For hotel and restaurant consumers, the complimentary shuttle or free delivery service are perks that heavily influence venue choice. For the hotel and restaurant owner/operator, a fleet of vehicles can be an added expense and major liability.

At a luxurious resort in Puerto Rico, it’s a fleet of golf carts. At a downtown hotel, it’s the airport shuttle. At a New York City restaurant, it’s a fleet of delivery bikes. For many hospitality businesses, maintaining a fleet of vehicles means staffing and training the right drivers and maintaining vehicles. These are critical to creating a positive experience for customers – one that is reflective of the hospitality establishment.

Poor quality control and the high cost it takes to “do it right” makes maintaining a fleet of vehicles challenging for hospitality businesses that otherwise don’t specialize in transportation.

Optimizing your hospitality fleet

Whether the hospitality business is a small mom-and-pop boutique hotel with one van, or a large chain of restaurants with multiple delivery vehicles, there are a few things you can do to optimize a hospitality fleet:

  1. Abide by the law. When it comes to delivery bikes, this means wearing a helmet on every ride, wearing high visibility and reflective vests, outfitting bikes with reflectors, a head lamp and obtaining a special state ID for commercial bicycle riders. For hotel van operators, this means monitoring motor vehicle records (MVR) at least annually and making sure proper documentation and personal information is retained for each driver.
  2. Make training a focus. Conduct defensive driver training, including harsh breaking, distracted driving, fast turning and situational awareness. After an accident, reevaluate drivers. Does the employee need re-training or a supervisor ride-along? Consider telematics when appropriate to monitor the drivers and vans in real time. Create designated delivery routes and train drivers on following them and not driving beyond the specified radius.
  3. Maintain the vehicle fleet thoughtfully. When it comes to maintaining a fleet, regular maintenance is critical, including checks before and after each use. Create a preventative maintenance checklist for pre- and post-shift inspections. Stock common repair parts or maintain a vehicle maintenance contract with an outside vendor so that when something does fail, your van can get back on the road faster.

Contact your HUB Hospitality or Transportation expert today to find out how you can minimize your risk while maintaining a fleet and still meeting the delivery needs of your customers.