Fleet management is a cumbersome task, and the more vehicles you have in your fleet, the more time and effort will you have to put into proper storage, maintenance, care, employee training, and other crucial processes. Yes, it might even seem like a daunting task, but if you invest adequate resources into meticulous fleet management, you are bound to create a positive ROI that will drive (excuse the pun) your business forward instead of hindering performance.
Some of the main factors of successful fleet management include employee training and education, vehicle storage, fleet-wide insurance, smart technology, and route efficiency that will directly influence fuel economy and other factors. Taking all of this into account, let’s break down the five key tips that will help you manage your fleet with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
It all starts with employee training
Your employees are the backbone of your company, and when it comes to fleet management, they will directly affect your ability to maintain a cost-effective operation. The way your employees use your vehicles, their driving habits, the routes they take, all of this and more will either lower or raise your expenses over time, which is why your no.1 priority should be to educate your team members on the proper use of company vehicles.
First up, be sure to assess every employee’s driving level before you grant them access to your company’s fleet. A driver’s license is not enough; instead, you should ascertain their competences by having them drive a few rounds on the course. This way, you will minimize risk, and most importantly, you will be able to provide the necessary training and education to make them a better driver. This means increased safety for everyone involved, including your business.
The importance of proper vehicle storage
It should go without saying that every vehicle should have a designated storage space, and for a number of important reasons. Firstly, storing a vehicle in a closed space will minimize the risk of theft and break-ins, which means that you won’t have to worry about extraneous costs or having to find a replacement vehicle to resume your day-to-day operations. Secondly, a controlled self-storage environment is probably the best solution to protect your vehicles from environmental damage and other outdoor elements.
What’s more, there is the convenience factor involved when it comes to self-storage. Instead of building your own car park, you can obtain self-storage vehicle spaces in prime locations in your area, making it easy to store your vehicles in an affordable way. Finally, be sure to always store your vehicles in a climate-controlled, closed-off environment in order to prevent oxidation and long-term wear and tear.
Don’t forget to obtain the right fleet coverage
Another crucial element of proper fleet management is insurance. Fleet insurance is absolutely imperative for every business, no matter if you have two cars or a whole fleet of vehicles in use on a daily basis. While it might seem like an extraneous expense at first glance, this one should be non-negotiable, because the last thing you want to happen is for one of your vehicles to be involved in an accident without proper insurance.
This is why it’s standard practice for companies to obtain comprehensive car insurance for their entire fleet, making sure that the policies cover their vehicles against all kinds of risks and hazards, including theft, accidental and intentional damage, environmental damage and natural disasters, towing costs, inside contents, and more. If you want to cover your fleet on all fronts, be sure to find insurance that offers coverage for third-party damage as well.
Track your fleet’s status with smart technology
Technology has become an inextricable part of modern business, and of the best things you can do for your company is to automate as many processes as you can. And if you can’t automate it, then at the very least make it more efficient by introducing some form of smart technology into the process. This goes for fleet management as well. Use proprietary fleet management software to monitor vehicle performance, track their whereabouts in real time, as well as keep an eye on fuel consumption and their overall status.
Verify and update your routes to maximize efficiency
And finally, don’t forget to work closely with your drivers and fleet supervisors to discover the best and most efficient routes. This will allow you to minimize fuel consumption as well as wear and tear, and it will save your drivers plenty of time, allowing them to get more work done in the process. Keep in mind that the best route is not always the shortest one, but that there are other important factors such as route safety as well as its relation to other routes in the driver’s itinerary.
Fleet management is a crucial task for every business that has vehicle assets. Leave nothing to chance and use these tips to optimize every aspect of fleet management in order to maximize safety, productivity, and long-term ROI.
