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27/12/2013
TomTom Business Solutions can help make sure that you, and also improve the efficiency of your drivers.
Obviously, we all want our staff to be safe whilst they’re at work, but often the pressures of business can get in the way and corners get cut. It’s important that if your business uses vehicles, that you ensure that driver safety is kept to the highest standard. Adhering to all the legislation around health and safety can sometimes feel like a chore, but with modern telematics systems, like the TomTom WEBFLEET, keeping your staff safe is easy. You might even find that the benefits of installing TomTom telematics, could help your profits.
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homocide Act of 2007, ensured that vehicles count as a place of work. The act applies to all vehicles used for work, including HGV’s and personal vehicles.
Regular readers will remember a blog we wrote a few weeks ago about the importance of keeping your van drivers safe, and how it could make them more efficient.
According to Giles Margerison, UK Sales Director for TomTom Business Solutions, “if someone is driving for business purposes, regardless of who provides the vehicle…you are responsible for their safety and their behaviour.”
Chairman of the Road Haulage Association, Richard Fry believes that many fleet managers are swayed by cheaper fleet safety solutions. He told the Fresh Fleet Thinking blog, “if Joe Bloggs says if you do it at £300, I’ll do it at £290, he’s got to be able to prove that he can do that at £290 safely.”
If you think you’re saving money by cutting corners on safety measures, then you’re sadly mistaken. Safer drivers mean you can lower your insurance premiums, thus saving you money in the long run. One company highlighted by the Fresh Fleet Thinking blog, Zenith Hygiene, reduced their premiums by £78,000 over two years, simply by looking at driver performance and how they could improve it.
TomTom fleet management systems really are the most effective way of monitoring driver performance and ensuring the safety of your staff. According to Giles Margerison, “technology makes that really very simple, and gives you the right data when you need it.”
TomTom products like WEBFLEET can highlight where drivers need improvement, alerting them if they drive too fast or break too harshly. By monitoring your drivers via technology, you’ll be able to lower your premiums quite significantly.
But it’s not just keeping your premiums down where the technology makes a difference. By installing technology you can ensure that you are not liable for prosecution if something does go wrong. Fleet technology also helps to make your drivers more efficient, ensuring they arrive for deliveries on time and aren’t wasting petrol idling in traffic. And it’s not complicated, simply plug in and go. You can monitor the performance of your entire fleet, from your office desk!
TomTom are running a poll to discover how well equipped fleet managers are for the Duty of Care legislation. Take part in the poll by visiting TomTom’s Fresh Fleet Thinking blog.
For the original article, visit the Fresh Fleet Thinking Blog.