Running a business where your main assets – your drivers and the recovery vehicles – are on the road most hours of the workday has its challenges. Certainly, the number of moving parts is not inconsiderable and the business itself isn’t simple to operate either.
Here are four suggestions for how to operate your vehicle recovery business better than in the past.
Get Fully Comprehensive Insurance
Recovery insurance is not the same as other business insurance on company vehicles. The vehicles are definitely more expensive. They also often use hydraulics and airlift technology, which is sometimes prone to fault or failure.
That’s why it’s a good idea to opt for a fully comprehensive recovery insurance policy, which will provide you with the most comprehensive cover possible. To get a competitive quote for recovery insurance, it pays to shop around. Quotezone.co.uk can check policies and prices between various insurers to secure the right coverage at a preferential price for a business.
Invest in Communication Technology
Fleet vehicle tracking is a sophisticated GPS tracking technology that tells you where your fleet of recovery vehicles is at all times and can positively impact your overall fleet insurance policy. If you’ve been relying on mobile phones alone to get in touch with your drivers, it’s time for a major upgrade. Updating customers on expected arrival times through advanced tracking ensures they aren’t left in the dark while stuck on the side of the road.
Drivers can even wear body cameras to record interactions with customers where they’re filling out check sheets and collecting their vehicles. This can help to resolve disputes or customer complaints to ascertain what happened on-site when it’s not clear enough.
Be Better with the Record Keeping
Given the fluid nature of the recovery business with drivers coming in and out of the business all day, it’s easy to be sloppy with the paperwork.
Whether you’ve moved everything to a digital platform with tablets for each driver where customers sign a digital form to confirm approval to collect the vehicle or the paper forms get digitised later, being efficient with all documentation makes life easier.
Use the secure cloud to upload all digital documents to a safe stored location in case there’s a problem at the business premises.
Ensure Drivers Receive Driving Breaks
In the rush to make it to the pickup point sooner and to the drop off point on time, sometimes drivers skip lunch or scheduled breaks. This leads to being overly tired and creates a lack of alertness that can be the difference between hitting the brakes soon enough or getting into an avoidable accident.
Schedule in mandatory breaks for all drivers to keep them safe. Both for them and the business, it’s worth it in the long run to avoid the risk of injury and other complications. And ensure they take them too.
Running a recovery business well, it can be a profitable operation that keeps churning out profits every day. It’s all about taking care of the little details.