The importance of mobile apps for fleet drivers

Almost everyone uses mobile apps to make their day-to-day life easier. From banking to booking flights, there truly is an app for everything.

However, one area where app uptake has been slow is fleet data management, with many fleets still relying on paper records to track driver and vehicle information. Considering how crucial it is to get complete and consistent fleet data, this seems like a massive oversight.

Even when drivers digitally record information when out on the road, it is often recorded in a standalone platform that doesn’t connect to a central system.

In this article, we look at the benefits of having a dedicated app for your fleet drivers that connects to a central fleet management system.

Compliance is king

As a fleet operator, your business is subject to stricter compliance and regulation than the general public when it comes to vehicle management. This means that the drivers in your fleet are responsible for a number of tasks every single day that keep your business legal.

These include daily vehicle defect checks, accident reporting and fuel receipt submissions.

These tasks can be laborious and time-consuming, which can lead to missing or inaccurate data from drivers.

The consequences of these inaccuracies can be severe. For example, if a driver fails to report a vehicle issue as part of their daily defect check it could lead to a serious road accident and certain situations can lead to fines or even prison time.

As a fleet operator you are subject to a scoring system based on non-conformities. If your score starts to go down, you will be flagged as a high-risk operator, meaning your business is more likely to be subject to spot checks and paperwork audits. Therefore non-compliance issues also increase administrative burden.
Using an app makes it easier to evidence you have done your due diligence.

It also protects the driver, by making sure information is consistent and physical documents don’t go missing.

Let’s look at some specific examples based on common tasks drivers are required to carry out.

Daily Defect Checks

During a daily defect check, drivers walk around the vehicle to identify any potentially dangerous defects, from tyres and lights to screen wash levels. These checks are a legal requirement, and must be evidenced.
Too often drivers are still given paper forms to complete their defect checks. If they don’t hand it in, or the defect sheet goes missing, you would lose that evidence that record of compliance.

Instead, completing and storing these documents digitally protects the driver so they can evidence they have done the required checks and due diligence.

This also makes the drivers’ job quicker and easier, as mobile apps can provide prebuilt forms that can be filled in quickly and consistently.

Using mobile apps also saves time on reporting back to the business. As drivers don’t have to go back to the central office to hand in a defect report it frees up time that can be utilised in a more productive way for the business.

Accident reporting

As with defect checks, many drivers are still filling in paper documents on the roadside if there is an accident.

Firstly this is a compliance risk if the document goes missing at the point of the accident.
Secondly, you’re asking the driver to provide important information in a high pressure and potentially dangerous situation. For example, sketching the layout of the accident, or describing the weather conditions.

But using a mobile app drivers can simply upload a photograph, so fleet managers can clearly see the accident scene, location, weather conditions and the state of the vehicle. As well as improving driver safety by reducing the amount of time spent in a dangerous situation, mobile apps are also a great way to help protect a business from insurance fraud.

Fuel Receipts

As with defect checks, many drivers are still filling in paper documents on the roadside if there is an accident.

Firstly this is a compliance risk if the document goes missing at the point of the accident.
Secondly, you’re asking the driver to provide important information in a high pressure and potentially dangerous situation. For example, sketching the layout of the accident, or describing the weather conditions.

But using a mobile app drivers can simply upload a photograph, so fleet managers can clearly see the accident scene, location, weather conditions and the state of the vehicle. As well as improving driver safety by reducing the amount of time spent in a dangerous situation, mobile apps are also a great way to help protect a business from insurance fraud.

Fuel receipts have long been an administrative pain. As a fleet manager you often have to remind everyone to keep their receipts, and bring them to the office. By using a mobile driver app, drivers can submit their fuel requests directly into the system, by uploading a photograph.

This reduces the amount of admin time spent processing receipts, and also protects the business from potentially fraudulent fuel claims and fuel theft.

What to look for when choosing a Driver App

Ease of use

Driver adoption can be a major roadblock when introducing any new technology. However drivers will soon understand it is much more convenient and efficient to use a single app than to complete and keep track of multiple paper forms!

That being said, not all apps are the same. The FleetWave Driver App only requests the important information a driver is required to collect, with a simple to use interface.

Consistency

When searching for a Driver App to suit your fleet, finding a system that provides prebuilt forms will enable you to standardise the process, regardless of the driver. So you can be sure that your drivers don’t miss any vital information, and ensure compliance for your fleet.

Real-time Information

Having a driver app that feeds directly into a dedicated fleet management system is a must have if you want to be running your fleet at optimum efficiency. This allows you to collect driver data in real time so you can make faster decisions, helping reduce vehicle downtime. The data provided will allow you to identify trends over time, which enables you to make strategic decisions such as making changes to driver behaviour.
The FleetWave Driver App connects directly with our FleetWave system and at no extra cost, so you can see your driver data immediately from anywhere.

If you think this would be useful to your business check out the new FleetWave Driver app, or get in touch:
[email protected]