Research suggests that van fleets aren’t checking their vehicles as often as they should, putting themselves at considerable risk…
Infrequent Vehicle Checks
New research suggests that a majority of van fleets aren’t conducting vehicle checks as often as they should. Conducted by Crystal Ball, it discovered that a third of some 200 surveyed van fleets are only conducting monthly inspections; putting themselves, their drivers and members of the public at significant risk.
According to Crystal Ball, the finding suggests that a variety of van fleets struggle with the logistics of conducting regular and thorough vehicle checks. Indeed, many have stated that they simply don’t have the resources or time to conduct them on a daily or weekly basis. However, technology could go some way in addressing the problem; including smartphone apps.
Daily Inspections Recommended
Raj Singh, managing director at Crystal Ball, commented on the research. He said, “technology can help large fleets to check vehicles regularly and efficiently. Often it seems large fleets are concerned they are going to be snowed under with paperwork, and that in some cases it’s better to find there’s a problem once a month, than to miss a problem because they can’t handle the daily amount of information being sent to them. But this issue can be solved. You should check vehicles daily, and with technology such as ours you can do this quickly and easily and only need to react to real issues, as they are presented”.
He continued, “it’s vital to make regular checks, and even more so now when keeping vehicles on the road is more important than ever, because of rental shortages, workshop capacity issues and a lack of new vehicle supply. If problems can be flagged as early as possible, and drivers made aware of their responsibility to look after their vehicles through a rigorous culture of daily checks and instant reporting, then unplanned downtime can be reduced, and careless drivers who cost the firm money discovered”.
Singh concluded, “the DVSA recommends a daily walkaround check, but it seems a surprising number of large fleets have decided on policies that require far fewer regular checks”.
Speeding Is Responsible For Most Fleet Driving Offences – https://autoservefleet.co.uk/latest-news/speeding-is-responsible-for-most-fleet-driving-offences/
More Than Half A Million Uninsured Cars Seized Since 2018 – https://autoserve.co.uk/motoring-news/more-than-half-a-million-uninsured-cars-seized-since-2018/