Causes of Hard Braking by Fleet Drivers and What to Do About It
19 Jul 2018
Hard braking is a problem far too many fleet managers struggle to handle among their drivers. It’s not something you can always point your finger at if you don’t have the tools to de. But, it is something you must deal with whenever you have an opportunity to do so.
Why is Hard Braking a Problem for Fleet Managers?
Hard braking causes more problems than may be immediately obvious. When you compound these problems by an entire fleet of drivers, the costs of hard braking can add up quickly. These are some reasons to consider action to end hard braking in your fleet.
- Tears the brakes, requiring more frequent repairs and more downtime for vehicles.
- Wears out brake pads faster.
- Warps brake discs.
- Damages rotors by overheating them.
- Wears the tires faster.
- Wastes fuel, costing fleets up to three miles per gallon of fuel in efficiency.
- Increases accident risks.
- Symptom of aggressive driving issues that must be addressed.
It doesn’t take long for the costs of hard braking to add up for a fleet of vehicles on the road. It’s a problem your organization must address quickly and effectively.
What Causes Hard Braking?
For the most part, hard braking is an overall symptom of poor training and/or bad driving. That doesn’t mean that every occurrence of hard braking is an indication of these things.
In some cases, hard braking is the result of a driver’s attempt to avoid an accident or of a driver being involved in an accident. However, if a driver has a consistent record of hard braking, it’s a sign that the driver requires additional training and/or discipline to deter this type of action in your fleet vehicles.
How to Solve the Problem of Hard Braking in Your Fleet?
Obviously, if you have some drivers who consistently need new brakes or tires, more frequently than other drivers in your fleet, it could be a sign of a hard braking habit. Proving the habit, however, requires a little more evidence.
GPS fleet tracking is one of the best tools you have available to track hard braking among your drivers. You can even set up alerts that will send email and text notifications directly to fleet managers when hard braking occurs. This allows you to address the issue instantly.
GPS fleet tracking also allows you to track hard braking instances over time, so you can gauge if your current attempts to raise awareness, educate, and discipline offending drivers are effective.
Breaking a hard braking habit among your fleet drivers needs to be a priority for your entire organization. GPS tracking can help.
Comments are closed.