A Look at the Global Fleet Champions Campaign

21 Mar 2022

On average, five people die on UK roads each day. In 2020 alone, more than 1,500 people lost their lives in this fashion – and that in itself was a figure heavily impacted by that year’s long lockdown measures. With over 20,000 serious injuries annually on UK roads to also consider, it’s no wonder that road safety charity Brake is calling road-related accidents "a preventable epidemic."

Thankfully, the charity also runs several campaigns designed to give drivers more insight and better tools to help them drive responsibly. We reported on one of those recently in our look at Road Safety Week, which aims far and wide by addressing schools, organisations, community groups and more besides.

Here, we’ll take a look at how Brake’s fleet-focused campaign, Global Fleet Champions (GFC), could prove a valuable safety resource for your fleet safety management – whatever the size of your fleet business.

But before we delve into the campaign directly, it’s important to ask…

Why Is fleet safety important?

Fleet safety is important because it helps make UK roads safer for everyone, and also because it protects fleet businesses by lowering the chances of their drivers causing or being involved in crashes. From a humanitarian point of view, diligent fleet driver safety practices and training protect drivers from injuries and worse. On a purely commercial one, it can also save your business money by minimising your drivers’ chances of accidents that lead to expensive vehicle repairs, failed deliveries, and disrupted driver schedules.

How can fleet safety be improved?

Fleet-safety-management

We’ve previously tackled this subject in our post 'What Fleet Owners Can Do To Improve Road Safety,' which mentioned several fleet safety strategies to consider. They were:

Improve vehicle maintenance processes
Use telematics to monitor driver behaviour
Feed back that data to drivers to help them understand their bad habits
Reward drivers for good driving practices
Keep an open dialogue with drivers before they get behind the wheel
Plus prioritise driver mental and emotional wellbeing in a variety of ways.

Indeed, this advice is shared by the Global Fleet Champions campaign, which recommends focusing on both vehicle maintenance and driver health and driving behaviour.

However, the Global Fleet Champions website goes even further, supporting its campaign message with a wealth of safe fleet strategies, information and ideas across five key categories.

Global Fleet Champions’ five distinct pillars

With up to 25% of road fatalities in the pre-Brexit EU involving someone driving for work, fleet businesses have an enormous responsibility in improving road safety. By acting on any (or even all) of these five ‘pillars,’ fleet managers can make enormous strides in their own fleet safety management.

Community outreach

Working with local communities allows fleet businesses to influence on-road behaviour and awareness, while also being seen as a responsible and safety-conscious brand that people can trust. The GFC community outreach page recommends:

Plan road safety events in your local community
Contribute to local funding for things like lower speed limit signs
Help politicians create positive changes like lower speed limits and safer vehicle standards.

Driver behaviour

Because it’s often the leading cause of crashes, doing everything you can to improve driver behaviour is paramount to any fleet safety management strategy.

The GFC driver safety page recommends:

Train drivers on collision risks and the importance of safer driving practices
Use telematics to monitor driver behaviour
Raise fleet safety awareness in meetings, newsletters, posters and more
Offer regular health checks, including eye tests
Discuss the impact of alcohol and drugs and the suitability of driving the ‘morning after’
Keep an eye out for driver mental health issues and create a culture of comfort where your drivers can discuss these with your team.

Incident analysis and intervention

By recording and reporting crash data, your business can better help mitigate future risks and roadside incidents.

The GFC incident analysis and intervention page recommends:

Fit your fleet vehicles with dashcams
Offer driver first aid training and give drivers first aid kits, phones, and hi-vis vests
Provide counselling or similar services or support for employees involved in crashes
Give drivers injured in crashes paid time off and other financial aids to help them recover without worry.

Journey routing and modal choice

By planning ahead your fleet business can condense multiple journeys into fewer trips – helping mitigate driver risks, and lowering your fleet’s carbon footprint.

The GFC journey routing and modal choice page recommends:

Take a hard look at your journey planning policies and procedures
Weigh up whether journeys need to happen. Some could be taken by public transport; others might be more suited to working remotely
Encourage employees to car share
Consider weather forecasts and plan routes that avoid heavily populated areas
Plan realistic business targets that put fleet driver safety before business performance
Make discussions about driving tired a part of your company culture
Give drivers 15-20 minute rest breaks
Schedule your drivers to travel in the day, when they’re far less likely to fall asleep.

Vehicle procurement and maintenance

Fleet-driver-safety

Feet safety management starts and ends with making sure the vehicles themselves are fit for purpose.

The GFC vehicle procurement and maintenance page recommends:

Acquire the most environmentally-friendly vehicles available, whether it be buying your own or leasing them
Consider aspects like fuel economy and emissions as part of your vehicle acquisition strategy
Inspect all vehicles used for company business – whether your own or belonging to employees – to ensure they meet the highest safety standards possible
Carry out regular maintenance on vehicles to ensure they stay at the highest possible safety standards
Clearly state in your company policies exactly when individual vehicles end their service life.

More ways to get involved with Global Fleet Champions

The Global Fleet Champions website lists a number of webinars, seminars and even awards ceremonies that fleet businesses can get involved in. To learn more, visit the GFC events page.

The site’s ‘take action’ page meanwhile lists more ways you can get involved with spreading the messages of the campaign, from asking your boss to telling the whole world via social media – and even entering your fleet business for a fleet safety award!

Finally, for those businesses and individuals who are particularly passionate about all things fleet safety management and fleet driver safety-related, there’s the option to become a Global Fleet Champion yourself and advocate for the campaign by signing up here.

Helping your business stay safer and run greener

At SG Fleet, our team are well-versed in safety considerations – and with one of the country’s leading e-vehicle leasing offerings, we’re also well placed to help you make the transition to a greener fleet. So with our help, you can help your fleet drivers, the motoring fraternity at large, and the planet as a whole.

To learn more, read the blogs below, visit our eStart page, or get in touch with us by calling 0844 854 5100, or emailing CSalmon@sgfleet.com.