Bad weather threatens ill-prepared fleets

Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2012

One in two fleet drivers fail to take heed of poor weather conditions when trying to reach a destination, according to research by glass replacement and repair firm Autoglass.

The study, which canvassed 200 fleet managers, revealed that almost half of them postponed carrying out fleet maintenance this year because of last year’s mild winter weather.

Just 30% of fleets step up vehicle checks during bouts of bad weather despite the need to minimise downtime and ensure driver safety while 72% have not considered getting a fleet windscreen check undertaken by a glass provider ahead of the winter period.

Autoglass claimed accidents that happen in poor weather conditions or when the nights draw in cost fleets an average of 21 enforced hours off road.

Despite 58% of fleet managers vowing to get existing chips repaired before cold temperatures set in, 78% admitted they had put it off.

Fleet managers’ top demands for improving their operations during winter were: better in-vehicle safety systems, 31%; companies to provide better education for drivers, 30%; increased awareness of vehicle maintenance, 24%; every vehicle equipped with a bad weather kit.

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