For Businesses that rely on transportation and commuting packages, picking the right vehicles is not enough! Managing vehicles, other ground operations, etc. are necessary no matter how large or small. The management of all of these operations as part of a single bucket is called fleet management. Every task connected to managing drivers, maintaining vehicles, and monitoring operations are considered to be an aspect of fleet management.
So, fleet managers are liable for reducing costs, and maximizing revenue. As per a recent study, 75% of fleet managers depend on a comprehensive fleet management system to smoothen their day-to-day operations. The main purpose is to automate regular operations thereby improving the efficiency and productivity of the company's fleet.
How does Fleet Management Work?
A fleet management system is a crucial component of an efficient logistics system. An automated fleet management system fetches relevant data. It includes monthly vehicle maintenance reports, fleet health, and fuel management report, real-time data, etc. This data allows the managers or contractors to keep a close check on the ground operations and correct variations without disrupting the planned routine.
Successful deployment of a fleet management system adds value and streamlines the logistics process. Immediate access to all the fleet costs and other reports is an excellent way to strategize and control costs.
Challenges in Fleet Management
While managing a fleet, managers have to face a plethora of challenges. Although there are a lot of technology-driven solutions that can help overcome these challenges but fleet managers need to follow a proactive approach.
1. Vehicle Acquisition
It is the responsibility of the fleet managers to acquire vehicles as per the requirements. Managers need to make sure that no vehicle is idle. As there is an increase in the volume of packages the admins need to monitor the fleet and add relevant vehicles.
It is important to ascertain the purpose and usefulness of the vehicles, make negotiations, keep a check on vehicle maintenance, etc. It is a challenging task for fleet managers to do everything manually.
2. Cost Reduction
Constantly varying budgets and forecasts makes it challenging to reduce costs. Even slight fluctuations in the fuel prices causes a great influence on the overall fleet budget. It significantly increases the vehicle running costs resulting in a downfall in efficiency. Fleet managers need to keep a close tab on each factor that could shake the fleet finance of the company.
3. Driver Shortages
The driver shortage is one of the biggest challenges faced by fleet managers. As the logistics industry is growing exponentially it is hard to find skilled drivers. Recruitment of inexperienced drivers can also hamper the safety protocols. In our previous blogpost we talk about how business owners can improve their hiring practices to improve conversion funnel and get quality drivers faster.
It is vital to tackle this challenge mindfully. A well-planned training program must be implemented to properly guide the drivers. It greatly reduces driver churn rates. There are a lot more challenges in fleet management. Like saving money, adding value to the fleet, fuel price volatility, etc.
Fleet Management Advantages
1. Monitoring Driver’s Behaviour
Correct driving practices can significantly impact a business. With the implementation of a fleet management system, the managers can monitor the driver’s behavior.
They can also keep an eye on the safety behavior of the drivers while on road. It is a part of the telematics data. Assessment of the behavior allows the managers to identify the strongest and weakest drivers in their fleet.
2. Improve Vehicles life
Fleet telematics allows fleet managers to keep track of each vehicle, allowing them to keep a check on any potential maintenance issues. It is important that vehicles get the right attention at the right point in time.
Fleet vehicles are exposed to outdoor environmental conditions every day. Accurate tracking of factors like mileage, tires wear and tear, oil change, etc. helps to improve the fleet vehicle’s life. Beans route allows fleet managers to fetch vehicle maintenance reports. These reports help to make prior changes and fix the breakdowns.
3. Real-Time Notifications and Fleet Compliance
The drivers receive real-time notifications of route mapping, traffic patterns, and fuel levels which reduces unexpected breakdowns. The drivers can operate with greater efficiency. Managers can stay informed of critical tasks of the fleet and can get in touch with drivers from anywhere.
Fleet Management provides your fleet to fully adhere to the driving regulations and laws. It’s easy to fetch monthly reports that provide useful insights into the fleet. Provides a heads-up to the managers to make required improvements
Beans route software helps in providing monthly maintenance records. It also makes pre-trip and post-trip inspection super easy.
4. Timesheets & Scheduling
The Fleet Management system allows for optimizing your fleet operations by providing updated timesheets. The clock in, clock out the time of drivers. It even tracks the break time of the drivers.
Furthermore, it facilitates the scheduling of delivery stops. Admins have an option to schedule and auto dispatch the packages. Vehicles can be assigned suitably based on the area of delivery by managers. Scheduling greatly saves time and reduces manual chaos.
5. Fleet Safety
It is the primary responsibility of any logistics business to keep its fleet and drivers safe. Drivers spend most of their day traveling to fulfill the delivery schedule. It is vital to integrate a fleet management system into the process. Other vehicle monitoring devices can be attached to the vehicles to get real-time road feed.
Making the vehicles roadworthy so that there are no mishappenings. The installation of driver-focused tools builds the gaps between the drivers and the managers. Besides these five mentioned benefits, there are a lot more benefits of the fleet management system.
How Technology can help?
After analyzing the challenges, it is evident to adopt advanced technology for managing your fleet. Beans route software offers enhanced geospatial data for modern fleet management. It helps logistics businesses to enhance efficiency and profits by giving valuable insights on performance, fuel usage, driver safety reports, etc.
Lytx provides flexible fleet management solutions to improve fleet efficiency. It allows supporting fleet management by using video telematics. Lytx has been advancing fleet safety, efficiency, and compliance for more than 20+ years.
Beans route software also helps in tracking fleet movement and provides real-time visibility to the managers. Beans route is an AI-based software that has the capabilities to derive meaningful insights from the data. It helps businesses to cut costs and exceptionally improve their fleet’s efficiency.
Conclusion
Advancement in technology has extremely improvised the shape of the fleet management industry. In the era of innovation, new features are being integrated into modern solutions to add significant value thereby increasing productivity.
Are you planning to go for a robust fleet management system? You are at the right place. Click here to book a demo session with us. Or get in touch with our team at sales@beans.ai.