Tag: Expert Guides

Person checking tyre safety tread depth

Tyre Safety & Tyre Health Checks

Posted on | by Simon Pavey

Every commercial fleet operating in the UK should have a robust and comprehensive policy for ensuring that their vehicles are only ever driven with safe tyres. What exactly constitutes a ‘safe’ tyre, though, can be a complex formula with many components.

Whether you’re operating with HGVs, LGVs, or standard estate and saloon cars, this article is designed to help you identify the key components of tyre safety and make you aware of the legal limits that drivers should be adhering to.

Why is car tyre safety important?

Before we get started, though, here’s why meeting safe tyre standards matters.

Employee safety and car tyre safety

Firstly, the livelihood and wellbeing of your drivers should be paramount to any organisation. Having a happy and healthy workforce means you can take on more work, rather than having to plug the gaps caused by avoidable tyre accidents.

Company reputation and tyre safety

What’s more, proudly advertising your business as one that treats driver safety as a top priority could also make your organisation stand out from the crowd in the jobs marketplace; giving you an edge when prospective employees are looking for a new place of work.

Bad tyre safety reducing fuel economy

Tyres themselves are tangential to vehicle safety, and worn-out or old tyres directly limit the amount of control your drivers have over their vehicles. Poor tyres can increase stopping distances, reduce fuel economy when the tread is low, and become more prone to tyre blowouts.

Fundamentally, having drivers operate with tyres that are below safe standards can have a range of negative impacts on safety and cost, and the only real downside of replacing tyres is the initial cost of new tyres. This is well worth doing, especially considering there is a legal element to this equation.

Tyre safety laws

There are a few different important laws governing tyre safety for commercial vehicles in the UK.

Vehicle Safety and Maintenance Guidance: Safety checks and MOT inspections

One crucial piece of guidance to be aware of is the official ‘vehicle safety and maintenance guidance’, which is frequently updated with information about conducting safety checks and MOT inspections.

How drivers can conduct a tyre safety check

There are also helpful guides around how drivers can carry out safety checks, which is essential given it’s a legal requirement that drivers conduct a walkaround check before setting off on any journey, which must include checking the:

  • Lights
  • Tyres
  • Wheel fixings
  • Bodywork
  • Trailer coupling
  • Load and other equipment

Employers’ responsibilities with tyre safety

Beyond this, laws exist to ensure that individual drivers communicate with their employers around safety matters. Any defects should be communicated in writing, and many employers may look to use software to streamline this process.

Fuel Card Services’ MyDriveSafe service

At Fuel Card Services, part of our work is to empower fleet operators with software to achieve exactly this goal, and our MyDriveSafe service enables drivers to report any defects via a mobile phone app which links through to a central database that managers can access.

Tyres

What makes your tyres illegal?

Diving deeper into tyre safety, then, what are the key regulations to be aware of? Well, the main components of safe tyres are:

1. Tyre pressure

Tyre pressures make a difference in fuel economy as well as driver safety. If your driver’s tyres feature a pressure of around 30-40PSI, then they’re likely to run smoothly on the roads and require less power.

Conversely, low-pressure tyres of anywhere downwards of 20PSI can be a genuine danger to the safety of your driver and other road users. These tyres are more susceptible to blowouts and can destabilise a vehicle.

What should my tyre pressure be?

The exact recommended limits for tyre pressure vary from vehicle to vehicle, and drivers should always have access to and check the manufacturer’s handbook to gauge recommended PSI levels. Conversely, over-pumping tyres can have a negative effect on performance by causing uneven tyre wear.

When should tyre pressure be checked?

As a fleet operator, it’s key that you ensure drivers check tyre pressure frequently. Officially, this should be checked on a weekly basis. However, if this proves impractical, it’d be unwise to leave tyre pressure unchecked for any longer than one month.

2. Tyre tread depth

The legal tread depth limit on any tyre in the UK is 1.6mm, control over the vehicle can be severely limited. Tread serves to grip the road as a wheel spins, thus making turning easier – and drivers can actually feel the difference between high and low levels of tread.

When to change your tyres due to tread depth?

Fleet operators should ideally be advising drivers to change tyres when tread drops below 3mm, and failure to adhere to legal limits can result in substantial fines both for individual drivers (who can also incur points on their licences), and the organisation.

