We all want to make it home safely at the end of the day. Whether you are an employee, an equipment operator, or a fleet manager, safety should always be at the forefront of your mind—and reflected in your day-to-day practices.

As a fleet manager, being committed to safety means thinking beyond yourself, and taking care of your own employees and fleet. Everyone out in the field faces different safety risks, from the driver of a vehicle to the mechanic in the shop to other people on the roads.

It’s critical that everyone on your team is involved in conversations about safety, and that these conversations come from a place of empathy and understanding. While safety can sometimes be an uncomfortable topic, it’s still a critical one. We’ve worked hard to build a culture that encourages a collaborative and open approach to looking at safety.

These conversations around safety shouldn’t just be something on your checklist that you need to tick off for a policy. New, better, safety practices are always being developed, so it’s important to stay on top of them. For example, thirty years ago, wearing ear protection wasn’t considered standard practice throughout the industry. Once conversations started happening about the long-term hearing damage that this lack of protection could lead to, those who made changes right away saw their employee’s wellbeing improve immediately.

Preventative maintenance is another proactive approach to safety. That means looking out for issues such as incorrect tire inflation levels, worn-out brake pads or loose wheel bolts and fixing them before they become a safety problem. By staying on top of any potential maintenance, not only are you saving yourself from longer periods of downtime and costly repair bills, you are doing your part to keep yourself and other drivers on the road safe.

At Fountain Tire, we live and breathe the same safety practices we encourage our clients to consider. Our safety practices don’t just come from the high-ups in corporate. Instead, we've built a culture that welcomes and encourages conversations about safety in all areas of the business. And we’re proud of that.

Our approach to open, empathetic conversations has led to real changes in our day-to-day safety practices. We’ve seen our senior team members become champions of safety and they feel comfortable to have ongoing discussion with the younger team members about the importance of following safety procedures—using their own experiences to educate in a real, meaningful way.

Here’s one way that we ensure our employees are always working safely. During our regular “spot checks,” our sales team and other associates can use a standard observation checklist to check in on service truck operators while in the field. While other companies have similar practices, here at Fountain Tire, we have recently transitioned this checklist to a mobile app, allowing observers to provide more detailed comments and feedback.

These spot checks aren’t designed to be “gotcha” moments; rather, they’re an opportunity to celebrate our shared commitment to safety and learn from any mistakes we’ve made. The resulting conversations open the door for feedback and education, helping our workers feel supported and comfortable.

To learn more about how you can ensure you are using the best fleet safety practices, please reach out to your local Fountain Tire sales representatives.

To learn more about Fountain Tire’s safety policies, check out our Safety Excellence Program .