Good vs Bad fleet management

(Posted on 10/05/24)

Fleet management is complex and varies from business to business but one thing all fleet managers should have in common is that the efficiency of the fleet as major influence on all he whole business especially bottom-line results of the business. If you fleet is manged business your business will know with lack of efficient and drain resources and money. Fleet management pays a vital role in a successful business, realising this key as efficiency will contribute to the overall success of the business.

Fuel

Fuel cost is something inevitable you have to pay for either petrol ,diesel or electric you can’t control the cost, but there are things in you control that can help with the cost and efficiency. Motoring fuel cost is key to see the functionality of your fleet.

Journey Planning  may sound to some like basic thing, but it can make a world of difference. So, look at minimising them wasted journey where not needed, plan the most fuel-efficient route. Look at avoiding congestion and traffic so the vehicle is just sat there. Finally look at using the right vehicle for right journey, an electric car may not be the best for certain journey if they need to de tour and charge their vehicle, or maybe need a hybrid more fuel-efficient ton long journey save that little bit.

Driver behaviour is  big impact on the overall cost of running the car. Ensuring driver avoid idling and excessive speeding. Having drivers going on courses can be extremely useful in ensuring driving the most efficient way for the car and looking after it correctly there eno excess wear and tear.

Fuling the vehicle is key and planning the correct route where you do not have go off route to fill up or charge your vehicle can be not only more time efficient but also cost and fuel too. All these factors play a major role in the success of your business and March. Having excess fuel cost and poor journey planning can be a major factor in poor efficiency in a fleet can lead to excess cost on fuel, car maintenance or even speeding fines all these are extra cost and issue to deal with that can be avoided. 

Compliance

Compliance isn’t something easy to mange with there being drive compliance and vehicle compliance and it can have major or cost and legal implications if not manged correctly. As a business you have a legal obligation to the safety of your employees this mean that the vehicles, they are doing are not only safe and compliant they are also to be driving.

Ensuring drivers are fully compliant and qualified to driver their vehicles is key. Doing license check on all driver license to ensure they are valid licence, see their records if they have points or fines on there licence. Not only see if they are valid but safe to drive the vehicle see if they have points and fine something takes into consideration. Along with this ensuring the driver shave to correct insurance is vital for compliance, if the drive doesn’t have the correct insurance if anything happens to them or vehicle then your company will be liable. Being up to date and to of this is not only the employer responsibility but should be main priority as there can be serious is as Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, business owners must implement a comprehensive vehicle and driver risk assessment program if they provide company vehicles or if driving is part of an employee's job.

Vehicle compliance is vital for driver safety and company compliance. Ensuring all vehicles have vail MOT and service sis key in ensuring vehicles are safe to be rive and in good working order. Not only this key for safety but also long term not maintaining vehicle can lead to extra unnecessary cost , excess fuel usage and overall driver safety compromised.

Monitoring the hours your drivers are doing is crucial. All drivers should not be driving longer than the working time allowed. Most businesses use a tachograph for this, but there is tracking software that can help you also.

The importance of compliance is crucial for not only giving yourself and driver peace of mind for safety but having safe vehicles and drivers allows for efficiency your fleet. As issues with any of the above mentioned can have numerous bad implications with lot of accidents and injuries happen with you flee and it gets into the public domain not a good image for your business.

 In recent years the popularity of fleet management software has taken off with its aims to help fleet managers with overall visibility of their fleet help manage it to it best abilities. With software like this offering so much or fleet managers failure of the issue of it I just going to not lead to cost reduction or general efficiency as what software fleet management offers of showing vehicles cost, emissions, driver detail and vehicle details all in one area significantly aids in having cost effective and efficient fleet.

A major part cost efficient and fleet efficiency is the vehicle selection. Having the right vehicles for right journeys is crucial in fuel for the vehicles some more efficient than others. This is something that should be under constant reviews as well to accommodate change in operations and different journeys. Looking at use for the right vehicle should consider factors, off carrying goods, any passengers or travelling a short distance. Also, what vehicles you have in your fleet when changing out vehicles are getting the best vehicles is it bigger enough, is it fuel efficient enough for all the journeys helps reduce wear and tear and helps with efficiency.

We have seen the good and bad when it comes to fleet management at Fleetsauce. This led us to have our fleet management software which has been developed in uniquely to help improve fleet efficiency and safety. It isn’t just a software made to track your vehicles , it is their to help with all aspect of fleet managing from CO2 emissions tracking, MOT due dates and driver compliance you can see it all in one space.

Head over the Fleethub now to learn more on what it can offer for you.