The 'could haves'

This section has additional material that will make your safe driving policy even more wide-ranging and thorough.

Remember, before you suggest any of these in your policy, consult an employment lawyer to check them against the Employment Relations Act 2000 and employee contracts first. (They may require specific agreements to be written into employee contracts.)

Fuel efficiency

There are benefits in considering how you can improve the environmental impact of your vehicles and your employees' driving patterns. These include:

• lowering fuel costs
• enhancing your company's reputation, internally and externally.

Some ways to improve environmental performance are:

• Consider fuel efficiency and size of car when purchasing/leasing vehicles. If most driving is short trips with only some long distance, does the entire fleet need to consist of large cars? Could you include smaller, more economical vehicles?
• If many trips are to the same destination, consider introducing workplace car pooling. Record car bookings in a central place where staff can see easily if there is a ride available to be shared.
• Encourage staff to reduce car use by combining meetings and activities in one trip.
• Ensure cars are regularly and well maintained. Cars that are well tuned are more fuel efficient and less polluting; driving on poorly inflated tyres uses more fuel.
• Is it even necessary to take the car? Could other transport be more appropriate – or could meetings be held via video or phone conferencing?
• Consider how your staff get to and from work. Is there a way to encourage more active travel like walking or cycling?

Consider educating staff on fuel-efficient driving habits. This can be built into an existing driving education programme. For example:

• A smooth driving style uses less fuel than sudden braking and acceleration.
• Faster driving burns more fuel. Driving over the speed limit on the open road increases fuel costs by up to 10 percent.
• If a car is stationary for more than 30 seconds, it is more efficient to switch off the engine rather than letting it idle.
• Short trips are less efficient - a cold engine uses 20 percent more fuel.

Cars' air conditioners can use about 10 percent extra fuel. At speeds of less than 80 km/h, opening windows may be a more efficient way of cooling the car.

The facts

A study of New Zealand's road freight and transport sector reported that changes in driver behaviour alone could reduce fuel consumption by 35 percent. Further savings were possible through better maintenance and other measures. ¹

Saving fuel can also improve road safety. An Australian study found that the fuel consumption of vehicles involved in crashes was higher than that of vehicles not involved in crashes. It found that speed reduction and smooth driving gave both safety and fuel-economy benefits. ²

Quick tips

See www.fuelsaver.govt.nz for more information on how to reduce fuel consumption and how different cars perform.

You could also consider setting up a workplace travel plan that aims to encourage staff to travel to and from work by public transport, on foot, by bike or by car share, and to improve access to workplaces. For more information, see www.landtransport.govt.nz.

If you significantly improve your company's fuel efficiency or transport-related carbon emissions, publicise it. Being seen to be more 'environmentally friendly' may improve your standing with customers, shareholders and the community.

Incentives/disincentives/rewards

Safer/more economical driving can be celebrated and incentivised. Some ideas include:

• rewards, eg raffle prizes for a given number of years with no at-fault crashes (staff should know what the reward will be, so that they have something to aim for)
• penalty points for breaches of the policy
• disciplinary action (including potential dismissal) when procedures aren't followed
• driver profile system (1-4 points = friendly reminder; 5-10 points = written warning; 11 or more points = risk losing vehicle and/or must pay for an advanced training course themselves; repeat latter offence = risk losing their job)
• giving new vehicles to the best performing staff
• setting up a bonus scheme to reward safe and efficient driving
• taking into account driving history when deciding bonuses
• setting up a pool of money, which is added to each month if there are no at-fault crashes; with the amount accumulated at the end of the year being used to fund a staff function or reward
• putting results in a public area in the workplace – a noticeboard, the intranet
• making driver training count towards career development.

Hiring (and disciplinary) procedures

These can be linked to your safe driving policy. For example:

• seek permission from potential employees to check their licence status through Driver Check
• undertake disciplinary action (including potential dismissal) when procedures aren't followed
• include driving behaviour requirements in the company's code of conduct
• make sure employees have the correct licence class/endorsement for the type of vehicle they'll be driving.

Company 'road rules'

Make your safe driving policy an integral and binding part of company policy. For example:

• Speed limits are the maximums.
• Prohibit the use of electronic planners, eating and drinking, reading instructions, and other common distractions while driving.
• Promote the switching-off of cellphones while driving.

Personal health education/combating fatigue

Safe driving is affected by the overall health of staff - if they're coming to work tired and worn out, their driving will be affected. your safe driving policy could look at personal health education in the areas of:

• stress and sleep
• healthy breakfasts and eating
• exercise
• reorganising the low energy times of the day
• workload and hours worked.

ACC and Land Transport NZ's Managing Fatigue workshops include a focus on work-life balance. See the appendices for more information.

 

Quick tips

• Incentives should be proportional to the actual targets achieved.
• Group incentives can achieve better results because they create group pressure to achieve a level of performance.

Contact Land Transport NZ to subscribe to Driver Check – drivercheck.landtransport.govt.nz. You can be notified if new and existing staff are licensed drivers (vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers can be impounded by the police).

Case study

• Case study: Fulton Hogan BoP tackles idlers

 

1  P Baas and D Latto (2005) Heavy vehicle efficiency - prepared for the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority, Transport Engineering Research Ltd, Auckland, p iv.

2  N Haworth and M Symmons (2001) The relationship between fuel economy and safety outcomes, Monash University Accident Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia, p 56.

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Last updated: 12 September 2007