As a bonus, any time you reduce risk you reduce the chance of incurring an insurance claim, which ultimately can help lower your commercial vehicle insurance and other business insurance rates.
Here's How:
Before initiating an internal vehicle maintenance plan, you should understand federal commercial vehicle requirements. Every year, the Commercial Safety Vehicle Alliance (CSVA) conducts approximately four million commercial motor vehicle inspections throughout North America. These inspections focus on vehicle mechanical safety, traffic enforcement, cargo securement and regional rules and regulations. Any vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds, including the weight of a trailer, may be subject to these random road checks. http://www.cvsa.org/programs/nas.php
In addition to complying with federal regulations, it’s also a good idea to create a formal preventive maintenance program that includes a daily pre- and post-drive checklist. This helps insure that drivers share some of the vehicle maintenance responsibility and that the day-to-day safety requirements are met.
A good place to start is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ FMCSA’s “A Motor Carrier’s Guide to IMPROVING HIGHWAY SAFETY” is a great resource. It includes lots of information and record-keeping forms. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/ETA-Final-508c-s.pdf.
With a preventive maintenance plan in place and knowledge of federal and state regulations, your one commercial vehicle or your entire fleet will be ready for the road.
American Insuring Group’s independence and high standards allow us to provide the best commercial vehicle insurance rates and high-quality insurance protection for your commercially used car, van, truck, or fleet. Contact us at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848 to learn more.