Boost Driver Safety and Your Bottom Line

Boost Driver Safety and Your Bottom Line

Focus on safety and risk management to control rising insurance costs

Many commercial fleets are seeing premium increases for the second or third year in a row, and some have even seen rates double – the direct result of increasingly high legal settlements and skyrocketing auto repairs.1 Fearing loss of profits (or no profit at all), insurance companies are being very selective when it comes to renewals and new quotes.  It’s important to work with an insurance broker who understands the market and can advocate on your behalf.

HUB International has identified several ways to help you navigate the current hard insurance market. Follow these 10 best practices to get ahead of your next policy renewal.

  1. Keep CSA safety scores low.  Address the easiest and most preventable violations – maintenance for tires and lights. Pre-trip vehicle inspections can prevent most of these issues. Tackle unsafe driving violations through training and accountability programs.
  2. Implement a safety program across your fleet.  Keep safety concepts at the forefront of your driver’s minds and actions by instituting training on vehicle inspections, hours of service regulations and defensive driving concepts during training.
  3. Hold drivers accountable.  Drivers need to know about both best practices and company rules. They also need to know what will happen when violations occur.
  4. Hire good people. Make sure the drivers you bring in are a good fit for your organization. This is especially critical if your organization does not have an extensive onboarding or ongoing training program.
  5. Manage your losses. Manage and report all claims in a timely manner and keep good documentation.
  6. Know your numbers and tell their story. Make sure you are familiar with your loss trends so you can talk to the insurance carrier about them.
  7. Be proud of what you’re doing right – and talk about it.  If your fleet is utilizing best practices, let the insurance carrier know what you’re doing well so they can include it in your pricing model.
  8. Incentivize your drivers. Create an incentive program that rewards clean roadside inspections, no preventable crashes over various intervals and positive citizen comments.
  9. Prevent driver turnover.  Know your turnover rates and be able to explain why they are what they are.
  10. Be as transparent as possible. Let your insurance broker know what your fleet does and what changes you’ve made over the last year so there are no surprises at renewal time.

 

Post by Alyson Stasek

I am the main admin for www.eTruckBook.com. If you have any questions please message me directly here on eTruckBook or via email alyson@tfsmall.com. Thanks and welcome to eTruckBook! Alyson

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