How to stay compliant and safe on the road and on site in 2026

If your organization has a fleet of vehicles at its disposal, then there are two things that you have to consider above all else: Efficiency and safety. 

Both affect the bottom line, but safety arguably has the greatest impact. When accidents or injuries happen, efficiency drops as a direct consequence, whether due to reduced manpower, delays, or operational disruptions. 

Then there’s the risk of hefty penalties for any fleet operator who fails to meet compliance standards. Agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) impose fines based on both the severity and frequency of violations, so costs can quickly add up and become unmanageable.  

And all of that happens before news of frequent injuries and compliance failures begins to harm the organization’s reputation and makes it hard to retain skilled workers amid high turnover. 

Employee safety should always be a top priority for every fleet manager. As we head into 2026, it’s important to review and update fleet safety procedures in key areas.  

What are the main safety considerations for managers in 2026? 

For fleet managers, safety is absolutely essential in two key areas: across their sites and warehouses and out on the road.  

Each has its own challenges and pitfalls, so it’s important to understand exactly what you’re dealing with. Only then can fleet managers implement the necessary preparations, programs, and equipment to mitigate any risk.  

Warehouses, distribution centers, factories, and yards 

An unsafe warehouse or similar facility will never meet industry standards for efficiency.  

Consider forklift accidents. Each forklift accident triggers a chain reaction. First, there are repair costs for the damage and the growing impact on efficiency when a vehicle is suddenly out of service. The same applies when an employee is sidelined due to injury, especially if they may be legally entitled to financial compensation.  

Forklift accidents can cause additional problems, both financially and logistically. For instance, any warehouse perceived as unsafe is likely to experience high employee turnover, either from accidents or skilled staff leaving to work at safer locations. It costs about 25% of a warehouse worker’s yearly salary to train a replacement, so the financial impact quickly increases as the employee’s reputation for prioritizing health and safety decreases. 

Another major on-site concern for fleet safety operators is ensuring compliance with OSHA regulations. OSHA’s guidelines are developed and revised to provide warehouse operators and fleet managers with a practical safety framework to follow. OSHA is known to enforce strict penalties on sites that dangerously or repeatedly ignore its rules, including hefty fines and even shutting down operations.  

OSHA penalties vary by violation type. For willful or repeated violations, the maximum penalty is $165,514 per violation (as of 2025); for serious and other-than-serious violations, the maximum is $16,550 per violation.  

Amazon faced multiple enforcement actions in 2023 and 2024. Federal OSHA citations issued to Amazon in 2023 for ergonomic hazards and recordkeeping violations totaled approximately $152,000. In 2024, California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office issued a separate citation of $5.9 million to Amazon for failing to comply with California’s Warehouse Worker Protection Act at two facilities in the Inland Empire, with violations documented between October 2023 and March 2024. 

On the road 

Another area where fleet safety must be considered is, of course, on the road. While you might not be working with heavy plant machinery, you are dealing with HGVs, lorries, trucks, and cars. 

For vehicles on the road, usage and maintenance are key concerns for fleet managers. Compliance is equally important here as it is on-site, though it plays out differently.  

To begin with, all commercial vehicle drivers must use an approved electronic logging device (ELD) to log hours of service, ensuring fleet vehicles remain within safe limits. Likewise, IFTA (International Fuel Tax Agreement) registration must be completed for the fleet, accompanied by quarterly reports detailing the distance traveled and fuel purchased across U.S. states and Canadian provinces.  

Lastly, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program need to be considered. CSA was created to hold motorists and fleet operators accountable for their road safety standards.  

With millions of trucks and motorists on the road, ensuring everyone’s safety is crucial. To achieve this, the FMCSA groups fleet operators by the number of negative incidents, such as collisions, and assigns each a percentile rank. This is commonly referred to as a CSA Score, with data updated monthly and stored in the FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System. 

Drivers do not carry individual CSA scores; they always apply to the entire fleet operator. However, unsafe driving is one of the main factors that influence the percentile ranking, along with: 

• Crash frequency  
• Hours of service compliance 
• Vehicle maintenance  
• Drivers found operating under the influence of drugs and alcohol 
• Hazardous materials handling  
• Driver fitness 

It’s a lot to handle. Fleet managers must stay on top of numerous compliance and safety issues, which can become overwhelming without the right support.  

