Slash Costs, Not Safety: How Smart Partnerships Help Fleets Stay Profitable as Expenses Rise
In 2018, truck fleet operating costs rose by 7.7%. In 2019, they rose again. Shipping rates are tight, nuclear settlements are driving up trucking insurance premiums, driver shortages make hiring more expensive, and maintenance costs are heading upward.
As expenses rise, a low-margin industry is getting squeezed even tighter. Many operations managers are left with nothing but bad options. If they can’t find a way to cut costs, a down quarter could bankrupt their companies. But if they cut policies that keep staff happy and safe, bad drivers and worse accidents will shut their businesses down.
Ultimately, the best way to get through tough times is to work together. That’s why smart, dependable partnerships are key to fleets’ successes. And today, two partners are joining forces to increase fleet safety and reduce costs.
East West Administrators: 15 Years of Enhancing Medical Coverage while Reducing Premiums
In 2003, East West Administrators’ insurance experts stumbled on a section of the IRS tax code that changed the way they did business. It’s a complicated story that involves combing through thousands of pages of health insurance legalese, but the gist is this: By taking advantage of a little-known part of the IRS code called “Section 105,” they could provide great benefits for greatly reduced prices.
Since then, the team at East West Administrators has offered expanded health insurance coverage for reduced premiums. Their packages include:
- Medical
- Dental
- Vision
- Life
- Disability
- Hearing Wellness
- Employee Financial Wellness (Credit Improvement)
- Bureau Scores
- Ancillary Benefits
Because they provide such high-quality insurance coverage, their clients have improved recruiting opportunities and employee retention. In addition, East West Administrators have cut clients’ average premiums by 30%. One trucking company with 174 employees had been paying $3,000,000 a year for health insurance. East West Administrators restructured their plan and cut that price by $800,000.
But East West Administrators knew they could save clients even more money with the right accident-reduction tool. A sure-fire solution would keep clients’ staff safe and out of the hospital, so East West Administrators could negotiate lower premiums. They needed a partner who had that tool – and they found FleetUp.
Cutting-Edge Accident Reduction Technology
FleetUp, an all-in-one telematics platform, provides a wide variety of fleet management tools. What most caught East West Administrators’ attention, though, was their suite of safety technologies. Those include:
- Driver Safety Scorecards: Clients can view automatically generated score cards that grade every drivers’ road safety behaviors – and receive customizable alerts when drivers commit safety violations.
- 360° Dashcams: With a zero-blindspot 360-degree view of both the road and the cab, this dashcam assures clients that their drivers are awake, alert, and obeying the rules of the road.
- AI Voice Coaching: Clients can warn drivers as they drive unsafely, using e-Instructors to speak to drivers when they make sharp turns, brake harshly, and more.
East West Administrators and FleetUp’s partnership is a natural fit. Both companies are committed to saving clients’ money and increasing clients’ safety. Today, their customers are able to harness the industry’s most cutting-edge telematics system and the expertise of East West Administrators’ health insurance brokers.
