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  • Fleet vehicle care. How to encourage pride in your business vehicles

    Fleet vehicle care is not just about keeping the vehicle maintained under the hood, but also about the outside and the cabin area and maintaining a good image for the business. A well maintained fleet will be based on a combination of consequences and rewards focussed on looking after your company-issued vehicle.

    Fleet Vehicle Care













    Implement a clear fleet policy

    Expectations of behaviour and care for your vehicle should be clearly set out from the beginning within your fleet policy. Highlighting where the driver’s responsibility begins and ends. This should include care both inside and out, covering maintenance as well as cleanliness which may well change in terms of requirements for vehicle type and company role. Either way, all vehicles need to be reliable, or their care will directly impact on productivity.

    Vehicle Usage Agreement

    A good way to help embed this behaviour is to ask drivers to sign a vehicle use agreement which can outline all of their responsibilities when using a company vehicle. This way there can be no misunderstanding or reason to question where the responsibility lies. Regular checklists to remind drivers of the items they are responsible for such as perhaps tyre checks, oil changes, carrying valid fleet insurance details at all times, keeping cabins clean and clutter-free, etc. will help to keep this at the forefront of their minds.

    Incentivising a well maintained vehicle

    One of the most effective ways to incentivise a well-maintained vehicle can be to offer the driver the opportunity to purchase the vehicle at the end of its term, but this will depend on vehicle type. In this instance the driver will have a vested interest in maintaining the vehicle to a high standard. Rewards for taking good care of your business vehicle can also be implemented, such as achieving points for good maintenance that can be used to perhaps qualify for an upgrade option on your next vehicle. This could include a combination of scores for preserving the life of the vehicle and ensuring the upkeep of preventative maintenance, keeping maintenance costs down, and achieving consistently strong scores for the visual inspection.

    Likewise you can also hold drivers financially responsible for negligent care of the vehicle, and introduce regular inspection checks to incentivise adherence.

    Education and training

    A well maintained vehicle is not just about simply telling your drivers to maintain their vehicles. It is also about educating and training them on why they need to be maintained. How increased repair costs from vehicle neglect impacts on their earning potential and therefore the company’s bottom line. Drivers should be aware that If this is effected it then has a knock on effect in terms of their job security.

    Training should be provided on how to maintain company vehicles and how to carry out tyre pressure checks and general tyre wear checks, how to change a tyre if necessary. Technology is available to help address preventative maintenance checks and telematics can help provide a clear measurement of adherence to this. 

    Overall you will generally find that if your employees feel that they are well looked after then they will feel obliged to look after the company and its assets. Attention and investment in driver safety is a clear way of showing their value and building a two-way support system.

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