How Powerfleet can provide support 

Whether your fleet is on-site or on the road, Powerfleet provides managers with the data and insights needed to improve safety outcomes.  

By integrating IoT devices with vehicles and automating various alerts, drivers, operators, and pedestrians become safer.  

In the warehouse 

Powerfleet gives managers solutions to improve fleet and warehouse safety, including: 

Forklift Gateway enables automated, wireless tracking and control of industrial vehicles and operators. It can seamlessly integrate with forklifts as a key part of your fleet intelligence system. Forklift Gateway helps enforce safety protocols, monitor operator activity, and track vehicle health in real time, enabling safer, smarter, and more accountable operations. 

Pedestrian Proximity Detection is an AI-enabled vision system that detects pedestrians and industrial vehicles in the path of travel; no wearables or special apparel required. It alerts operators with real-time visual and audible warnings to help prevent collisions and reduce liability, while capturing event data for reporting and coaching in Unity. 

The Digital Video Recorder captures critical video clips of safety-related events, such as impacts, speeding, or policy violations. With continuous recording and up to four connected cameras, it enables rapid incident investigation, supports driver coaching, and helps reduce liability – whether you’re operating online or fully offline.  

Speed Manager is an onboard device that automatically reduces forklift speed in response to safety-related events, such as impacts, pedestrian detection, or inspection failures. Acting as a smart throttle override, it helps prevent collisions, supports compliance, and improves safety, without affecting lifting performance or hydraulic operations. Please note this device is currently not available in the UK or the EU.  

On the road  

Powerfleet’s On-Road IoT solution delivers real-time visibility, predictive analytics, and actionable insights. 

VisionAI, our AI-driven video IoT solution, helps prevent accidents, reduce liability, and enhance fleet safety. It enables real-time risk detection, driver coaching, and actionable insights – powered by advanced fatigue and distraction monitoring; all seamlessly unified through the Powerfleet Unity platform for end-to-end visibility and smarter decision-making. 

MiX 4000 is designed for global fleet operations. The on-board device provides advanced diagnostics, event detection, and real-time data using LTE, GNSS, BLE, and dual CAN. 

Vehicle Gateway Enterprise delivers robust data capture and connectivity across vehicle systems using dual CAN interfaces. With LTE and BLE options, it enables deep diagnostics, real-time insights, and integration with Unity for fleet-wide intelligence – helping you reduce costs, improve safety, and support sustainability and compliance initiatives. 

Wherever fleet vehicles operate, Powerfleet provides managers with the data and tools needed to stay compliant and improve safety standards.  

For instance, consider our collaboration with Origin Energy.  

Origin Energy leverages Powerfleet’s technology 

Origin Energy is one of Australia’s top energy providers. Its fleet comprises approximately 800 vehicles operating in both urban areas and remote terrain, transporting light equipment and hazardous materials. Looking to incorporate the latest innovations in fleet safety to better manage and reduce risks organization-wide, Origin turned to Powerfleet. 

In phase one, we integrated their varied IoT data sources into a single platform. That provided Origin with immediate visibility of the entire fleet, supporting compliance and safety management. 

Phase two involved expanding Origin’s access to analytics and safety data. By analyzing trends like harsh braking, cornering, and acceleration, Origin has created driver scorecards that encourage good driving habits and foster a stronger safety culture.  

Finally, phase three involved deploying VisionAI camera technology to monitor external threats and driver health and safety. 

The results clearly demonstrate the impact of Powerfleet’s solutions. There has been a steady decrease in harsh driving incidents per 10,000 km over seven years, while footage and telematics have cleared drivers of allegations in accident investigations. Origin’s reputation and public image have also improved, with higher driving standards resulting in fewer public complaints about branded fleet vehicles. 

Prioritizing safety in 2026 with Powerfleet  

No matter where your fleet vehicles operate, Powerfleet provides the tools to keep drivers and pedestrians safe at all times. With advanced AI, data-driven analytics, and a focus on preventive measures, it’s possible to reduce accidents and improve efficiency simultaneously.