Increase Fleet Safety and Security

Main fleet activities

Few things can disrupt your operations and peace of mind like an accident, vehicle theft, or lost cargo. These aren’t just bad days at the office; they’re costly, stressful, and potentially damaging your business and reputation.

That’s why fleet safety can’t be left to chance. With the right tools and practices, you can reduce risks, protect your drivers, and secure your vehicles and assets. Here’s how to stay one step ahead.

Drivers and Passengers’ Safety

Road incidents can negatively impact on a company’s fleet operations, profitability, and even image, but more importantly, they can lead to possible casualties or even deaths.

This is the main reason why companies look for ways to increase safety in their fleets’ operations. Traffic accidents have a substantial impact on the workplace.

The risks of having an accident are always present, of course, but there are recommended practices to minimize those risks.

The first of these is a safety-oriented company culture and adequate training and qualification of the drivers. Additionally, systems that allow you to closely monitor driving patterns, as well as driving time monitoring, and speeding alarms, can be immensely helpful in minimizing those risks.

Keep in mind that poor driving behavior causes 90% of vehicle accidents. So, if you can monitor and fight poor driving behavior (by detecting aggressive driving, avoiding excessive driving times and resulting fatigue), you can to reduce the probability of accidents involving your drivers and vehicles.

To further enhance safety, Fleet Alarms can be configured to detect risky situations (e.g., vehicle immobilization, unauthorized use, or harsh driving events), significantly protecting both drivers and passengers in real-time

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Vehicles and Assets Safety

Vehicles can be subject to many risks, but two main risks are vehicle theft and mechanical damage due to aggressive driving.

You need to know exactly where semitrailers, containers, and other valuable assets are and where they’ve been. It is not uncommon for companies to completely lose track of the assets whereabouts. By automatically detecting when assets are coupled or uncoupled to a truck, you can efficiently track and manage trailers, containers, and more.

If one of your vehicles or assets (semitrailer, container, swap body, or other asset) is stolen, you want to maximize the chances of quickly recovering that vehicle and its cargo.

This is all possible thanks to the Frotcom software, which allows you to receive immediate alerts if a vehicle is used without authorization, deviates from its planned route, or is unexpectedly immobilized. This real-time monitoring helps you respond to a theft or any other unexpected situation, allowing you to act and protect your assets more effectively.

You can efficiently track and manage trailers, containers, and more by automatically detecting when assets are coupled or uncoupled to a truck.

Additionally, Integration with Schmitz Cargobull allows you to monitor the location and condition of your Schmitz Cargobull trailers and cargo in real-time on the same platform, ensuring total visibility over your assets.

At the same time, you're actively working to minimize the impact of reckless driving on your vehicles. By analyzing driving behaviors like harsh acceleration, braking, and excessive engine use, you gain insights that help you address wear and tear before it leads to costly repairs. This enables you to coach drivers toward safer, more responsible driving habits.

Moreover, by using actual vehicle usage data, you can proactively schedule vehicle maintenance to prevent damage before it occurs. This ensures your vehicles are serviced when needed, extending their lifespan and keeping your fleet running smoothly.

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Cargo and Materials Safety

The goods or materials being transported need to be protected against theft, improper manipulation or transportation conditions.

To keep your cargo and materials safe, you may need to monitor access to cargo and the conditions under which the cargo is being transported. For instance, food, beverages, and pharmaceutical products must be transported, handled, and stored to mitigate the risk of exposure to temperatures outside labeled storage conditions, potentially resulting in very high losses or damage claims from your clients.

In such cases, you would need to monitor temperature data from when each vehicle departs until the goods are delivered.

Moreover, protecting the cargo from theft or unauthorized access is another key concern. Imagine a vehicle carrying high-value goods parked in a less secure area or a stopover being made at an unscheduled location. By ensuring only authorized personnel have access to the vehicle, and tracking the vehicle’s movements in real-time, you reduce the risk of unauthorized use or theft. Access can be restricted via RFID cards, PIN codes, or other authentication methods, reducing the risk of unauthorized use and cargo theft.

In cases where an incident does occur, such as an attempt to open doors outside of the designated zones or hours, real-time alerts can notify fleet managers immediately, allowing them to act swiftly and prevent potential damage or loss. These proactive notifications ensure that the situation is addressed before escalating, minimizing cargo theft or misuse risk.

Moreover, if a vehicle is stolen, you want to be able to locate it or remotely turn off the vehicle, making it impossible for thieves to continue using it, increasing the likelihood of recovery and preventing further loss of cargo.

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Fuel Safety

Unfortunately, fuel theft is unfortunately something to be cautious of. The price of fuel and the relatively easy access to the fuel tank, as well as simple siphoning and other alternative and imaginative theft techniques, expose many companies to frequent fuel theft.

According to AssetWorks, the economic losses for commercial driving companies are high. A record 5%-10% of a fleet’s annual fuel consumption is lost to theft or misallocation.

To combat this, there are methods and accessories for monitoring the fuel level in the tank, as well as comparing the volume of fuel added to the tank with the one displayed on the gas station receipt.

Fleet alarms can significantly boost fuel safety by providing instant alerts whenever an unexpected drop in fuel level, unauthorized tank openings, or refueling events occur outside approved locations or schedules. These real-time notifications allow fleet managers to react immediately and investigate suspicious activity.

With access to detailed fleet reports that break down your fleet’s fuel consumption, refueling history, and unusual patterns over time, you can spot trends, detect signs of possible fuel theft, and take corrective action, whether that means adjusting refueling procedures or strengthening internal controls to ensure more responsible fuel usage.

For more information, download our White Paper “Combating Fuel Theft: A Comprehensive Guide for Fleet Managers.”

Although it is not always easy to detect fuel theft, especially when the it involves a gradual deviation of gas from the vehicle’s tank, some monitoring methods and accessories can efficiently prevent theft techniques and reduce the probability of such thefts remaining unnoticed.

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"Since we started using Frotcom we reduced the need to contact drivers, decreased communication fees and increased drivers’ security."

Andrej Štajdohar

CEO

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Inter Adaks - Slovenia

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