It can be very easy for a company’s employees to view the rental trucks in the fleet as something almost disposable—it doesn’t matter if it gets scratched or dented. It’s just a rental, after all. This attitude, along with the hard labor fleet trucks put in every day, often damages the vehicles.
Not all fleet drivers treat their trucks with reckless abandon, but a course correction in attitude and a few other things could minimize the damage to your heavy-duty truck rental and save money on fleet truck rental operations.
Let’s take a closer look at some tips and ideas managers and company executives can implement to avoid damage to a work truck rental.
1. Write Out Your Driver Safety Policy
When in doubt, write it out. If you don’t have the rules for driving your fleet vehicles written out, you’re setting yourself up for miscommunication and issues. Sit down with your team and come up with ideas and goals for driving safety, then turn it into an official document. These can include rules such as who is authorized to drive fleet vehicles, who can be a passenger, the driver’s responsibilities, and correct procedures for reporting problems or incidents.
2. Enforce Fleet Policies
Documenting your policies for fleet driving is a great first step, but it won’t mean anything if you don’t enforce them. Make sure to distribute copies, hold a regional meeting to go over all the details, and talk with supervisors and other managerial staff about how to enforce the rules. You could even create an incentive program to reward those who demonstrate how they stick to the rules and prevent damage to fleet vehicles.
3. Give Your Drivers Time
Good driving and good care of fleet vehicles is a two-way street—and you as the boss are the other part of that street. Making sure the driving rules and regulations you’ve set are followed has a lot to do with what assignments you give your drivers. It’s not fair to expect your drivers to practice excellent driving skills and good road safety and then give them a nearly impossible task that requires them to be all over the area in under two hours. Set reasonable expectations and reasonable jobs for your team.
4. Promote a Culture of Safety and Responsibility
If your company goal is to make it safer for your vehicles on the road, you should also want to create a safe atmosphere at work and promote a culture of responsibility. Due to the nature of fleet truck rental operations, a lot can and does happen out on the streets during working hours that you aren’t going to be aware of. Rules and regulations must be followed, but even more crucial is emphasizing that importance by creating the same atmosphere of adherence to rules in the office. This will demonstrate to employees at all levels that excellence in work and honesty are the rule, not the exception.
The goal of this kind of atmosphere is to help employees feel comfortable and even good about coming forward with questions or concerns, or to report any issues or problems they’ve seen out on the job.
5. Implement Regular Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance
Fleet maintenance services are going to be crucial. It’s advisable to implement regular preventive maintenance services because it will cost you significantly less in the long run compared to the costs of damages incurred in a driving accident. Stay ahead of potential issues and prevent the risk of sudden or abrupt mechanical failures. It’s going to be cheaper to top off a tire with air than replace a blown one on the side of the road. You could even include regular inspections and maintenance checkups in your driver safety policy document.
Fleet Rental Trucks with Barco Rent-A-Truck
Barco Rent-A-Truck’s lineup of current rental trucks is ready and waiting to be put to work. From 4×4 pickups to 1-ton service trucks, we have what you’re looking for to expand and enhance your fleet. Get a free quote today to see how we’re the right fit for your company.