How fast are your trucks travelling?

Speeding is a hidden cost to your business – it accounts for around 5% of your fuel bill. The safety of other road users is at stake and your drivers are playing Russian roulette with your insurance cover. This week I rode my motorbike through to Auckland from Christchurch. Typically, I look to overtake trucks on a clear straight as the bike is more nimble through the upcoming corners. Heading towards Waiouru, I’ve got a truck and trailer tank combination in my sights. Knowing I’m approaching the desert road where I’ve seen more traffic officers than anywhere else, I’m being even more pedantic than usual about my speed. I’m travelling between 99-101 km/h and this truck is pulling away from me.

Further on, I’m on highway 39 heading for Ngaruawahia, it’s dark and raining when I pull onto the road behind a scrap truck. He leaves me as if I’m standing still. However the top accolade goes to the concrete pump truck that overtook me on the Auckland Southern Motorway travelling at 25-30km/h over the speed limit.

The speed at which your vehicles travel is not just the responsibility of the driver. Any manager that is worth their pay cheque doesn’t need the existence of Chain of Responsibility legislation to recognise this.

How do YOU manage speed?

There are a number of tools which you can use to identify those drivers who are likely to be speeding.

  • Driving assessments give you feedback showing how much recognition a driver has of appropriate speeds.
  • ARM profiling provides an overview of a driving attitude
  • The driver training truck simulator soon to arrive in the country will be able to provide feedback similar to a driving assessment.

Each of these options are a one – off option. In cab technology, particularly GPS, provides ongoing feedback regarding the higher speeds being reached on a regular basis. It also gives immediate feedback from the focus you give to managing speed. So as you talk more to your drivers about what is a reasonable speed to be travelling, the GPS reporting will reflect that, providing you with comfort that you are having a positive effect on both cost and safety.

Why should you manage speed?

As a manager, you need to manage the speed of your vehicles. It is a direct cost to your business and the statistics supporting the correlation of speed and accidents highlight the indirect cost to you and to other road users.

Look at your fuel bill for last month. Divide this by 20. This figure on the face of your calculator represents the opportunity you have to increase your profit every month, just by managing speed. If you need a cash incentive to manage safety. This is it.

Your GPS is a cost saving total. As always, some systems are easier to use than others but if you are not using your GPS fleet tracking system to increase your profit margins, you need to question the value it adds to your business.