A study conducted by insurance company Aviva about the changing behavioural patterns of fleet managers towards risk management has come up with some startling revelations. The broad conclusion is that managers entrusted with safety practices are still not gathering proper information from drivers and thereby exposing both drivers and fleet to dangerous risks. The subjects in this three-year study were 1400 fleet managers, and some of its findings are as follows:

The percentage of managers who have cared to obtain a detailed accident history of the drivers before employing them has remained fixed at 55%. Today’s market is the employer’s market, and so managers must conduct a thorough check of a driver’s case history before hiring him.

Driver fatigue policy is another area where fleet managers are still taking unnecessary risks, because there is no standardised norm in this regard. The workload of an employee should not lead to driver fatigue, and it is the responsibility of fleet managers to minimize workloads and change schedules if necessary. According to Shirley, Aviva’s motor risk manager, approximately 65% of fleet managers have a plan to minimise driver fatigue, as against 2005 figures of only 45%. However, the fact remains that there is a lot that needs to be done. Moreover, it is desired that car drivers can take frequent breaks after every two hours while on long drives, and fleets should have an in-house policy for breaks as well as for night halts wherever needed.

Driver’s eyesight is another factor that directly affects risk management, which is still not being treated with due care. In fact, the results of the survey show that the figures of fleet managers actually enquiring about a driver’s eyesight before employing him has reduced to 13%, as compared to 14% in 2005.

Another standard practice to reduce risk is to provide a handbook to all drivers. While there is an improvement in figures on this count from 51% to the recent 58%, it still needs a lot of input from fleet managers, especially if they want to manage the risks successfully.

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