3. General tyre health check

Through regular spot checks, drivers should be able to gauge whether tyres are in good condition. Any signs of tyre bulging should result in immediate replacement, and this is also the case if the structural integrity of the tyre has been damaged through debris or vandalism.

How do you know if your vehicle needs to be taken off the road due to tyre health?

It’s also a legal requirement of fleet operators that any non-roadworthy vehicles are taken out of service, and operators must implement a system to make this happen.

Taking car tyre safety checks seriously

Ultimately, there’s no questioning that tyre safety should be a top priority for fleets, which is true both from a driver safety perspective and a cost-saving perspective. Newer tyres with better technology and safe pressure and tread levels require less fuel to power, and becoming a brand that showcases its good safety policies can stand individual operators out from the crowd in the eyes of potential recruits.

How can Fuel Card Services help with your car tyre safety checks?

At Fuel Card Services, we take driver safety seriously. That’s why we offer a range of commercial fleet services that are designed to improve driver safety and provide cost savings. Services include:

  • Tele-Gence; a smart telematics system that’s tailored to your business’ unique needs. This software can improve the safety of your drivers and the security of your vehicles.
  • MyDriveSafe – which allows drivers to carry out vehicle checks on their mobile phones. This data then feeds back into a manager’s portal, enabling you to check that vehicles are safe to drive and that legal requirements are met.
  • MyService.Expert – we offer an online, pay-as-you-go system that gives you access to pre-negotiated repair and maintenance rates at thousands of UK garages, meaning any faults can be resolved quickly without breaking the bank.
Close up of front of white car

A Guide to Car Running Costs

Posted on | by Simon Pavey

Apart from capital costs, fleet managers need to consider the operational costs of running commercial fleets. These costs are a result of the day-to-day car activity, it’s important to have an understanding of what they are and how you can better manage them by cutting unnecessary expenses.

This guide will cover:

Fleet fuel

Fuel cost is a big part of running a fleet. The cost can vary depending on a range of factors such as mileage, fuel type, having the right type and size of the fleet for the task, and tyre conditions.

There are various ways to reduce fuel costs:

  • Starting off with calculating how much each mile is costing you. Once you understand the mileage cost, looking at deals that offer cheaper fuel can massively reduce costs. Fuel Cards are a great option as we work with every major fuel brand to offer competitive discounts across petrol stations nationwide.
  • Consider using electric vehicles. They are not only environmentally friendly as they reduce emissions, but also great for reducing costs as there will be no need to pay for diesel or petrol.
  • Review whether you’re using the right type and sized vehicle for the job you’re carrying out. For example, if your fleet is carrying only a small quantity of products, then a small car would be enough. However, if you’re carrying heavy goods then a van or truck would be a better option.
  • Underinflated tyres can increase fuel consumption by 15%. Ensure your tyres have the right pressure, this will also help decrease fuel consumption.

Fleet maintenance costs

The second largest expenditure that fleet managers incur is maintenance, service and repair. The rate at which you carry out repairs and service of your fleets will affect your cost of ownership or monthly leasing payments if you are renting your vehicles.

Often, this can be a hard area to manage as maintenance work can be unexpected. However, there are is software such as MyService.Expert that can be used to monitor all servicing and repair work with price guarantees, service level agreements and KPIs for suppliers. This will give you full visibility and control over your fleet operation management and reduce fleet downtime by ensuring all vehicles are in their best condition.

There is also a simple way to reduce and manage your maintenance cost, by opting for packages offered by fleet management or leasing companies. These packages include servicing, repair and general wear and tear, allowing you to manage your overall business operations in an efficient way.

Fleet insurance

Over time, your insurance costs could increase due to accident or damage, especially if you haven’t set a minimum drivers standard. It’s highly important to do a risk assessment to analyse your claim history to check what types of accidents are occurring, how often and any common causes.

This will allow you to train your drivers on their weak points and enforce a minimum standard of driving, whether that involves online safety training or in-car training. The less accidents the lower your insurance costs.

When hiring drivers, carry out thorough checks and ensure they don’t have any points on their driving licence. The more points on their licence, the higher the insurance premiums. So, hiring drivers that have a clean driving licence and are safe road users is extremely preferable for both the safety of road users and for reducing costs.

