A well-functioning fleet is the hallmark of a healthy, profitable business. And, keeping more vehicles on the road, having good visibility into driver performance, and avoiding accidents and the admin hassles that follow, are hallmarks of great fleet management.

Driver behaviour is directly related to the profitability of your business and can be the one issue that makes or breaks stable fleet operations.

In this blog, we’ll examine several ways in which good driving style management can have a permanent, positive impact on your fleet.

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1. Reduction of tyre replacement costs

The tyres of your fleet vehicles are what come in direct contact with the road...so it’s important to understand the impact that driving style can have on them, day after day.

All tyres wear down, but manoeuvres such as hard acceleration, hard braking, and hard cornering speed increase damage to tyres, making it necessary to replace them sooner and more often. Also, worn tyres have lower pressure and tread depth, which reduces stopping distances and ‘grip’ especially in wet weather and makes a vehicle more accident-prone.

Correcting driver behaviour is key to ensuring fleet vehicle tyres last longer, lowering tyre replacement costs, and reducing the associated accident risk.

2. Better fuel conservation

Some of the same driving style habits that force early tyre replacements also waste fuel.

Excessive vehicle idling, along with aggressive acceleration and braking, will cause more frequent trips to the petrol station. Unnecessary fuel costs due to bad driving can easily reach into the hundreds or thousands of dollars.

By educating your drivers on how driving technique affects fuel costs, as part of a complete driving style management protocol, you’ll likely notice savings on fuel yearly.

3. Reduction of vehicle maintenance costs

Vehicles that are driven harshly or carelessly will break down sooner. This will inevitably mean more repairs, more vehicle downtime, and a more expensive-to-manage fleet.

Simply put, the same crude driving actions mentioned before put mechanical stress on vehicles. Repair and replacement costs can truly hurt your company’s profitability in the long run. And, when the damage a driver causes under the hood goes unnoticed or unaddressed, costs can end up being much greater in terms of dangerous accidents and the aftermath.

Driving style management can be used to reduce the need for vehicle maintenance. It’s a reliable way to lower costs and keep more of your fleet operational, more of the time. 

The solution: Driving style management and accident management 

If your fleet is afflicted by bad driving practices, you must be proactive in setting things right before your business sustains financial damage. 

Driving style management can directly lower the impact of driving technique on vehicle performance and the company’s bottom line. But driving style management is just one tool in the fleet supervision toolbox. For more secure fleet operations, accident management is essential. 

In-house accident management can be overwhelming, as there’s admin headaches, third-party negotiations, and potential liabilities - not to mention the costs of lost productivity and fleet vehicle repair. An outsourced accident management solution, however, could mitigate all of those problems. Depending on the unique needs of your fleet, it might all start with some help in managing your employees' driving style. 

Is outsourcing accident management right for your business? Click here to take our quiz, and find out!