Engineering Inc. - September/October 2004 - 20

accidents arising from misuse or and responsibilities of personnel i d e n
t i f y who should be Some companies unqualified drivers, legal issues a n
d resource support from entrusted with a company vehi- mistakenly assume
that and higher insurance premiums. management. cle, even if it's for a
quick trip contracting operations Many of these costs can be I n t e r e s
t i n g l y, some of the down the street. automatically transfers a v o i d
e d a n d , in the case of most important elements of a Many companies
often make risk. The [engineering] insurance premiums, often low- fleet
management policy focus the mistake of hiring someone company is still
ultimately ered with a sound fleet man- on who sits behind the wheel i n t
o a position for a specific responsible for their fleet a g e m e n t
policy. Even if the rather than what goes on under s k i l l , such as
engineering or management. fleet consists of a single vehi- the hood.
sales, but they forget about the cle used for supply runs or sur-
Individuals hired specifically driving component, Kauffman JOHN KAUFFMAN
ve y i n g assignments, a coordi- as drivers, or where driving is a says.
The fact that he or she is THE HARTFORD n a t e d program of rules, major
job responsibility, should a top salesperson can be over- p r o c e d u r
e s and practices will undergo an extensive interview shadowed by the
legal ramifica- h e l p ensure that current and and background
investigation. t i o n s of an at-fault accident. future vehicles are
truly assets to If appropriate, they should take This is particularly true
if the the company's bottom line. w r i t t e n and/or road tests and e m p
l oye r fails to perform the receive a pre-employment phys- necessary
checks, and it is sub- Conditional Control ical, Kauffman says. Compa- s e
q u e n t l y discovered that the John Kauffman, director of loss- nies
also should consider pro- p e r s o n has a poor driving c o n t ro l
training at The Hart- v i d i n g initial defensive driver record. ford,
says a good fleet manage- training with periodic refresher Rules for the
Road ment policy begins with a good sessions, and other relevant top-
policy statement. A program's ics equipment, cargo and reg- A fleet
management policy also overall formality will, to some ulatory issues.
should establish parameters gov- extent, be dictated by the fleet Mi n i m
u m standards are no erning how a vehicle should be s i z e , type,
vehicles, areas of l e s s important for employees used. This includes
using com- A d d i t i o n a l l y, road tests o p e r a t i o n and
unique expo- who may only occasionally use pany vehicles for personal
trips should be given to all drivers of sures, he explains. However, c o m
p a n y vehicles. Checks of and vice versa ; the use of cell these vehicles
to ensure that they the policy statement indicates e m p l oy m e n t and
driving his- p h o n e s , on-board computers, u n d e r s t a n d the
nuances and the company's commitment to tory, and experience with types
radios and other potential dis- handling of the fleet, Kauffman managing a
safe fleet, the roles o f cars and trucks, will help tractions; ride-alongs
including a d d s . For example, rollover co-workers, friends and hitch-
concerns with trucks and SUVs Chip off the New Block h i k e r s ; and
even road rage. that are taken off-road should be Note that a growing
number of i n c l u d e d in a driver training states now prohibit the use
of program. F cell phones by drivers while the The policy also should cover
leet managers have long relied solely on the memory and vehicle is in
motion unless the what to do in the event of an honesty of employees to
know how company vehicles are p h o n e is equipped with a accident who to
contact, what used. Now, they can get the full story from the vehicle
hands-free device. i n f o r m a t i o n to provide and itself, thanks to
CarChip, a piece of monitoring technology from A n engineering company's
where to refer specific questions Davis Instruments Corp. project
assignments may often f r o m other drivers, insurance CarChip for more
information call 800-678-3669 or check require its vehicles to be used in
companies and local authorities. online as www.davisnet.com consists of a
tiny black box data c o n s t r u c t i o n zones or remote The company
also should insti- logger that plugs into the vehicle's on-board
diagnostics OBDII areas where roads are limited or tute a policy of
reviewing vehicle connector. The logger continuously collects and stores
data from nonexistent. As such, the fleet a c c i d e n t s for
preventability, the vehicle's computer control systems for subsequent
downloading m a n a g e m e n t policy should Kauffman councils. The
assess- to a PC. Using CarChip software, fleet managers have access to
clearly identify the use limita- ment should focus on defensive complete
trip details, including time and date, distance traveled, tions for each
type of vehicle. A driving, not legal culpability. five-second speed
intervals and incidences of hard braking and sedan or stepvan, for
example, rapid acceleration. Machine Language should not be approved for
use CarChip also records diagnostic trouble codes and sensor read- in a
rugged location that would Ideally, a fleet management policy ings,
providing a heads up to replace faulty or failing compo- test an SUV's
four-wheel-drive mirrors manufacturer recommen- nents before they cause
trouble on the road. capability. dations for routine and preventive 2 0 E
N G I N E E R I N G INC. S e p t e m b e r l October 2004
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2004

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