The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) recently issued a fleet-incidents report as a result of a commissioned survey, based in the UK, aimed at investigating any damage or accidents caused or experienced while driving for work.
The results of the survey were quite impressive and clearly underline just how crucial safety is and how costly collisions can be for a fleet.
Among the questions asked by the IAM in the survey, some are of particular interest to those involved with fleet activities. This blog post will briefly explore some of them as they could trigger the implementation of different working methods as a result of further discussion or possibly a more comprehensive review of in-fleet policies.
How many incidents did your fleet have in the last 12 months?
According to the report, over 78% of the people interviewed said they had at least one incident causing damage. Much higher numbers of incidents occurred in some fleets: 17% of them had over 20 in the last 12 months.
Among the main causes of the incidents, 50% were the result of a general collision; 19% of those interviewed revealed that vehicles were hit whilst parked or unattended.
What is your average cost of repair?
Fleet costs originate from different sources, and one of the unforeseen expenses is, of course, incurred from any incidents that might happen. Repair costs after incidents might vary dramatically according to the type of vehicle involved in a collision and the degree of damage originating from that collision.
Survey results show that the average cost of repair per vehicle tends to be quite high: 53% of average repair bills were over £500 (around €700) and only 32% were under £500 (the rest did not answer).
20% of repairs had an average bill of over £1,000 (around €1,400).
Fleets can easily face many thousands of pounds in addition to their usual running costs.
Do you penalise drivers for “at-fault” incidents with fines, salary deductions, or excess payments?
This question was aimed at verifying whether certain Driver Risk Management policies contain clauses and content relating to incidents and if drivers might be penalised for being responsible for vehicle damage.
61% of the interviewed companies do not penalise “at-fault” drivers.
Are there post-incident policies and procedures in place for your drivers to follow?
80% of the people interviewed stated they have post-incident policies and procedures in place, which means 20% of the respondents still do not have a procedure in place for dealing with the aftermath of an on-road incident.
Do you offer any post-incident driver training?
Just 47% of companies offer post-incident training. Drivers involved in incidents should be assessed and trained in order to reduce the risk of being involved in future incidents.
