Essential Supplies Every Company Vehicle Should Have
Sending company vehicles out into the field with employee drivers is a commitment businesses make every day. Ideally, each vehicle is packed with all the gear, equipment, and resources your teams need to get the job done. If they are technicians, then toolboxes and handheld computers may be in the supplies. If you run a corporate hospitality fleet, they may be stocked with drink coolers and a selection of onboard music.
But there are some supplies that every company should be stocked with, regardless of purpose or style of the vehicle in question. If you are sending employees out in company vehicles, if you are potentially transporting clients or merchandise in these vehicles, then the following five items should be considered practical, essential, and included in every well-planned company vehicle.
1. Device mounts and charging ports
Most modern business fleets are not run over phones and CB radios anymore. You work with a management app. Whether you’re coordinating routes or customers schedules, chances are that each vehicle will need at least one mounted device and a port to charge it from. Sometimes, vehicle computers can do the job, but more often, you’ll have a phone or tablet mounted to the dash to serve as your management and communication device. So make sure the vehicle is equipped and ready to support any device infrastructure your team needs to interface with the fleet management platform.
Some fleets will go for a permanent installation, affixing a device and tucking away it’s charging infrastructure so that the device never leaves the car. Others may have a more flexible setup with a device that is magnet-mounted and can be carried in to coordinate service with customers as well as being a vehicle guide. Consider these choices when setting up your device mounting and charging infrastructure.
2. It’s own wallet
Every company vehicle needs a wallet. The vehicle needs to be rolling with its registration and proof of insurance at the very least and most businesses like to keep the vehicle manual somewhere in the car just in case. The car’s wallet, no matter how big or small, should be the single place where employee drivers look for documentation on the car. Ensuring that your vehicle has one unified kit of documentation is exactly how you help employees deal with unpredictable situations in the future, from dealing with the aftermath of accidents to emergency roadside service.
This way, if a fleet vehicle is involved in an accident or is pulled over during the daily route, your drivers or team will be able to fish up any documentation needed. In such a stressful situation, they will not need to turn the vehicle inside-out looking for hidden registration or insurance documents tucked into the glove box or next to the spare tire.
3. Lost item guards
Things get lost inside vehicles. This is a fact of life we’ve all accepted as commuters who have dropped endless pens, USB sticks, and tubes of chapstick into the Dark Unknown that exists between and under the seats. But this doesn’t actually have to be true. There are small non-tech devices that can be installed in a car that prevent items from falling between seats and getting lost under seats. They are non-tech simple foam-and-felt guards. Some slip between the console and the front seats. Some lodge underneath the seats to prevent anything from rolling in there.
The addition of these simple guards can save your employees so much grief losing pens, keys, and glasses then having to fish them out ungracefully if they remember to fish them out at all.
4. Vehicle survival kit
Every company vehicle should have a fairly comprehensive survival kit. This should, at minimum, include a first-aid kit, a large bottle of water, and roadside reflector triangles. A more complete kit might also include a blanket, flashlight, ration bars, and so on. Consider the possibility, based on your region and local weather, that an employee might become stranded with their vehicle, possibly in extreme weather conditions. While these packs may rarely be used, they could save lives if they were ever needed. And the roadside reflectors are sure to come in handy eventually.
5. Spare tire and tools
Tires pop from time to time. A million tires roll over the same pot-hole and it’s a nearly random lottery which one will hit it wrong and blow. Whether it’s debris in the road or just bad luck, you want your employees to have access to a donut wheel, a tire tool, and anything else they may need to change a tire on the go quickly. Even if you have roadside service that could rescue a tire-stranded employee, you hardly want to rely on cell signal to keep your employees both safe and mobile. Make sure every one of your company vehicles features a spare tire and the tools to change it, just in case.
6. Cleaning supplies
Finally, ending on a lighter note, it’s always handy to have a kit of cleaning supplies tucked somewhere in the car. In fact, sometimes it can be a life-saver. Baby wipes and alcohol wipes are incredibly useful for employees in the field who may have touched something outdoors without an opportunity to wash up. And window cleaner combined with paper towels and an extending squeegee can clear a windshield if, say, your company vehicle parks under a tree that drips sticky sap while the team provided service to a client. There are so many helpful little use-cases for a kit of cleaning supplies to make it worth stocking every company vehicle with a few essential items.
Company vehicles are not just cars that work for the business. They are also carrying and protecting employees out in the field. With these six essentials stocked into every vehicle in the company fleet, you can be sure that your team has the means to stay safe, clean, on the right side of the law, and avoid dropping their pens into any under-seat abyss. All of which are incredibly useful when the right circumstances roll around. If you’re getting ready to buy or fit out a company vehicle and want to talk finances, contact us today!
