How to Keep Your Business Vehicles Road Safe and Compliant

09/10/2019

Many businesses in the construction industry these days tend to have several vehicles on the road. If one of them breaks down or is involved in an accident, it can result in work not being completed which in turn upsets customers. This could result in business being lost which will make your company less profitable. 

However, there are steps you can take to make sure your vehicles are safe, reliable and compliant. Then you will not have to worry about any of them being stopped for a roadside check either. It is all down to how you manage your vehicles, and here are a few suggestions that may help.

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Regular Maintenance

This has to be one of the most important things where vehicles are concerned. It does not matter how old your vehicles are – if they are regularly maintained, they can last for years. If one of them has a problem, get it repaired before it causes more damage and they will be less likely to let you down when you need them most.

Some garages will send reminders for servicing if you ask, and they will also give your vehicles some priority if you use them all the time. Garages, like any other businesses, tend to look after their loyal customers, and building a relationship with them can work wonders.

Put Someone in Charge of Them

Designate one person to be responsible for looking after your vehicles. This will mean that drivers will know who to approach if they have a problem. That person could deal with booking vehicles into the garage and generally making sure that everything is in order with them. They could also be responsible for making sure that MOTs are not missed, as this can be costly if one of your vehicles is stopped by the police. They should also diary things such as insurance and road tax to make sure they are all renewed when they should be.

Daily Checks

Before each vehicle is taken out, the proposed driver should walk around it and do a visual check on things such as tyres, lights and fluid levels. If anything is apparently wrong, they should report it straight away and not take the vehicle onto the roads. The same applies if something does not work properly when they start the engine.

Be Adequately Insured

It goes without saying that each of your vehicles needs to be insured, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need a separate policy for each one. Taking out a fleet insurance policy to cover all the vehicles in your fleet could save you both time and money, and if you use a fleet insurance comparison service like Quotezone you could save even more money.

You will need to decide if you want to link specific drivers to certain vehicles or if you want to take out an any-driver fleet insurance policy, as this can have a significant affect on the cost of your fleet insurance.

Road Tax

You may no longer have to display a disc on the windscreen of your vehicles, but you do still have to tax them. These days the amount to pay can vary quite a lot, but it is simple to find out what your liability is from one the many sites that explains how it all works. The DVLA will send a reminder before the renewal date and another one when the date has passed. Then you could be fined though, so it is always best to pay it when it is due.

Only Use Qualified Drivers

You can follow all these tips to keep your vehicles safe and compliant on the UK roads, and then someone could get in one of them that does not have the correct licence. You should have a copy of the licence of anyone that is likely to drive one of them and ensure that no one unqualified ever gets behind the wheel. Apart from putting themselves and other people in danger, this sort of action could end up with your company being prosecuted for allowing it.

Dispose of the Headaches

Running several vehicles can be a nightmare, but there is technology that can help. You can set a digital device with reminders, you can ask the garage to remind you about servicing, and you should never ignore reminders from the likes of DVLA. Your insurers will remind you too when your premiums are due, but even getting reminded about these matters can get put onto the back burner when you are busy running your business. If you have someone you can make responsible for these matters, that can be a huge help, but also these days many of them can be automated to keep the risk of something being missed much lower.

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