Auto insurance costs are rising, especially if you own many vehicles. Fleet managers try to reduce the insurance cost by getting fleet insurance instead of insuring each vehicle individually. However, you can still reduce fleet insurance costs by applying the following tips.
Review Before Renewing
Gather all the necessary information whenever you want to renew fleet insurance. Focus on information that shows the steps you have taken to increase the safety of your vehicles. For example, you can use fleet management software to record all vehicle improvements in the past year. Insurance providers can use this evidence to offer more favorable terms.
Enforce Minimum Standards for Driving
Identify drivers and other support staff that can increase your accident rate. The aim is to get experienced drivers that will lower the number of accidents and ultimately reduce insurance costs. One strategy is to have comprehensive risk management policies for your drivers. Here is what the policy may include:
- All drivers must update their driving records regularly and agree to frequent driving license checks.
- All drivers must undergo a background check and disclose any previous convictions.
- Younger and less-experienced drivers constitute a small percentage of your drivers.
- Avoid putting inexperienced drivers on long and high-risk routes.
Enhancing your driver’s experience and skills will reduce accidents. This will result in lower fleet insurance premiums.
Don’t Just Consider the Price
The common strategy is to identify the cheapest fleet insurance policy for your needs. However, before you can get an affordable policy, you may have to make costly enhancements to your vehicles. The cost of these enhancements may eventually be greater than the corresponding insurance discounts. This may be a loss, especially if the vehicle enhancements only reduce insurance premiums and don’t enhance your fleet in any other way.
Therefore, consider the impact of each type of fleet insurance on your operational costs. If the cost is too high, then you might be better off getting third-party insurance.
Raise the CSA Score
The Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) score is a tracking system of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The score accurately measures the safety practices implemented by each fleet in the country. The federal agency also provides tips on how you can improve your score. Although the score is not publicly available, your insurance can get access to it and use the information to reduce your insurance premiums.
Give Regular Feedback
If your drivers don’t know their mistakes, they will repeatedly make the same errors. The solution is to remind drivers about their performance regularly. When a driver performs poorly, give them useful information in a manner that encourages them to improve. The feedback should be timely while the event is fresh in the driver’s memory.
Positive feedback can also make your drivers happy and motivated. For example, top management can call underperforming drivers and encourage them to improve. If you do this often, the drivers will contact you to know how they perform. Better-performing drivers help reduce your insurance fleet costs.
Increase Deductibles
When you take on an insurance policy, you may agree to pay some amount towards the insured loss if a disaster strikes. For example, you can promise to pay half of the repair costs if one of your vehicles is involved in a road accident. Generally, your insurance premiums will be lower if you take high deductibles. However, remember you should set aside enough money to cover the deductible before you can make a claim.
Ultimately, working with a reputable insurance company is the best way to reduce your fleet insurance premiums. Fleet Line Insurance offers comprehensive truck insurance policies at affordable rates. We can tailor the policy to fit your requirements. Contact us today and learn how we can help you.
