Vehicles
This section focuses on addressing issues of vehicle management which are paramount to fleet safety, by ensuring that the correct vehicle is selected for each task, that the vehicle is utilised properly, and correctly maintained. At the same time, adopting appropriate vehicle safety measures will also result in improved vehicle availability and cost effective transport activities. It’s important to note, that these measures for ensuring vehicle safety are equally applicable to owned and leased vehicles.
Key aspects to be addressed under the heading of vehicle management include:
• Vehicle selection and specification
• Additional safety equipment
• Vehicle maintenance
• Vehicle checks
• Vehicle defects
• Use of privately owned vehicles
Maintenance
Maintenance work should be regularly assessed to ensure it is of high standard. Ensure quality replacement parts are used on your vehicles, particularly for safety-critical elements such as brakes or tyres.
Monitor the durability of parts and any vehicle defects that occur, so that you can identify problems and trends in order to upgrade your vehicle choice, component choice or maintenance regime accordingly.
Where servicing and maintenance is carried out ‘in-house’ it is essential to reference the vehicle manufacture’s handbook.
