(Feature Image: Grown fleet with increased risk)
If you’ve gone from running a few trucks to managing a fleet across multiple sites, you may have noticed how much more complex things become. What started as a simple driver check-in or maintenance routine can quickly turn into a balancing act of schedules, compliance, subcontractors and vehicle wear.
At Insuregroup, we speak with operators in this exact position every day and many are finding that as their fleet grows, so does their exposure to risk. Not just from breakdowns or mechanical issues, but from the kind of incident that can bring operations to a standstill.
And it’s not just anecdotal. The 2024 NTARC Major Incident Report shows that crash rates are rising fastest among larger fleets particularly those with 15 or more trucks.
Here, we unpack what that means for your business, where growing fleets often come unstuck and how you can manage risk more confidently as your operation scales.
Where Things Start to Slip
No one plans to let safety standards slide. But as fleets grow and the pressure to deliver increases, small cracks can quietly form in even the most well-run operations. These cracks don’t usually appear overnight, they show up in everyday shortcuts such as overlooked checks and assumptions that someone else has handled it.
Let’s break down some of the common early warning signs that can occur:
- A new depot opens, but safety briefings and procedures from HQ aren’t fully carried across. Staff may be unclear on policies or reporting lines, leading to inconsistency.
- Subcontractors are brought on quickly, but no one checks if their onboarding matches that of internal drivers. They may not follow the same load or route protocols.
- Scheduled maintenance is skipped because vehicles are needed on the road. Deferred servicing can lead to mechanical issues and preventable incidents.
- Telematics alerts stack up, but without someone reviewing and actioning the data, warning signs go unnoticed.
- Safety meetings get shorter or stop altogether, with new staff missing out on key training and procedure updates.
None of these issues necessarily stem from bad management. In fact, they’re often byproducts of success or signs that your operation is growing and moving fast. But as the business evolves, your systems and supervision need to evolve with it. Otherwise, what used to be small oversights can quickly scale into high-risk blind spots.
What the National Data is Telling Us
You’re not imagining it and we’re not overstating it, larger fleets really are more exposed. As noted earlier, the 2024 NTARC Major Incident Report confirms that fleets with 15 or more trucks saw the biggest rise in crash frequency year-on-year.
(Graph: Incidents by operator size. Data Source: Major Incident Investigation Report 2024)
By comparison, smaller fleets with between 1 to 5 trucks stayed relatively stable and medium fleets with 6 to 14 trucks saw a moderate increase. But as soon as your fleet size jumps into double digits, the complexity and the risk increases significantly.
Insights found in the BITRE Infrastructure Yearbook further back this up. It shows more freight is being moved by fewer, larger operators and total freight kilometres continue to climb. That means not only are there more trucks on the road but longer routes and as a result, higher stakes.
(Graph: Commercial Vehicle Kilometres Travelled per Capital City. Data source: Australian Infrastructure and Transport Statistics Yearbook 2024)
The Hidden Risks That Don’t Show Up on a Logbook
When we talk about risk, it’s not just about major crashes or mechanical failures. Larger operators face a range of hidden risks that build up over time, such as:
- Policy fatigue: where staff become desensitised to checklists and stop engaging with safety procedures
- Fleet drift: where newly added vehicles aren’t properly integrated into existing compliance checks
- Insurance creep: where small coverage gaps go unnoticed until a claim is denied
- Poor claims visibility: where one depot doesn’t know a similar incident happened somewhere else
In short, the bigger your business, the more essential it is to actively review and reinforce your safety, reporting and insurance frameworks.
Simple Ways to Strengthen Your Risk Strategy
While the data is concerning, there is no need to panic and you don’t need to overhaul your whole operation overnight. It is suggested, however, time if taken to bring focus back to the key areas where risk tends to creep in.
Here are four starting points we often explore with clients:
1. Standardise onboarding
Make sure everyone, from full-time drivers to short-term contractors, gets the same safety induction. This includes fatigue rules, emergency procedures and what to report (and when).
2. Clean up your data strategy
If you’re collecting telematics or vehicle data but not reviewing it regularly, it’s time to change that. Ideally you should create a process around what to track, how to respond and how to flag issues before they escalate.
3. Review your insurance for what’s changed
Your policy might’ve made sense when you had six trucks. But if you’re now operating 20 or more, across state lines or carrying higher-value freight, your cover could be out of step with your actual risk.
4. Get a second set of eyes on your risk profile
This is where the specialist expertise of an insurance broker can become invaluable. At Insuregroup, we don’t just tick boxes to find your cover, we work with you to understand the details of your operation. That includes:
- What kinds of goods you’re carrying
- Who’s driving and how they’re onboarded
- How maintenance and compliance are handled across sites
We then identify and explore cover options with you that align with your needs and work to avoid scenarios that could see you under- or over-insured.
Why Use a Broker When You’re Growing?
We understand that renewing your policy online can feel like the simplest and easiest option, especially as a busy business owner. But here’s why that may not always be the best choice and how we may support you in this process as experienced brokers:
- We work for you, not the insurer. That means we’re not limited to one product or company, we look for the solution that actually fits your fleet.
- We understand transport risk. You won’t have to explain what a refrigerated trailer does or how subcontractors fit into your business model, we already know.
- We make claims easier. If something goes wrong, we’re in your corner to help manage the process and advocate on your behalf.
- We save you time. No long phone queues, no wading through PDS documents, we do the heavy lifting so you can stay focused on your operations.
Insuregroup, Helping you to Stay in Control as You Scale
As your fleet grows, so do the moving parts, more drivers, more vehicles, more pressure to stay compliant and on the road. What worked when you had five trucks may not be enough to support you at 15, 20 or more.
Now’s the time to step back and make sure your insurance and risk strategy are keeping pace with where your business is heading.
At Insuregroup, we’re proud to be part of the Steadfast Insurance Group, giving us access to a wide network of insurers and policy options. We work closely with transport operators across Australia to help review insurance needs based on how their fleet actually operates, no one-size-fits-all approach and no assumptions.
If your business is growing or gearing up to, get in touch online or by phone today to arrange a fleet review and insurance quote that fits your next chapter.