How to Protect a Large Construction Fleet

A large construction fleet is vital to your business operations, and can be incredibly expensive to repair or replace.

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You need to understand the challenges associated with managing a large fleet, how to maintain fleet safety in construction, and the fleet insurance options available to you with a construction fleet.

Plant and special types vehicles in a construction fleet

A construction fleet typically includes a very wide range of plant and special types vehicles. These include, but are not limited to:

Cherry pickers/Lorry mounted cherry pickers
Cranes
Tower Wagons
Compactors
Tractors and agricultural vehicles

Covering all of these vehicles individually can be difficult, requiring a lot of administration and usually, a lot of money. This is why we offer special types fleet insurance, ensuring that all your expensive and specialist equipment can be covered under a single, comprehensive policy.

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The challenges of large construction fleet management

Managing a large construction fleet is difficult, with factors like high costs, compliance issues and operational setbacks contributing to a tricky management job:

Cost control - Fuel for your special types vehicles is bound to be expensive, and unfortunately waste and theft are relatively common. On top of this, maintenance is also costly, with specialised parts for repairs often being hard to acquire.
Maintenance and downtime - The nature of construction means that all vehicles are bound to experience heavy wear over time. On top of this, you’re likely to experience unexpected breakdowns, which may require expensive fixes.
Safety and risk management - Again, the nature of working in construction, particularly with heavy machinery, means that there are many health and safety concerns for you to manage.
Insurance issues - No matter how big or small your construction fleet, it’s likely that you need comprehensive insurance for multiple different types of vehicles. This is often highly time consuming to sort out, and can be extremely expensive. Instead of trying to find separate insurance policies for each vehicle or heavy machine, consider construction fleet insurance.
Maintenance issues - EVs require less maintenance overall, but there can be difficulties due to the specialised nature of electric repairs, as well as limited replacement parts, making some repairs more expensive.

Fleet safety in construction

In construction, fleet safety involves the implementation of measures in order to protect workers and vehicles involved in construction work. This isn’t just limited to cranes and excavators, it also includes trucks, vans and other transportation vehicles too.

Key aspects to maintaining fleet safety for your construction business include:

Electric vehicles can also affect fleet insurance.

Regular vehicle maintenance
Following regulations, such as installing safety equipment
Integrating advanced safety technologies
Effective communication between drivers, operators and construction site staff to ensure important information is relayed

How to protect a large construction fleet

Ensuring the safety of a construction fleet, in terms of the vehicles/machinery itself, is a multifaceted and complicated task.

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The first step we’d recommend is to install a comprehensive fleet management plan, which should be the foundation of a proper fleet protection plan. You need to establish strict processes regarding who is able to operate and access each vehicle in your fleet. On top of this, you must carry out detailed operator training, to prevent accidents and reduce wear and tear.
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Another step to take is leveraging technology such as GPS tracking and telematics. This acts as a theft deterrent as well as aiding discovery if any machinery is stolen. It also allows you to monitor driver behaviour such as speeding, harsh braking, or idling. Understanding if/when those operating machinery are misusing it allows you to provide training or disciplinary action when necessary.
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On top of this, proactive maintenance is important to protect and prolong the lifespan of a large construction fleet. This could include planned periodic maintenance checks to uncover damage or wear and tear, and immediately addressing potential issues, even if only minor.
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Probably the most important step towards protecting a large construction fleet is your insurance policy. Plans vary drastically on the level and the nature of cover needed, but you generally need a plan which accounts for:

Loss of vehicle
Vehicle damage
Breakdown cover
Legal fee support
Specialised cover for windows
Vandalism
Vehicle Replacement

You might also require elements like carriage of own goods and tools of trade risk to be included in your policy. Discuss your policy options with FleetCover today, and we can help you secure the right plan.

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