Next stop? The North Pole!
Every day, UPS delivers over 15 million packages, to over 220 countries and territories worldwide, including the North Pole. Yet, while their delivery numbers are astonishing, what’s truly amazing is how safe UPS drivers are.
Take, for instance, Robert Gomez Jr., who has been driving crash-free for UPS for over 25 years. After driving 670,000 miles and delivering over 1 million packages, Robert has never had a single accident or moving violation. He credits his superb driving record to the safe driving habits they teach in UPS’s company car policy.
Safe driving habits as simple as not texting while driving, can make a world of difference out on the road. Is your company doing everything it can to keep your drivers and vehicles safe?
Read on to learn how to create a safe and effective policy for your company’s vehicles.
Why You Need a Company Car Policy
Crashes involving company vehicles happen more often than you might think.
Here are some of the startling statistics:
- 1,299 people die annually in company-related car crashes
- Trucks make up the most common company car accidents
- Car crashes costs employers $65,000 on average for each nonfatal injury
- Fatal accidents cost employers $671,000 on average
- Car accidents cause 25% of all work-related deaths
The transportation and warehousing industry has the highest amount of deaths from job car crashes. Creating a solid company car policy is the best way to protect your assets, while also keeping your employees safe.
Start with Insurance Coverage
Since accidents are so expensive, your first step in creating a company car policy should be to make sure you have enough insurance coverage. You can get insurance quotes for online van cover or other vehicle needs at most insurance agencies.
Keep in mind that most personal insurance policies will exclude company cars. Instead, employers will have to get commercial auto insurance. Here’s what a standard commercial auto policy will cover:
- Liability
- Comprehensive coverage
- Collision coverage
- Uninsured motorist
- Medical payments
When you think of your insurance policy, it’s easiest if you break it down into 3 categories; your money, your vehicle, and your body.
Your Money
First, the insurance policy will protect your company’s money by providing liability coverage. If your drivers are found at fault for an accident, your liability coverage will help pay for the other vehicle’s expenses.
Expenses like property damage and medical bills fall under liability coverage. If you don’t have enough of this coverage, the other driver could sue your company for restoration.
Your Car
Next comprehensive and collision coverage will cover your company’s vehicle repairs. This coverage will apply whether or not the accident is your company’s fault or the other drivers. If the other driver has enough car insurance, their company will cover your vehicle repairs.
Your Body
Finally, uninsured motorist and medical payments will cover “your body” or the company driver’s injuries. This coverage helps employees with medical payments and other costs associated with injuries.
Create Employee Accountability
Holding your employees accountable means you’re providing them with the chance to take ownership of their decisions. Instead of it being your job to police their every choice, you can put the ball in their court.
Yet, for accountability to work properly, there have to be clear rules in place. Here are some rules to consider for your company vehicle policy:
- No hands-on cellphone use
- Always wear seatbelts
- No driving exhausted
- No driving under the influence
- Non-employees aren’t allowed in the vehicle
- Vehicles are only for work purposes
The more clear and concise your rules are, the easier it’ll be for workers to follow them.
Outline Rules and Consequences
Once you have your rules in place, make sure that you’re doing your part to enforce them. You can start enforcing the rules by making them well known.
We suggest you hold an in-person meeting with your employees, one where you go over every rule in extreme detail. Explain how the rules work, why you chose them, and what the consequences are for not following the rules.
Allow time for employees to ask questions about the company car policy rules, and provide any clarification they might need. Finally, at the end of the meeting have employees sign a statement acknowledging that they understand the rules.
Screen Your Drivers
Make sure you carefully screen all of your drivers before allowing them to operate company vehicles. You should start by running a detailed background check on every potential driver.
Look for any past accidents or signs of careless driving, also pay attention to any moving violations the motor vehicle report lists. While small violations might be forgivable, frequent violations, are a good indication of bad driving habits.
Accident Reporting Policy
While your drivers are working for your company, you should also be aware of any non-job related accidents that take place. We suggest having a policy in place where employee drivers have to report any auto accidents they’re involved in.
Make it clear to your drivers that you want them to report every car accident, even if it didn’t take place in the company vehicle. Being aware of your driver’s current record is important for protecting your vehicles, as well as keeping your insurance premiums low.
Celebrate Safe Drivers
Now you know more about how to create a company car policy that puts an emphasis on safety. Since safe driving habits can save your company thousands of dollars, you should celebrate employees that have them.
Create a system that awards employees who don’t have any type of vehicle infractions. This can include employees who never receive a write up for misusing company vehicles or drivers who never have an accident.
Incentive programs help your employees feel valued, while also saving your company thousands of dollars. Ready to find out more ways to save big? Check out our toolkit today!
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