Fleet Management:  The Cars or the Drivers?

There are many publications, trade shows and job titles that are about "Fleet Safety or Fleet Management". Some years back we thought, "this is great, these people really care about crashes." Well, the answer is "sort of".

It is all too common for "fleet" to mean really only the cost of the vehicle, gas costs, leasing terms and other asset management metrics. I'm not saying those aren't important but they never seem to include the driver involved. Your employee, the one with the family that faithfully does their job every day. Where is the department that takes the same amount of time and attention to the employee as the key "asset" they need to protect? At this point we can divide up a typical large company. HR responsible for the people? Nope, not when it comes to driving. Fleet safety? Nope, they buy, sell, maintain and repair vehicles. Risk management (sounds right doesn't it), no chance except to the extent it affects insurance policies. You would think "legal" would care since multimillion dollar lawsuits are not uncommon in traffic related deaths. Never once hear of them focused on avoiding the crashes that created the liability. Worse yet, companies that DO have some driver training offer it to only those who "drive for the job". These are the same companies that often offer gym memberships; wellness programs; CPR courses and other services that are focused on keeping employees happy and healthy. And yet, a significant reason for an employee to miss work for an extended period of time is related to themselves or their family member being in a car crash.

Where is the driving wellness initiative?