How To Ensure Your Limousine Drivers Don't Cause A Hike In Coverage Rates
If you are thinking of venturing into a limousine business, you need a multifaceted approach to keep your auto coverage rates low. This includes maintaining your vehicles, monitoring your fleet, and making sure you have safe drivers. On the part of the drivers, here are some of the helpful measures you need to implement:
Vet All Drivers
The first step is to ensure that every driver you hire is not only insurable but also safe; it doesn't hurt to go beyond the minimum requirements set by insurers. Vet your potential hires to lock out those with driving under the influence (DUI) convictions, numerous points, and accidents in their past. As the owner, make it a point personally to review every driver you want to hire to confirm that they don't have questionable practices in their past.
Train and Retrain Your Drivers
Obviously, you won't be hiring rookies, but that doesn't mean that you should assume new drivers are automatically safe; they might just have been lucky not to experience or engage in risky incidents in the past. Not only that, but new safety issues emerge every day and vehicles are updated all the time – all these call for continual driver training. Therefore, train both your new drivers and existing ones; ongoing training will keep them on their toes, motivate them, and ensure they are conversant with emerging safety issues.
Establish a Mentor Program for New Hires
Most industry insiders will tell you that their safest drivers are the ones they have had for a long time. Link such old timers with newcomers in a mentorship program so that the newcomers can learn the ropes and become safe drivers for you too.
Implement Drug Testing Programs
Drugs and alcohol are some of the worst things that affect driver safety. In fact, many insurers have a no-tolerance policy when it comes to drinking and driving. Don't want for accidents to occur before taking measures; preempt such losses by implementing a drug and alcohol testing program so that you don't keep drunk drivers on your payroll.
Know Your Employees' Schedules After Work
Lastly, you also need to know what your employees do after they leave your workplace. This is to ensure that they aren't too tired or sleepy when they resume working the following day. According to statistics, drowsiness causes about 100,000 car crashes every year. A driver shouldn't come to work after moonlighting for another company overnight.
Don't forget to work with an auto insurance agent who understands the limousine industry well. Such an agent can help you by identifying insurers who have a good relationship with the limousine industry and also educate you on what the insurers want.
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