Everything You Need to Know About Fleet Management

Fleet management is the process your business uses to manage all fleet and asset information, from acquisition through to disposal. This enables your business to reduce costs, improve efficiency and ensure compliance across an entire fleet operation.

We know that managing a pool of commercial vehicles can be a challenge at the best of times. Add to this external influences that a fleet manager faces but has little control over, such as legislation, car market uncertainty and spiralling costs, and the task can soon become overwhelming. In our view, the relevant software can play an enormous part in co-ordinating your fleet management activities.

So, what is the purpose of fleet management and what role does fleet management software have to play?

What is the purpose of fleet management?

If your business uses vehicles for commercial purposes, then you’ll need some form of professional fleet management. The aim of the operation will be to control the entire lifecycle of commercial vehicles alongside reducing associated risk, improving efficiency, increasing productivity and ensuring compliance with legislation. Employee vehicles used for work purposes, known as the grey fleet, should also be included in this process.

Companies with fleets are extensive. Hauliers, couriers, sales, service, utilities, public transport and the emergency services all have fleets that need managing. Having a grasp of the processes required to run a fleet will enable your company to control associated costs, remain competitive in the market place and help meet your customers’ expectations.

Fleet management can be carried out within the business, usually by the appointment of a fleet manager, or outsourced to an external fleet solutions provider.

What is fleet management software?

Fleet management software gives your business all the relevant information on the performance of your fleet whenever you want it. In effect, it is a sophisticated database with numerous applications that enables you to record and report the key attributes that can help improve efficiencies and drive down costs by reducing downtime and improving productivity.

In summary, incorporating a software system into fleet management improves the management of:

• Vehicles, assets and equipment
• Maintenance and repair
• Fuel and emissions
• Drivers including driver licence checks
• Workshops and scheduling – inspections, defect reporting and audits
• Parts and inventory
• Accident and risk management
• Regulatory and legal compliance
• Budget and forecasting

Fleet management solutions integrate with almost any third-party data provider or software application to streamline processes such as ordering, arranging delivery and making payments autonomously. Such integrations remove the lengthy administration processes and improve employee time management too. And the addition of supporting mobile apps to carry out the tasks and input relevant data within the field further enhances the benefits of implementing such a system.