Safe Braking for Fleets
29 Jan 2024Ensuring the safety of drivers is one of the most important things for every fleet manager. While all of your drivers are literally professional drivers, as a fleet manager you know accidents do happen.
Before and during an accident happens, one of the most important things that affect safety is braking. An inappropriate brake can cause an accident in and of itself. Brake too hard and the car behind can rear-end you, brake not hard enough and you can rear-end someone else, or worse.
One of the best ways to improve safety for your vehicle fleet is to go over some safe braking techniques and tips with your drivers.
Keep Up With Maintenance
Safe braking depends on both the driver and the vehicle itself. If the vehicle isn’t properly maintained then it may not matter how safe the driver is being. Therefore, ensure that all vehicles are being regularly checked and maintained. This includes regularly inspecting brake pads, fluid levels, rotors, and tire pressure.
When you’ve got a whole fleet of vehicles to worry about, keeping track of each vehicle can be difficult and things are bound to slip through the cracks, especially when each vehicle is on a different schedule or has a different amount of miles.
To stay on top of maintenance and vehicle checkups use a GPS tracking device like the Fleet Tracker OBD that uses alerts to remind you when maintenance or checkups are due.
Prioritize Driver Training
All of your drivers probably think they’re good and safe drivers, but all of them, especially when they’re starting out, may not know safe braking techniques and how much distance they should keep between other cars.
Ensuring your drivers have the right training is an important step to improving their safety on the road.
Avoid Harsh Braking
To stay safe, drivers need to avoid dangerous actions like sudden stops. Instead, teach them to slow down gradually to avoid accidents and to keep brake pads in good shape.
Implement Vehicle Monitoring
Once you’ve trained your drivers, you usually just have to hope and pray they follow these safe driving practices on the road. But with GPS tracking devices you can monitor driving behavior and get alerts when drivers engage in dangerous activities like harsh braking.
Be Educated on Engine Braking
Learning how and when to use engine brakes will take some training and improve driver safety while also reducing the wear on brakes. Engine braking is process of slowing down a vehicle by stepping off the accelerator and downshifting gears instead of pressing on the brake pedal. While it is less commonly used than a foot brake, it’s something that can help improve a fleet vehicle’s efficiency.
Monitor Speeding
Drivers may be in a hurry to finish a job and get off the road, but they should be aware of the risks to themselves, others, and the company when they do so. Not only does driving above the speed limit put themselves and others at risk of bodily harm, but even if they are driving safely above the speed limit, they risk getting a speeding ticket.
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