ASSESSING FLEET MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

The relationship between the organisations business activities is multi levelled and multi faceted. The acquisition and day to day running of the fleet will be the second or third highest cost for the organisation. As work-related vehicle crashes are the single largest cause of fatal occupational injury in Australia an organisations fleet (transport) activities are where the bulk of risk resides for the organisation.

The fleet management audit tool was designed to identify the extent to which fleet is managed in an organisation compared to best practice model.  The audit tool can be used to conduct audits within an organisation to provide an indicator of progress in managing the fleet and it can be used to benchmark performance with other organisations.

The audit tool requires honest and critical self-evaluation from organisations.  It is intended that information to conduct a fleet audit using the tool will be obtained from a range of sources, which could include direct observations, interviews with managers and staff, and an examination of policies and other relevant documents.

It can be applied to the whole organisation.  However, when an organisation has divisions or sections that are at different stages with their fleet management system development, it may be more informative to apply the audit tool to individual sections separately.  Alternatively, if the audit tool is applied to the whole organisation, the lowest level of performance achieved by a division or section should be used as the organisation’s score.

If an organisation outsources any of the activities associated with fleet management, such as vehicle selection and/or maintenance, the organisation should rate the level of management performance that is formally expected of, and met, by that service provider under the service contract conditions.

USING THE FLEET AUDIT TOOL FOR BENCHMARKING

The fleet audit tool can be used to identify areas for improvement in an organisation and can then be used to measure progress in improving the performance in the organisation.  It can also be used by an organisation to benchmark their management of fleet again against other organisations.

In the development of the fleet audit tool there was no one strategy identified that if performed well would result in ‘best practice’ fleet performance.  Rather it appeared that combinations of strategies used to manage fleet organisations was the best approach.  However, the research literature undertaken did not identify which were the best combinations of fleet management strategies that organisations should adopt in order to reach best practice.

FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT TOOL

1.         Management, systems and processes

Management demonstrates leadership and commitment to fleet safety management.  Fleet safety is managed using a pro-active, risk management approach.  There is consultation between management and workers regarding fleet safety issues, with workers involved in the decision making process.

MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT

The organisation conducts crash investigations for at-fault vehicle crashes involving workers.  The organisation has systems in place to monitor fleet safety performance and is able to review at-fault vehicle crash trends.  The organisation has mechanisms in place to recognise good driving performance and to respond to driver infractions.

EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT, TRAINING AND EDUCATION

The organisation has systems in place to select safe drivers.  The organisation conducts fleet safety and vehicle-specific induction programs for employees.  The organisation identifies, conducts and evaluates driver training programs for employees, as required.

VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY, SELECTION AND MAINTENANCE

The organisation has in place fleet vehicle selection guidelines and conducts a regular program of fleet vehicle maintenance.

VEHICLE JOURNEYS

The organisation recognises the role of journey planning, including the identification of safe routes and risk factor management.

SCORING SHEET

Instructions

Please complete the fleet safety audit tool and circle your organisation’s score below for each category.  After you have rated each category, add up the subtotals from each column and add them together to calculate the total score.  The total score can then used to provide an indication of how the organisation is performing in relation to best practice fleet safety management.