Effective fleet management is a critical part of increasing fleet productivity so that your business can reduce costs, protect its drivers, and provide superior service.
However, ensuring fleet productivity comes with many challenges, so it is important to employ best practices in your day-to-day operations.
Once you get rid of outdated practices and embrace modern solutions, you will be able to streamline workflows, increase visibility, and improve communication.
To run your business more smoothly, you will need to gain insight into critical elements of fleet management.
Within this article, you will find some of our best management tips to save time and increase your fleet’s productivity.
Set Clear Policies And Processes
Introducing clear and organised processes and policies ensures there is a workflow, which can prevent confusion between teams and drivers.
In addition, setting up a central procedure for all elements of operation within the fleet means that policies can be reviewed and improved regularly.
Processes and policies may be related to a range of key areas, such as vehicle procurement, fuel purchasing, driver policies, cost tracking, and driver satisfaction and performance.
This way, everyone can stay on top of updates and ensure they are following the correct steps.
Analyse Fleet Data
It is vital to get the right insights on how your drivers use company vehicles so that you can boost productivity.
With remote tachograph download from FleetGO, you will never have to manually download digital tachograph files from your vehicles or driver cards again.
Remote tachograph download will provide you with access to real-time tachograph data, which will enable you to make informed decisions, ensure compliance, and analyse fleet data.
With all data securely stored in one place and ready to view on-demand, not only will you save time, but you will also collect useful information, such as speeding, braking, and idle time.
Improve Safety
A successful fleet manager understands that drivers are important business assets.
This means that driver habits and driver performance can have a significant impact on fleet productivity.
It is essential to invest in reliable vehicle safety training initiatives, which can educate your drivers on road safety and the importance of preventive maintenance.
Focus on creating a strong company culture of safety by performing detailed driver background checks, limiting working hours to prevent fatigue, and encouraging employees to report risky and harmful behaviour.
Tracking safety data is another great way to reward drivers who are practising safe driving habits.
Minimise Fuel Costs
Fuel is one of the most significant expenses of managing your fleet, which makes it a major concern for many companies with large fleets.
Therefore, it is important to introduce a strategy aimed at reducing fuel costs.
For example, you may want to assign each driver a company card for fuelling their own vehicle.
This will allow you to track how often each driver on your team stops for fuel.
Next, you can calculate how much fuel your entire fleet consumes on a monthly basis and plan ahead.
As a result, you will have a clear picture of your fuel consumption and you can avoid overspending.
Ensure Regular Maintenance
Maintaining your fleet can be overwhelming if you don’t schedule regular check-ups.
To ensure optimum performance, it is crucial to keep each vehicle in top shape. Poorly maintained fleets often experience wear and tear, as well as engine malfunctions.
As a result, routine check-ups can prevent these vehicle malfunctions and reduce the time, money, and resources spent on maintenance.
Therefore, you may want to allocate a day each month to take your vehicles for scheduled fleet check-ups.
This way, you can easily spot malfunctions and correct them on time.
A well-maintained fleet will also be safer for drivers and other workers.
Prioritise Communication
You will need to make sure that everyone involved stays in the loop.
To foster good communication throughout your fleet, you will need to pay attention to your team and provide feedback and support.
As a fleet manager, you will likely spend a lot of your time away from your employees.
However, it is important to prioritise communication and collaboration during times when everyone is together.
When speaking to drivers, listen to what is being said so that you can strengthen your working relationships.
When confronted with emotions, stay calm and think about solutions to the problem at hand.
Improve Your Strategy
Developing and improving continuously is key to managing a fleet well.
Also, it is essential to encourage your team to participate in creating and improving solutions to recurring issues in your systems.
From time to time, be sure to get your whole team to brainstorm in strategy sessions.
This will help you develop a culture, where everyone feels like an integral part of achieving business goals and making the company successful.
Building up your drivers through encouragement and developing a two-way relationship allows you to foster trust and increase job satisfaction.
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