A company’s fleet of vehicles is a critical component of its business. And for some companies, their fleet is the heart of their business. However, keeping a fleet of vehicles (both large and small) maintained and fully operational can be a challenging task.

Fleet management systems can help businesses keep track of and manage commercial vehicles such as cars, trucks, vans, heavy machinery and other vehicles that are used for work purposes. These systems can give business owners and other decision-makers real-time visibility into their fleet and help mitigate risks associated with vehicle investment. Fleet management systems also help businesses look after the health and safety of their drivers and ensure they’re obeying the law.

What is a Fleet Management System?

Fleet management refers to the tasks that businesses who rely on transportation undertake. This can include tracking productivity, driver safety, cost control, fuel management, compliance and more. A fleet management system is a platform that handles multiple aspects of running a fleet-based organization and gives business owners access to relevant vehicle information, in real time.

Benefits of a Fleet Management System

Fleet management systems can allow businesses to run more efficiently in order to maintain and increase productivity and profitability. For businesses that involve fleets and heavy coordination of those vehicles, systems like these can be crucial to maintaining order, success and safety. This is particularly true of companies that specialize in freight or transportation and utilize multiple vehicles at the same time.

Besides improved efficiency and productivity, fleet management systems help businesses:

• Take on more jobs. Because the locations of the fleet vehicles are always known, dispatching is easier and profit margins are improved because managing vehicles and drivers is now more efficient.
• Automate fleet reports. Fleet management systems can offer tailored, automatic reports on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis. These metrics help business owners and other decision-makers understand and track the habits of their fleet and drivers and can help to increase productivity and minimize risk.
• Improve safety standards. Fleet management systems can allow for the monitoring of all vehicle activity. These systems can analyze movement, idle times and possibly even track fuel receipts, helping managers to assess the most cost-effective ways to manage their fleets. Using cameras or GPS monitoring helps managers gain more control over their drivers and their activity when driving a fleet vehicle.
• Monitor driver performance. Fleet management systems can help managers analyze driving patterns and bring potentially dangerous habits to drivers’ attention. This information can help managers gain better control of drivers and even avoid accidents. In fact, some systems can provide speed control devices which force drivers to rely on good driving habits. For business owners, it’s important to remember that this is not in violation of any privacy rights as a fleet vehicle is not a private vehicle. It’s a company-owned vehicle being used solely for business purposes.
• Save money. Safer drivers mean fewer accidents and less insurance claims. It’s simple – the fewer claims, the lower insurance rates will be over time. In addition to saving money on insurance, companies can also see cost-savings by gaining control over fuel costs, reducing out-of-route miles and unauthorized trips, and cutting down on vehicle idle time.
• Better customer service. Fleet management systems help to reduce customer wait times and can even improve overall delivery times. More effective services to a company’s clients means the higher likelihood of repeat business and brand loyalty. In addition, the faster a company can provide service to one client, the faster it can move onto the next helping to increase sales and keep business moving.

Why It Matters

If a business relies on fleet vehicles, it needs to do all it can to protect this critical investment. A fleet management system can increase productivity and efficiency, and even boost profit margins. These systems can also maintain the safety of a company’s drivers, decrease insurance costs and allow a business to run more smoothly overall.