You can use fleet management software such as Tele-Gence to store and analyse all the data for easier analysis and understanding. This is a tracking system that automatically stores data, reduces costs and offers improved safety to drivers by setting geographic alerts based on defined parameters, setting up crash detection alerts to inform a chosen contact, and monitoring dangerous speeding.

Always review your insurance before renewing as you may be able to get better deals with new insurers. Gathering information to show them that you are taking all the necessary steps to increase safety measures and reduce accident rates may also help you negotiate your insurance rate.

Adding new vehicles can also affect your premium rate, so before committing to a vehicle, check whether it would be viable and not increase your current insurance premiums.

Row of parked cars

Fleet tax

Apart from road tax and vehicle tax, fleet companies need to pay Benefit in Kind, National Insurance and costs related to how much CO2 emissions the car produces. These taxes are:

  • Class 1A National Insurance: this is worked out as the car’s P11D price, combined with the relevant CO2 emissions band.
  • Vehicle Excise Duty: all UK vehicles must pay this tax. This is linked to how much emissions a car produces.
  • Benefit in Kind: this only applies to fleet operators that also personally use the company vehicles. However, fleet operators that do not use the vehicles for personal use, will not have to pay any BiK tax.

The good news is that fleet operators are able to reclaim 100% of the VAT if their vehicles are solely used for business purposes. Lease costs are also 100% deductible unless CO2 rating is over the LRR household, in which case only 85% is deductible.

An easier way to reduce taxation cost is through EV vehicles, due to them not producing CO2 emissions, you won’t have to pay National Insurance or Benefit in Kind.

Fleet licence and permits

Fleet operators that carry goods on a van or truck with a gross weight of over 3,500 kilograms or unladen weight of more than 1,525 kilograms, need a Goods Vehicle Operator’s Licence.

Taxi fleets also need to have licences depending on the number of vehicles they operate. There are two types of Taxi Operator Licence (TOL):

  • Small operator TOL: only two vehicles can be operated at any one time.
  • Large operator TOL: there are no restrictions on the number of taxis that can be operated at any one time.

How can Fuel Card Services help?

At Fuel Card Services, we specialise in fleet maintenance and have developed a full suite of tools that you can use to become more cost-effective in your operations. Every good fleet management operation requires a desire to both protect drivers and profits, the right people in place, and the right technology to make an efficient operation possible.

To see how we can support you with the right technology, including advanced telematics, view our range of fleet services today, and get in touch with one of our friendly experts for a tailored quote.

managing fleet maintenance

The Ultimate Fleet Maintenance Guide

Posted on | by Simon Pavey

While it would be nice if commercial fleets could operate year-round without fault, that isn’t the core goal for experienced fleet operators. Instead, what’s useful is to understand the range of challenges your fleet is likely to encounter, and how to either take precautions to avoid them or prepare suitable countermeasures that can be used reactively to minimise downtime.

That’s why we’ve created this fleet maintenance guide, which will cover:

What is fleet maintenance management?

Fleet maintenance management describes the process of proactively and reactively resolving issues facing a commercial fleet, with a view to keeping vehicles operational. There are many reasons why this is important, including that:

  • Having more vehicles available for use could enable you to take on more contracts.
  • Driver safety is drastically improved by a proper fleet maintenance protocol.
  • Well-maintained fleets may prove less expensive to run in the long term, given they’re less likely to incur severe damage.

The person responsible for maintaining a fleet can vary from business to business. For larger companies, a senior role is normally allocated to overseeing this entire process. Most companies either build in-house teams to handle key aspects of the maintenance process or look to outsource specific services such as tyre repairs or MOT checks to external providers.

Overall, there are a range of different skills needed to maintain a fleet. Software innovations play a huge role in this dynamic industry, and so developers may be needed to code and improve systems, while logistics is obviously key – not to mention the practical skills needed to actually conduct routine maintenance work on expensive, complex LGVs.

Tips for managing fleet maintenance effectively

With this complexity in mind, here are our maintenance tips that we feel could really make a difference to operators.

