For fleets of any size, finding faster and better ways to do things can be tricky. It’s not easy to fine tune the management of a business when the majority of the workforce is in the field, dealing with what’s often an unpredictable environment.
Many businesses are turning to fleet management solutions to help them increase fleet performance and productivity by doing the work there's no time for. Here are some of the top ways these systems help businesses work smarter.
1. Stay on schedule
Fleet management software often includes fleet tracking, which involves satellite-based communication between a GPS receiver and the software to provide real-time vehicle locations, engine status, and accelerometer information.
The most comprehensive fleet tracking solutions are included in video telematics systems, which combine video data, computer vision technology, and vehicle data to deliver insights that traditional telematics cannot.
When fleets pair video with data on vehicle speeds, mileage, trip histories, and even road conditions, they get much-needed context and rich layers of information on what’s happening on the road.
By leveraging real-time data on vehicles, roads, and the environment, it’s easy for fleets to make quick changes that help drivers and deliveries stay on schedule.
Consistently seeing traffic delays on a certain highway? Try a new route that may be a longer distance but will take the driver less time. Did a vehicle unexpectedly break down? Deploy another driver who is closer to the customer and send instant help to the disabled vehicle.
Fleet management solutions help fleets 'control the clock' like never before.
2. Improve service and reputation
By using the vehicle tracking information within fleet management software, businesses can provide customers with fast (and accurate) responses about real-time driver status and location, as well as service confirmation. Plus, if a fleet is using dash cams, it can provide footage to further confirm deliveries.
This operational effectiveness will strengthen a fleets’ relationship and reputation with customers. From another perspective, if a driver claims an incident occurred, managers can look at the trip history and see which vehicles were at that location during the time of the incident.
Having visibility into service, deliveries, and other day-to-day operations also serves to protect fleets from false claims of damage or missing goods. Avoiding “bad press” can help improve company reputation and overall productivity.
3. Cut costs
Fleets might be losing money in areas they aren’t even aware of. Fleet management solutions help reveal those blind spots because they continually gather and analyze data on vehicle and driver behaviors.
For example, the system may note when hard braking or speeding becomes a pattern, which burns excessive fuel. With proper management of these behaviors, companies can significantly reduce fuel and maintenance costs.
This information can be used to help keep vehicles in the best condition possible and limit downtime, ensuring everything is operating in tip-top shape.
4. Measure success over time
How can fleets determine if they are improving productivity and actually performing at optimal levels? The key is having data to compare operations then to now—and even compare to industry standards.
With a ticker tape of data flowing from the vehicle into the system, fleet managers can view dashboard summaries of vehicle operations, driver performance, risks, and much more.
If dash cams are deployed, fleets have video to support the data and provide more detailed context. This information aggregates over time—the longer, the better—and fleets can then compare month-over-month and year-over-year performance.
The findings can help guide decisions on how to build the best driver safety programs and customer service practices…not to mention, beat all the competitors.
5. Centralize information
It’s all too common for businesses to have information stored in different systems, which makes it difficult to get the full story. For fleets to work at their most efficient levels, they must get a handle on this information.
The best fleet management software is either everything you need as an all-in-one solution or integrates with your other solutions easily through API’s, acting as a hub for all fleet data that helps you:
- keep track of vehicle locations
- understand risky driving behaviors
- monitor fuel management
- look back at trip history
- view insightful video to understand what really happened
What’s happening in the field is automatically and instantly packaged up and sent from vehicle hardware to the fleet software, instead of being manually recorded and reported by drivers. Fleet managers have access to the data they need to do their jobs, and it’s all in one place.
6. Identify problems faster
With centralized information, fleets are primed to identify problems when—or before—they arise. If a driver repeatedly makes risky moves, if an engine shows corrosion, or if the fleet has a pattern of delivery delays, managers will be able to address it before it becomes a recurring issue.
7. Improve safety
Driver behavior and performance influences fleet productivity more than almost any other factor. A driver safety solution can be used to help train drivers and develop effective fleet safety initiatives.
Systems can log data such as speeding, hard braking, traffic violations, collisions and near-misses, and more. When this data is paired with video, fleets have a powerful tool that can truly shape behavior to help prevent collisions, damage, vehicle wear and tear—and even save lives.
With the right technology, businesses have the tools and the data they need to operate a smarter and more productive fleet.
For more information on fleet management overall, check out these related resources. Or contact us for more ways fleet management solutions can optimize your enterprise for the better.