HEAVY COMMERCIAL / TRUCK AND FLEET VEHICLE INSURANCE

Heavy vehicle or truck insurance is a vital part of any transporters fixed cost. The transport owners face many different challenges every time their trucks operate on the roads and it is therefore vital that trucking clients are able to operate in an environment where they are able to mitigate a large part of this daily risk.

Heavy vehicle insurance has various complex scenarios that need to be considered before the correct cover is issued. A full needs analysis is conducted before we are able to ascertain the correct risk.

We at Clanfin, pride ourselves in being able to offer a tailor made solution when analyzing a transporters risk profile.

Mark Holdsworth – Ran a fleet of trucks for 21 years which covered a broad range of logistics, from warehousing to long distance, short distance, cross border and refrigerated transport.

Derek Holdsworth – Was also involved in the transport industry for 14 years and gained a great deal of knowledge of the operational issues that can occur when a truck departs its depot.

We are therefore able to share this experience with our existing and potential new clients as we are able to understand their needs and in turn offer solutions that we believe give the transporter “peace of mind” that their risk will be taken care of suitably.

We have partnered with Regent Insurance Company over the years, which have now become part of the Hollard Group of companies, as we believe that they are able to offer a seamless product that gives the transporter all the tools in which to manage their risk accordingly. We also have agencies with other
trucking specialized insurance companies and will only place business with these specialist underwriters who understand the risk.

The biggest factor for any transporter is to have information at his fingertips. The Hollard Bureau manages the risk for the transporter by giving him all the info that is required to mitigate the issues that may have arisen. They log into the transporters’ telematics system and are able to access all the relevant information off the various approved systems. This includes speeding reports, fatigue reports and harsh braking. These are issued either daily or weekly, with an executive summary issued at the end of each month, which highlights all the areas and the level of risk.

The Bureau is responsible for monitoring the various fleets 24 hours a day and they report any incidents through to the operators. This includes off route deviations, reacting to panic alerts and even phoning at certain hours to ascertain when a driver may pull over for a rest.

Hollard Trucking also utilize a call centre where a transporter may phone once a vehicle has been in an accident and they take care of everything. This includes the towing of the vehicle to the nearest yard, dispatching of police, ambulances, clean ups and the works. This enables the operator to make one phone call and have everything taken care of.

In analyzing the transporter’s risk profile, we offer them the following additional benefits that need to be considered in order to avoid any issues. These include Excess Buy Back, Credit Shortfall and additional towing benefits amongst others.

Free driver training is also offered and this is a vital element of the risk mitigation process. This enables a qualified instructor to gauge the level of competency that a driver may have, as this is conducted in a
class room and practical environment.

We believe whole heartedly in the adage that a driver must be made to feel special when handling a two million rand rig. Without trucks and drivers, the economy comes to a stand still. The drivers face many very difficult, sometimes life threatening situations on the road and without the drivers “buy in” to the
risk management systems that are implemented, then that driver will never feel special. This ties in with the Hollard Highway Heroes driver of the year competition, where they identify the top drivers in various categories such as Taut liners, tankers, tippers and flat decks. Each of these categories have a
sub category, long haul, short haul, cross border and route specific. The winner receives R100 000 and there are various other prizes.

The campaign which has been running since 2015, has gone a long way to recognize the Heroes of the roads. The campaign has done extensive advertising that targets the public to ensure that they realise the challenges that drivers face every day and instead of begrudging them, it asks that you regard them as heroes and give them a wave. This ties in to the philosophy that if your fleet is managed properly, then your drivers will prosper as they will be made to feel like the heroes that they are. This boosts their morale and in turn gives them a sense of pride.

Clanfin prides itself in the fact that our insured drivers have won the 2015 and 2016 events and were runner up and second runner up in the 2017 event. This highlights our commitment to ensuring that our transport companies are given the correct tools to effectively manage their greatest asset, being their drivers.

This is why at Clanfin we believe in a holistic approach to managing risk on heavy commercial vehicles as it is our passion to make the roads safer for transporters and the public alike.