June 20, 2024
Sara Davies
Effective fleet management will be a key priority for any business with company vehicles. Whether those vehicles are for delivery, commercial, or employee business travel, there will need to be an effective fleet management strategy in place.
Setting up fleet management can seem like a challenging task, especially when it involves taking responsibility for a whole new range of considerations, in addition to those required in running your day-to-day business.
When setting up fleet management you will need to consider both vehicle and driver, in order to keep your business and employees on the road safely and efficiently. Most businesses will either employ a fleet manager or outsource this role to a company experienced in providing fleet management services, such as Wessex Fleet.
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Source the Best Vehicles
Your fleet manager or fleet management services company will need to assess your organisation’s needs and your current fleet if you have one. They will create a fleet policy that helps you achieve your future goals as well as managing and implementing the objectives.
One of the fleet manager’s key roles is to consider what types of vehicles are best suited to the fleet and how best to fund vehicle acquisitions.
Maintain your Vehicle Fleet
It is essential that all vehicles in a fleet are well maintained. Adequate preventative maintenance and timely repairs, as well as regular servicing, reduce the chance of costly breakdowns further down the line and ensure driver safety and efficiency is prioritised.
Ensure Safety and Compliance
Implementing and adhering to safety policies as well as ensuring that your fleet is compliant with road regulations are integral parts of a fleet management services provider’s role (or the role of your internal fleet manager). Adequate compliance ensures fines are avoided and both your drivers and surrounding members of the public are safe at all times.
Making sure your drivers are monitored and taught safe driving behaviours, and that your fleet is properly maintained, are all paramount in ensuring safety and compliance.
Manage Administrative Functions
It is vital that records of vehicle maintenance are in order, should any issues arise. Data that should be kept for tax and insurance reasons includes mileage, routes taken and any damage a vehicle has sustained.
Other administrative functions that will need to be managed by your fleet manager, or fleet management services company, include arranging breakdown assistance, mobile tyre and windscreen replacement as well as booking your fleet in for vehicle servicing and arranging transport to and from. In addition, your fleet manager (or fleet management services provider) will need to manage fuel cards and travel expenses, arrange overseas travel and provide drivers with various reporting functions to report vehicle conditions.
Maximise Productivity and Efficiency
Route optimisation is key to the running of an efficient fleet. An essential part of the fleet manager’s role will be to deploy tools allowing them to analyse data in order to compare the fuel efficiency of routes or identify areas of heavy traffic and adjust the route appropriately.
Fleet managers require the ability to track where vehicles are, at all times, in order to meet business objectives. These may include, for example, ensuring cargo is delivered on time by reporting any problems on the intended route in real time.
Fleet telematics and vehicle tracking systems can assist in providing automated alerts, reports and fleet vehicle monitoring, as well as scoring vehicles to highlight the most and least efficient.
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