1. Document the ‘what’, ‘when’, and ‘how’ of fleet maintenance

It’s not only important, but a requirement of every fleet operation that you are able to resolve technical issues when they arise. A more effective approach to maintenance, however, could be to document virtually every issue that your vehicles are likely to face, as well as how to resolve them.

Lean on the internal expertise in your business to get a full picture of what is likely to go wrong with your vehicles. From more standard issues such as tyre punctures or diminishing tread depth, to the rarer, more expensive issues such as a vehicle totalling or a blown head gasket – you only stand to gain by documenting your business’ official approach to these challenges and conferring with your team.

In terms of how best to do this, a simple database of errors including fields such as the contact details of providers that can help, projected costs, and dated, historical records of similar issues could be game changing; improving your ability to react to new issues quickly.

2. Invest in the right fleet maintenance software

For many fleet operators, there is a lot of data to monitor at any one time. It’s useful not only to keep an eye on the maintenance of your vehicles, but also track their routes and mileage. While this could be done with manual methods, it’s often more cost-efficient and practical to invest in a software solution that can help your team focus on the more strategic elements, while automatically collecting data.

At Fuel Card Services, we have developed an answer for this problem. Our fleet services include:

  • MileageCount – a system for automatically recording and reporting on your vehicles’ mileage claims. This could remove some of the manual reporting tasks your drivers may be assigned with, meaning less admin work and more vehicle uptime whether you’re operating an owned, leased, or grey fleet.
  • Tele-Gence – our smart telematics solution. This fully customisable solution helps cover all key aspects of your fleet operation; monitoring driver performance, fuel cost management, and equipping your vehicles with the right cameras and equipment to improve safety.
  • Expert – an online vehicle repair and maintenance portal that can give you access to pre-negotiated maintenance rates at thousands of leading UK garage dealers and independent providers. This solution centralises the billing and cost-analysis process behind every maintenance operation; better equipping your team with the right insights to make strategic decisions.

Having the right technology stack in your business could not only help you save costs, but it could also prove to be an attractive prospect for drivers. Putting driver safety at the heart of your operation is key and combining this with tech that reduces each driver’s admin load could give you an edge over competitors.

Man managing fleet on tablet

3. Build a healthy relationship with your drivers

There’s no shortage of companies that will advocate building strong employee-employer relationships, but have you considered that strengthening relationships with your drivers could have knock-on benefits for vehicle maintenance?

If your drivers are proud of their vehicles, confident that you’re equipping them with the best-in-market technology to do their jobs effectively and feel that they’re able to communicate with you openly and honestly about issues facing their vehicles, then you’re increasing the chances of having issues flagged early on and resolved quickly.

For example, have you considered the potential benefits of equipping your drivers with an easy-to-use fuel finder app that can help speed up their search for a local filling station? Or even speeding up their routine safety checks with a similar type of app?

Making smart choices around improving your operation and sharing your thoughts and priorities with your drivers could help them feel more supported and emotionally invested in your company, which is likely to yield benefits in a variety of ways.

Why vehicle maintenance matters

Vehicle maintenance should be a top priority for your business, and the first and most obvious benefit of a good plan is vehicle and driver safety. Badly maintained cars may be more prone to failures on the road that could lead to serious accidents. Some areas to look out for include:

1. Using a vehicle maintenance planner

There are clear financial benefits to keeping your fleet well-maintained, and the best way to manage this at scale is with a robust maintenance schedule. Having a good schedule reduces the risk of breakdowns or other issues that can force a car off the road unexpectedly- and this type of unplanned downtime can be very costly for firms. It also may mean they have to alter schedules and risk disappointing customers.

So, taking the time to create a vehicle maintenance planner – preferably one that’s digital, features some level of automation, and can be shared with all relevant parties, could streamline your process in the long run.

2. Getting light vehicle maintenance right

Even simple things like making sure your tyres are the correct pressure can improve fuel economy, and therefore reduce running costs.

Therefore, you need a clear plan for what levels of fleet vehicle servicing you’ll look to conduct at different touchpoints with drivers. This must ensure that every vehicle you operate has its own service schedule that’s planned well in advance.

