By Wilkinson Lewis
In today's world, having a fleet of company vehicles isn't easy or inexpensive. Not only do you have to worry about what your employees are doing with your vehicles when you aren't looking, you have to worry about having enough money to replace the vehicles should they fail you. You can cut down on these worries if you follow a few rules and set some examples on how a company vehicle should be treated.
Make rules clear to employees and enforce them. If you do not want your employees using the vehicles for personal use, then be clear about that in your company handbook. If employees will be responsible for vehicle upkeep, make it a part of the rules. Anything that can save you from having to replace these cars due to lack of care or irresponsible actions should be set in writing and employees should provide signatures to acknowledge the rules.
Make sure you go over the rules with employees instead of relying on them to read the rules carefully. Also be clear about the consequences of breaking the rules. These should also be outlined and enforced. Letting one employee slide on the rules sends a clear message to the others that you do not take the company rules and policies seriously. You don't want to send that message, so always abide by the rules.
Conduct regular inspections on your vehicle fleet.You will not know how the employees are taking care of the vehicles if you do not regularly check them. Make it a point to give surprise inspections to weed out the employees that do not take care of the cars unless they know that you are going to be inspecting them. These employees may need to have their privileges with company cars revoked for some time.
Make sure that you provide a timeline of when the vehicles must be inspected and cared for by a professional mechanic. If your employee does not meet the deadlines, he or she should be reprimanded. Being strict about the care of your company vehicles can save you a lot of money from damage and neglect in the long run. This is especially true for those people who have small businesses.
Provide incentives to anyone who uses your cars to take great care of the cars. There are a lot of employees who do not do much unless there is an incentive to do so. At inspection time, you should give a reward to those employees who take good care of their cars. This may be by treating them with an appropriate gift or by giving them an opportunity to buy the car after so long.
The incentive to buy the car after a period of time typically makes employees who want to do so take better care of the car. You may want to offer the car after it has a certain amount of mileage on it or after so many years. You will probably see a big difference in the way your employees treat the company vehicles once they know that these cars could be their own for a discount.
Make sure you do not make yourself exempt from taking care of your own company car. When you are busy taking care of the company, it can be easy to neglect the company car that you drive. You must remember that you are setting an example for the rest of your employees in all of your actions. If they see that you are not taking care of the car that you drive, they may feel that you do not care about the care of the cars.
Send a positive message to your employees through your own actions and your words. Your employees will respond back in a positive way, and you will be protecting your investments.
Evans & Lewis Insurance was formed by two individuals with extensive experience in commercial vehicles and specialist motor trade insurances services. Their main goal is to provide affordable insurance to the motor trade sector which is free of hassles and different from other insurance companies. Road risk, truck and van, and motor fleet insurance are just a few things that Evan & Lewis Insurance can discuss with you to help you decide which is best for you and your business. Please give them a call for a quick quote at 0800 121 7401 or 01782 660590, or visit their website at http://www.motor-trade-insurances.co.uk.
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