tips for protecting your vehicle fleet

Any startup that uses vehicles knows just how important these assets can be. Being able to quickly travel from point A to point B, and coming closer to your customers… Things like these can help you to edge out your competition and make your startup business leaner. However, you should be aware that one business fleet is only as efficient as the vehicles in it – and these vehicles need to be protected and properly maintained if they’re to be of any use. Any other scenario creates liabilities rather than benefits. 

So, let us take a look at a couple of ways you can protect your fleet from potential dangers and keep your startup fleet up and running.

Identify risks and enforce comprehensive safety policy

With the coming recession hanging over our heads, it would be in your best interest to keep the potential mishaps on the bare minimum. Sure, the insurance will cover some of the cots, but your goal should be prevention rather than clean up. So, do your best to identify the potential hazards in your area, inefficient procedures within your company, and the potential weaknesses of your vehicles. When you get this info, create clear and unequivocal safety policies that will provide drivers with guidelines on how to deal with these dangerous situations and liabilities.

Upgrade the vehicles with collision avoidance systems

Some vehicles feature better visibility than others. But even with all transparency in the world, your drivers won’t be able to keep up with everything going on around them in emergency situations. However, this problem can be solved to a large extent if you upgrade your company vehicles with the collision avoidance system that sends warnings to the drivers if they leave their lane or run into a danger of front-facing collision. Rear cameras and parking sensors will effectively eliminate all the blind spots on the rear end of the vehicle.

Install body kits for extra cosmetic protection

Some people tend to give very little thought to this issue, but endlessly repairing cosmetic damage will drain your fleet maintenance budget. Besides, driving the vehicles that are beaten and bruised will kill all the effort you have put into the branding of your startup. The easiest way to cut this problem in its roots is to find a reliable vendor selling quality car parts and get yourself durable body kits that will provide your vehicles with an additional layer of cosmetic protection. We are talking about body panels, bumpers and all other units that keep the car safely tucked in.

Conduct the screening of the drivers personally

The most important difference between a startup and a small business is the fact that the owner of the startup has much more control in their hands. Use this perk to your advantage to screen the drivers personally. These are the people you are going to entrust with the fleet of company vehicles. They don’t only need to be experts in their own field but also honest and open people you can easily establish two-way communication with. The feedback you are going to get from the people who are actually on the road can make or break the efficiency of your fleet. 

Schedule regular inspection and maintenance

Safety policies and protocols will drastically reduce the possibility of human error. But, unfortunately, your vehicles are completely oblivious to these guidelines. So, schedule the regular inspections (the more frequent, the better) that will go through all the vital systems of your vehicles. If your drivers are experiencing a lot of downtime, this is a great way to keep them engaged. As for the maintenance frequency, you should follow the instructions you can find in the vehicles’ owner manual.

Use the power of telematics

Finally, most of the measures will suffice to very little if you don’t monitor how well they are put into action. The easiest way to deal with this is to utilize a bit of breakthrough thinking and upgrade the vehicles with telematics systems that will allow you to remotely monitor the drivers’ behavior. This move won’t only keep your employees in line and give them an additional incentive to comply with the rules of economic driving and choose the optimal delivery routes. You will also get excellent feedback on vehicle behavior and get an opportunity to fine-tune your policies even more. 

 

We hope these six mentions gave you some general idea of how you can shift your startup into high gear and keep your business fleet safe and in top shape. The contemporary business environment is incredibly competitive, and customers’ affection can be won over and lost in a matter of minutes. Do your best then to be better than your competitors. You may not get a second chance at glory.