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ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT
 On average, the accident rate in fleets in South Africa is 50%. In a fleet of 100 vehicles, this means that 50 vehicles are involved in an accident per year - at an average cost of nearly R10 000.00 for each accident.
It is a serious situation, as fleet owners concentrate on insurance premiums, rather than the causes and control of accidents. It’s a bit like putting the “cart before the horse” - with fleet owners focusing on their annual insurance premium renewals with the broker, whereas the real need is to develop an effective accident control programme through proper driver training.
In simple terms, 50 accidents at R10 000.00 each, equals R500 000.00, not counting the associated costs related to down time, personal injury and loss of business.
Time and money spent on a driver training programme and fleet safety programmes will reduce these costs significantly and benefit all concerned. The obvious question has to be - “How much can this accident ratio be reduced?”
The point is that a proper safety programme must be implemented in your fleet, no matter how big or small. At the same time, targets must be set for your fleet in respect of accidents. Drivers must also be rewarded or penalized as part of your overall programme.
Recording of all accidents and the appropriate details is an essential part of the exercise. Most insurance brokers simply record basic data on a sequential basis as a means of establishing loss ratios. This is used to establish future annual premiums. However, the fleet owner needs to maintain his own records in order to evaluate matters from the accident and safety programme point of view.
FLEET SAFETY PROGRAMMES
These programmes are an essential part of driver management and form part of the accident management programme.
This area of fleet management has to receive a lot more attention. The first element of a fleet safety programme is a commitment to LOSS CONTROL. Everyone in the company – management, drivers and fleet managers - must demonstrate a strong commitment to safety.
Don’t rely on the insurance broker – their summaries are usually no more than a listing of events and costs. Very little information relating to accident control is ever included. It is important to discover accident TRENDS in order to identify accident patterns that may be developing. So the simple question has to be: “Did you identify a trend and if so, what action have you taken to educate, advise or warn drivers about these current driving hazards.
Fleet owners in South Africa have sent their drivers on defensive driving courses with very good result. One fleet of some 350 vehicles cut the accident rate by half, over a period of eighteen months. The rand costs were also reduced. So it is possible to do something specific about your accident trends and costs.
FLEET INSURANCE
There area number of different types of insurance available to fleet owners on the market. This is just a brief list of them. Each type of insurance needs careful evaluation. Don’t just accept what the broker says. He is usually not an expert on accident and safety programmes. Click here for more on Insurance
Generally speaking, insurance companies/brokers are not in touch with fleet management operations. They will always separate insurance and fleet management. This generally results in the fleet paying more for insurance than is necessary. More and more companies are going the self-insurance route and reducing costs. However, it needs to have proper control. The interplay between the, fund, catastrophe cover, insurance premiums for cover over the aggregate excess, investment returns, administration costs per accident, VAT input and payment all affect the ultimate cost of insurance.
A thorough evaluation of the company's fleet operation is essential in order to introduce an effective Accident Control Programme. These programmes have resulted in savings of up to 50% in some South African fleets.
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