Truck drivers log millions of miles on the road each year to deliver all kinds of goods across the country. During these journeys, truckers and their trucking companies face massive risks.
Managing those risks is an essential component of a thriving trucking business. By adopting processes and procedures to reduce your risk, your operation runs more efficiently and with fewer costs. It only takes a single incident to result in hundreds of thousands of dollars—up to millions of dollars—in losses. With trucking insurance, you cover many of those losses up to the policy limits.
Further coverage can be enhanced through supplemental insurance protection. However, the best way to make use of both mandated insurance requirements and any additional supplemental coverage is to prevent incidents from occurring.
How Trucking Companies Can Manage Risks
In addition to having ample insurance coverage for your fleet, there are other risk management strategies you should employ for the best results.
Choose Qualified Drivers
Truck drivers are in short supply, and with the current demand, it can be difficult to find qualified drivers for your fleet. Unfortunately, that’s not expected to change any time soon, since a shortage of 160,000 truck drivers is expected by 2028 in the U.S.
You can attract the best drivers by creating CDL driver job posts that make your company stand out, but you’ll also need to be sure to thoroughly vet candidates before putting them on the road. Make sure they pass a road test and a drug test, and get a DOT background check plus a Motor Vehicles Records (MVR) report to be sure you’ve got the right people for the job.
Conduct Safety Training
When truck drivers get into accidents, it opens the door for liability risks, legal expenses, decreased productivity, and higher insurance rates for your company. Safety-oriented driver training for new hires as well as ongoing training for those who have been in the industry for a while can help reduce the risk of accidents.
Encourage Safe Truck Driving Culture
Trucking companies that engage in a positive culture of safety have better productivity and engagement while facing lower employee turnover and injuries. You want to get your drivers in the mindset that safety comes above and beyond all else. Doing so requires setting a positive example and prioritizing training. It also means you should follow up with each of them often and recognize safe drivers for a job well done.
Above all, you should always encourage every truck driver to obey the driving limits imposed by federal law. It may help to implement a fatigue management policy of your own and have everyone adhere to it.
Even with the best insurance policy to protect your fleet, managing risks could never happen without supplementing the protection with these tactics for safety in your company. If you want to keep truck insurance costs down, you must manage your risks.
To learn more about the role of insurance in risk management for trucking companies, visit https://simplexgroup.net/georgia/commercial-trucking-insurance/.
Aidan has been writing about personal finance for over 6 years. Prior to this, he worked as a Corporate Finance Analyst where he specialized in Due Diligence, Company Valuations and more. He is a CFA charterholder.
