Why all logistics companies should conduct vehicle inspections

The World Health Organisation estimates the number of people who die from car accidents each year to be 1.3 million. Not to mention the monetary losses caused by these events. It turns out, however, that there is a lot one can do before starting a journey to decrease the risks on the road.

The solution lies in regular vehicle inspections. Most people do some form of inspection without even knowing it. Before starting your car, you will check that your seatbelt is fastened, that the rear-view mirrors are adjusted accordingly and that you have sufficient fuel.

In the logistics and transportation industry, this is even more important. And here is why.

Vehicle Inspections Increase Uptime And Reduce Maintenance

Sending a vehicle in for a service might help fix major problems. However, having an inspection checklist can help catch minor problems before they become bigger ones.

There are a few easy things to look out for that can save you lots of money in the long run.

For example, you should inspect all vehicles to check their oil as well as tire tread, pressure, and alignment at least once a month. Even a slight problem with a vehicle can still cause a major delay or even an accident when out on the road.

Every few months, a more thorough inspection should be conducted to check the mechanics of the vehicles. This can include things such as the brake pads, driver belts, power steering fluid, air filters, battery, transmission fluid and more.

Monitoring these points will reduce the maintenance costs and have your fleet on the road as planned.

Vehicle Inspections Improve Safety

Regular inspections will not only save you money in the upkeep of your fleet. They will also reduce the risks on the road.

You don’t want to discover problems with a vehicle only after they have caused an accident or broken down on-route. It’s better to always check that your vehicles are in working order to reduce the risk that a problem occurs.

Make sure that you implement an inspection platform that your employees can easily use on a daily basis. In doing so, they will feel more confident and comfortable driving and operating the fleet.

Final Thoughts

Yes, there is a lot to keep track of when maintaining a fleet of vehicles. However, using inspection checklists makes it much easier to record known issues and act accordingly before bigger problems occur.

Doing this will impact the bottomline of your company by increasing the uptime of your fleet and reducing the costs of maintenance. Even more important, it will improve safety on the roads for all of us.

Are you looking for a tool to implement regular vehicle inspections in your organisation? Falcony | Audit ticks all the boxes for low-threshold reporting, analytics and follow-up actions. Is easy to customise, enables real dialogue, automated reports, and a lot more. 

We are building the world's first operational involvement platform. Our mission is to make the process of finding, sharing, fixing and learning from issues and observations as easy as thinking about them and as rewarding as being remembered for them.‍

By doing this, we are making work more meaningful for all parties involved.

More information at falcony.io.