Don’t leave it to the last minute or arrange this on an ad-hoc basis. Factors to consider when creating a maintenance schedule include:

  • The vehicle’s age
  • Frequency of use
  • Mileage
  • Operating conditions

3. Stay up to date on the latest laws

It’s also essential to familiarise yourself with the current laws around vehicle maintenance, as employers may be liable for accidents that occur on the road if they fail to adequately protect drivers. Research suggests that some fleet operators may currently be at risk of incurring considerable fines due to inadequate maintenance programs.

With the importance of proper maintenance processes underlined, how should you actually go about implementing a maintenance program?

Testing vehicle fluid levels with dipstick

How to conduct service checks

We’ve touched on what vehicle maintenance is and why it matters – but what should a good maintenance programme look like on a day-to-day basis? There are a wide range of checks that need to be performed. Knowing what these are and how frequently they should be done is a vital step in keeping your fleet moving.

For everyday checks – remember FLOWER

Firstly, you must be performing a range of regular checks on your vehicles. Ideally, these should be done every day before setting off, but they should at least be done on a weekly basis or before any long journey. The best way of handling these is to have drivers take responsibility for their own vehicles, so it’s vital they’re trained on what to look for and how to report the results.

There are a few key areas that should be focused on here. The AA suggests these can be easily remembered with the acronym ‘FLOWER’, which consists of the following:

Fuel

Does the vehicle have enough fuel to make the journey? If not, make sure you know where you can use your fuel card to fill up. This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how often it’s overlooked, and running dry can cause big problems – especially in the winter or for diesel vehicles.

Lights

Are all the bulbs working? Brake lights, indicators and headlights are especially vital. Therefore, have someone walk around the vehicle to make sure they not only work, but can be easily seen. This means clearing away any debris or mud that could obscure them.

Oil

Check your dipstick to ensure your oil level is between the minimum and maximum marks on the stick. If not, you could be running the risk of serious engine damage. This is also a very common problem, as the RAC notes one in three vehicles it’s called out to have dangerously low oil levels.

Water

Make sure your screen wash reservoir is topped up regularly. This is important year-round, but especially so in winter when grit, snow and mud can all smear your windscreen. Even in summer, bugs and pollen can hamper your view, so don’t run the risk of an empty water bottle.

Electrics

Aside from your lights, you should also check other electrics such as your battery. Make sure the connections are clean and tight and use a battery monitor to check its health. It’s a good idea to keep a set of jump leads in each vehicle – or at least on hand at your site – if you have a flat battery. The most common cause of this is leaving lights on, but this issue can also occur if the car hasn’t been used for a while or is used mainly for very short trips with lots of stopping and starting.

Rubber

Making sure your tyres are in good condition is also essential. This involves several steps. Firstly, make sure they’re set to the right pressure as specified in the vehicle manual. Using a pressure gauge is a good idea for this. Then, check the tread depth meets minimum requirements. The treads should be at least 1.6mm deep – that’s about the size of the rim on a 20p piece if you’re not sure. Finally, check the tyres for any other signs of wear or damage, such as cuts, splits, or bulges.

Check the tread depth of a tire

If the daily checks spot any issues with these components, they should be immediately flagged up for maintenance or repair before the car is sent out on to the road.

Conducting longer-term checks for vehicles

A timeframe should also be laid out for more comprehensive servicing, or this could be conducted once a vehicle surpasses a fixed number of miles. This should go into more depth on a range of maintenance issues, including:

  • Coolant
  • Air filter
  • Spark plugs (for petrol vehicles)
  • Brakes
  • Transmission fluid
  • Serpentine belt

Keeping your vehicles in good working order is an essential part of any fleet manager’s job. While some of the day-to-day work can be delegated to individual drivers, it’s still vital that you have a clear plan in place. This means undertaking frequent checks of key systems and a regular vehicle service schedule for more comprehensive car maintenance.

We hope this guide has helped to develop your understanding of fleet maintenance and give you some ideas around how you could fine tune your operation.

How can Fuel Card Services help?

At Fuel Card Services, we specialise in fleet maintenance and have developed a full suite of tools that you can use to become more cost-effective in your operations. Every good fleet management operation requires a desire to both protect drivers and profits, the right people in place, and the right technology to make an efficient operation possible.

To see how we can support you with the right technology, including advanced telematics, view our range of fleet services today, and get in touch with one of our friendly experts for a tailored quote.