Fleet management is an essential activity within companies that have vehicles, whether they are used to transport employees or to deliver goods.
It aims to ensure that vehicles are being used in the best way possible, optimize their use and also keep them in good working order.
Therefore, it impacts both logistics and the carrying out of external activities, such as business trips.
What is fleet management?
Fleet management corresponds to the process of administering and controlling the fleet of vehicles belonging to a company and which are used to carry out commercial operations or institutional purposes.
Management is quite comprehensive, as it is necessary from the acquisition of vehicles, to their maintenance and monitoring of their use and performance. Therefore, it is something complex.
Although many believe that a company’s fleet is limited to the trucks used to transport goods, it encompasses other types of vehicles. Any type of transport that belongs to the company is part of it.
Therefore, company vehicles made available to sales representatives, as well as those used for internal supply to branches, also make up the company’s fleet.
In general, fleet management encompasses:
- Route control;
- Location of vehicles;
- Provision of vehicles;
- Need for maintenance;
- Supply;
- Insurance;
- Other expenses related to automobiles.
How important is fleet management?
It is important because it ensures that the company’s resources are used efficiently. This management seeks to minimize operating costs and maximize productivity with regard to the use of vehicles.
Check out the main benefits of having organized fleet management in the items below.
Reduction of operational costs
One of the main benefits of promoting the management of company vehicles is the reduction of operating costs related to them. For example, it is possible to optimize fuel use, so that a single vehicle is used to transport products to the same region.
Another example is preventive maintenance. It is one of the tasks of fleet management and must be applied correctly to increase the useful life of vehicles and ensure their safety.
Increased productivity
With effective fleet management, it is possible to increase fleet productivity. For example, by making faster deliveries or using less congested routes.
Improved security
Fleet management is also crucial to promoting driver and vehicle safety.
There are numerous ways wherein it achieves this aim. These include tracking motive force behavior, protection schooling, and regular and good enough car renovation.
Greater control and visibility
Through effective fleet management, the company gains greater control and visibility over its vehicles, which is important for decision-making, identifying problems, opportunities for improvement, and optimizing fleets and logistics in general.
How to manage fleets?
There are several tools on the market that facilitate fleet management, such as tools focused on time management and productivity , which provide important information about the fleet.
This management encompasses different needs and tasks. Therefore, learn about the main ones and the steps for implementation.
Preventive maintenance
One of the needs of fleets is their maintenance. Therefore, it is important to implement preventive maintenance programs.
It can occur with mechanical checks, as well as regular checks of oil, tires, brakes and other parts.
Furthermore, the company must have a policy that encourages drivers or employees who have access to vehicles to report any type of anomaly in their operation.
Monitoring and tracking
Fleet management finds great allies in tracking systems. They are useful for monitoring the location of vehicles in real time and even driver behavior, such as speed, possible traffic violations, etc.
With this, the manager can improve safety, optimize routes and reduce vehicle downtime.
Fuel management
Fuel consumption is part of fleet management tasks. This includes choosing the ideal fuel, policies that combat practices that lead to faster fuel consumption, refueling locations, etc.
Data Analysis and Reporting
Use data to help manage fleets. Data on mileage, fuel consumption and maintenance, as well as vehicle routes and operating times can provide important information to the manager.
For example, trends and risk factors. Also, what are the problem areas and what improvements are possible.
Driver management
Management should also focus on drivers, especially in promoting safety policies and procedures. Training, driving tests, and drug testing can be part of these.
Route optimization
Using routing and route planning software is crucial to successful fleet management. It allows you to optimize vehicle usage, minimize distances traveled and travel time.
How to measure the effectiveness of fleet management?
There are several indicators that can help analyze the effectiveness of fleets and their management. They are important because they provide clues about problems or actions that do not deliver the expected results and points for changes and improvements.
Performance KPIs
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are first rate for measuring fleet overall performance. They may be carried out to research shipping time, gas efficiency, and safety.
And among the main indicators, we can highlight:
- Total Cost of Operation (TCO): This KPI measures the total cost associated with operating each vehicle, including acquisition, maintenance, fuel, insurance and other variable costs;
- Fuel consumption: assesses the amount of fuel used per distance traveled, helping to identify opportunities to improve fuel efficiency through better driving practices or improved maintenance;
- Preventive maintenance index: measures the proportion of preventive maintenance in relation to corrective maintenance;
- Fines and infractions rate: measures the frequency of fines and traffic violations committed by drivers. This KPI helps evaluate the effectiveness of safety policies and driver training;
- Routing efficiency: evaluates the effectiveness of planned routes compared to the routes actually traveled. Good route planning reduces distances traveled and delivery times, as well as saving fuel.
From them it is also possible to develop goals so that there is a constant improvement of the indicators.
Data comparison
Comparing fleet performance data over time is a fundamental practice for improving fleet management, as it allows you to identify trends, patterns and areas that require intervention or improvement.
To do this, you need to ensure that you are collecting consistent and accurate data on critical variables such as fuel consumption, mileage, maintenance, operating costs, downtime, accidents and traffic violations.
These data must be collected systematically and regularly.
Then, define the time periods for the comparison. This can be monthly, quarterly or yearly, depending on the data availability and the operational dynamics of the fleet.
Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction in fleet management is a vital indicator that reflects the quality and efficiency of the service provided by the fleet, especially in operations that involve the delivery of products or services directly to customers.
To do this, conduct post-interaction surveys to collect direct feedback from customers. Include questions about the punctuality of delivery, the condition of the products upon arrival, the courtesy and professionalism of the drivers, and the ease of interaction with the company.