Vehicle Fleet Management: Everything You Need to Know

January 18th, 2022

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Efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to trucking. It’s essential to think about all aspects of fleet management to ensure you’re running a tight ship.

So, what is it that you need to know about vehicle fleet management?

Whether you run a seasoned company or are just starting out, knowing these fleet management tips will help you improve operations and your fleet asset management. Here’s how.

What Is Fleet Management?

Any business that relies on commercial vehicles for its daily operations is in fleet management. It is the oversight of all fleet performance and maintenance to ensure that operations run effectively and efficiently.

Fleet management, usually helmed by a fleet manager, is responsible for:

  • Maintaining vehicles
  • Tracking fuel consumption and cost
  • Managing drivers
  • Route planning
  • Reducing waste
  • Increasing productivity

These responsibilities are often handled with the use of fleet management software.

What Is Effective Fleet Management?

Knowing what truck fleet management is and ensuring that it’s effective are not always the same thing. For example, managing drivers encompasses many aspects, including:

  • Hiring and retention
  • Driver safety
  • Employee relations

Safety is usually handled through training and advanced technology such as dashcams and tracking systems. Since a fleet manager is generally managing drivers in various locations, effective fleet management is paramount.

Benefits of Having Effective Fleet Management

Graphic showing the benefits of effective fleet management, with two trailer trucks on both sides.

It can’t be overstated how important effective vehicle fleet management is for companies reliant on trucking for their success. Benefits include increased productivity, decreased costs, decreased downtime, increased security, and improved customer service. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of developing a fleet asset management plan.

Increases Productivity

Vehicle fleet management provides the ability for a company to track progress and ensure that deliveries happen on time, every time. It can provide resources to drivers to ensure that they can get where they need to be when they need to be there.

Decreases Costs

By maintaining your fleet and keeping fuel costs down, truck fleet management will reduce your overall spending. Unmaintained vehicles and disregard for fuel consumption or cost can quickly lead to significant expenditures in the future.

Decreases Downtime

Any and every business has concerns about downtime. With fleet asset management, you allow your drivers to have ownership, which will keep them engaged and accountable. Ensure that your drivers are invested in the proper care of their vehicles, reducing downtime and increasing efficiency.

Increases Security

The use of tracking software will also keep your fleet and your product safe. Security goes beyond the physical, especially with the advancement of driver-assist and self-driving technology. Embracing cyber security along with physical safety will improve your fleet management efficiency.

Improves Customer Service

In the end, the goal is to deliver products from point A to point B safely and on time. Vehicle fleet management is the most effective way to ensure that each step along the way is met with attention to detail. When you make your customers happy, they will return again and again.

8 Tips for Improving Your Fleet Management

Understanding truck fleet management and implementing it are two sides of the same coin. Here are the top eight fleet management tips for improving your process.

1. Take Preventative Measures

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Don’t simply be reactionary with problems that arise. Effective fleet management means anticipating potential problems and putting systems in place to deal with them before they become an issue.

2. Focus on Long Term Success

Looking toward the future can give you an idea of how you need to approach the present. For example, having a solid hiring and retention process for drivers can help you avoid some significant shipping obstacles. Having a fleet replacement system in place can also give you more control over the future.

3. Set Goals and Benchmarks

Analytics has come a long way, and we can track just about anything today. What’s more important than data is goals and benchmarks. Use the information you collect and measure to inform how you will proceed. Tracking performance will help you better understand how to adjust and continue toward individual and companywide goals.

4. Make Maintenance and Safety Accessible

If you make your drivers responsible for maintaining their vehicles, you also need to give them the tools to do so. Maintenance and safety need to be easy and accessible, or your fleet may not meet the standards you’ve established.

5. Establish Company Policies

Graphic of truckers learning the company policies.

Don’t forget that company policies do need to be concrete but flexible. If you don’t create company policies as spelled out in a handbook, you risk interpretation of information. Company policies should also be reviewed and updated when necessary. 

6. Create Purchasing Guidelines

While driver management is critical, there is much more to vehicle fleet management than just day-to-day operations. One of the highest costs of fleet management is the inefficient buying and selling of vehicles. Instead, ensure that this is a centralized function to maintain control.

7. Document Everything

In today’s world, driven by big data, documentation is critical. But don’t just rely on old-fashioned pen and paper. Use the technology available, including tracking software, to make storing information seamless and accessible.

8. Continue Learning

There is no doubt that the industry is constantly changing, so the best way to have the most efficient fleet management process is to stay up to date. Keeping up with new technology is just the tip of the iceberg. Don’t be afraid to embrace new tools as they become available. If you don’t, someone else will and then they’ll have a competitive advantage.

Effective Fleet Management Is an Art and a Science

There is no one way to ensure that your truck fleet management processes are the best, but as you put more effort into increasing your efficiency, you’ll position your company in a better place to ensure future success. The right fleet asset management tools, software, and policies will be the ticket to a strong market position for years to come.

Hale Trailer is your vehicle fleet management partner. We staff our team with knowledgeable professionals happy to answer any questions you may have. We have top-of-the-line truck trailers for sale and rent. Browse our inventory online or stop by one of our locations to learn more.

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