Not Knowing This Could Cost You $100,000s

Think Defensive Driver Training Once A Year Is All There Is To It? Think Again!

In most organizations, we see a high level of accuracy across departments like Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, etc. However, we don’t see that same precision in the Transport Departments. Why is this so?

In Ghana, fleet managers have not been fully informed for decades, or they don’t understand the impact it has on business operations. This is partly because many businesses do not monitor or track where losses occur in their transport operations. In recent years, there has been a deep interest in fuel management, with enterprises partnering with Oil Marketers to provide fuel cards for their organizations. This is an excellent first step, but it only barely scratches the surface.

5 Common Mistakes Organizations Make That Burn Financial Resources

1.    No transport or inadequate policies and procedures – Employees are unaware of their roles in the transportation policy and do not understand precisely how to carry out their activities. For example, is there an accident investigation form for an undesirable event like a vehicle crash? Who is the first contact to call in the organization? Who carries out the investigation? Is the investigator trained to carry out accident investigations?

We investigate incidents primarily to understand what happened and prevent the recurrence of such events. The unspoken costs of accidents are absenteeism, presenteeism, higher insurance premiums, low worker morale, etc.

2.    Vehicle Acquisition – Safety is the first reason businesses should consider any vehicle brand or model. Why? Because if your people are not safe, you don’t have a business. It’s useless to your business if your employees are in the hospital for several reasons, including musculoskeletal disorders.

Does your organization buy vehicles based on popularity or knowledge of your transport operations? What are some of the criteria used for vehicle purchases?

At Fountain Fleet Solutions, we always use our 3-point comparisons before choosing a vehicle brand or model. Our 3-point comparison is based on safety, comfort, and convenience. Of course, the vehicles’ price and resale value are also considered. Why buy a more expensive model for a project you know you’ll only be needing the cars for three years or less? It makes sense to consider other less costly, safe, and reliable options.

3.     Hiring and qualifying quality employees – How detailed are your hiring procedures? Please listen; there is no amount of training in this world you can provide to improve an employee that is mismatched to the role. This tends to present itself by not adhering to the company brand and culture. I cannot stress this enough; one rotten onion spoils the entire sack! You record significant losses with mismatched employees, such as customer complaints, undesired events, etc.

4.     Training and communication programs – These are vital to the life support of your business. Hence, meetings and training are necessary to fully understand and convey your organization’s message to everyone. The entire organization must be on the same page! We have seen that in transport departments across Ghana, one thing that is rarely done is training. Most accidents occur off-the-job rather than on-the-job. The chances of getting hit by a tro tro driver on the road are higher than running into a wall or your desk.

5. Recording and tracking company compliance – Let’s face it, this is the least favorite for most employees, but it’s nonetheless essential. How do you know you have improved if you don’t have records? How do you set goals and know you have achieved those goals without having objectives and targets? For instance, a company might have a target to reduce incidents by 30 percent in 2022. If you don’t know how many incidents you had the previous year, how will you determine if you have achieved this goal?

Fleet Safety Management isn’t optional; you must have this in place to preserve your resources. Transport costs comprise 50 percent of most organizations’ goods and services budget. Hence, it behooves every organization to have this in place. The good news is that our team of consultants is here to help you streamline your processes and improve your transport system.

For more information, please visit www.fountainfleetsolutions.com.