If you are a truck driver, or manage a fleet, you want to be protected on the road. However, striking a balance between an insurance policy that gives you peace of mind without breaking the bank can be a real struggle. But in order to receive reasonable insurance rates and minimize the risk of a nuclear verdict, it is critical to enhance fleet safety.
Keep reading for our list of actionable ways to reduce insurance costs and improve safety on the road.
Reduce Liability by Maintaining High Compliance Standards
Decreased liability must be a key component of any cost-cutting plan since nuclear verdicts, also referred to as pre-crash carelessness, are pushing up insurance rates.
Pre-crash carelessness is shown by proving to a jury that a defendant’s fleet was negligent. Meeting compliance requirements is no longer sufficient to satisfy the criterion of “reasonable care” and provide protection against negligence claims .
It is becoming more common for plaintiff’s lawyers to argue that rather than government compliance requirements, a jury should evaluate a fleet’s safety on industry standards, since they are frequently more rigorous. Whereas being DOT compliant is no longer adequate, since this means meeting the bare minimum requirements.
Protecting a fleet against this approach requires setting the “industry standards” for safety. Fleets must define their specific compliance requirements and commit to exceeding them. To demonstrate that a fleet is going above and above in terms of compliance, it is critical that the fleet shares this information with its insurer.
The best way to get a good rate on fleet insurance is to protect their operations from negligence claims. To work with an insurer, a fleet must be open about its internal procedures, achievements and failures. To make matters even better, fleets can demonstrate insurers they are dedicated to moving beyond compliance by revealing their improvement goals in critical areas including compliance, risk, and safety.
Create a Culture of Safety
With a solid safety culture, a fleet may achieve a competitive insurance cost while meeting operational requirements and ensuring quick load times.
Safe driving is part of every driver’s duty and should take priority above all else. But to drive safely, truck drivers need to know how to implement safety procedures. Make sure that safety guidelines are kept clear and concise. Drivers are far more likely to understand safety warnings that are basic and straightforward.
It is important for fleets to send out safety messages that are clear, accurate, and targeted. Instead of general safety recommendations, focus each communication on a single subject.In reality, this means everyone should always be thinking about safety. Following the lead of many studies, fleets should institute a system of publicly recognizing its safest drivers such as recognizing safe drivers.
Conclusion
It’s not always simple to reduce fleet insurance rates, but there are actionable steps that can be taken that may reduce your insurance rates by a substantial amount, such as implementing high safety and compliance standards, as well as making sure that safety guidelines are simple and clearly communicated to all truck drivers.
