A new, free online video safety course aimed at van operators is being launched by fleet software specialist FleetCheck at the Commercial Vehicle Show 2021. Called the 28-Day Fleet Confidence Challenge, it takes the form of four weekly episodes and is aimed at people whose fleet responsibility is only part of their role, who may not understand the full extent of their risk management responsibilities.

The course has been developed with the support of Simon Turner, campaign manager for the National Highways Driving for Better Business programme, and is open to 25 delegates every month. It will run for at least six months.

“Many van operators don’t understand the extent of the important legal responsibilities they carry when it comes to ensuring that their van operations are carried out safely and competently,” explained Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck.

“The 28-day Fleet Confidence Challenge has been designed to help those responsible for small and medium sized van fleets. In four weekly sessions of around 45 minutes each, we use a unique blend of online storytelling, interviews, policy guidance and personal mentoring to help ensure people are managing their fleet risk correctly.”

Week one of the video course is entitled “Understanding Your Duty of Care” and uses cartoons and voice actors to look at the impact of a fictional van accident on the driver and fleet manager, highlighting the faults that lead up to the incident.

Week two is called “Your 10 Most Important Tasks” and features Simon Turner from Driving for Better Business talking delegates through what he sees as the most important tasks a fleet manager should undertake to ensure they meet their duty of care requirements.

Week three covers “Creating Your Driving for Work Policy” and looks at how to deliver policy for drivers that clearly sets out the rules and standards you want them to follow. At the end of this module, delegates will have a comprehensive Driving for Work policy of their own that they can share with staff.

Finally, week four is called “Communicating Your Policy and Setting Up Your Systems” and gives delegates free access to FleetCheck Driver fleet management software to share their Driving for Work policy with drivers and document the distribution and approval process. A 40 minute one-on-one session with a FleetCheck expert will show them how to do this and also help to set up ongoing driver and vehicle management systems.