Owning a business and then managing it smoothly is a difficult task, especially if that is a fleet business. Sometimes fleet management consumes more time than renting them. If you are new to this business, you can hire someone to manage fleet effectively. But following these 3 simple steps, your company can know how to manage fleet effectively.
There are two categories of the company dealing with fleet: one is who focuses mainly on getting their fleet on the roads without extra expenses or liabilities and believe in outsourcing the fleet management. The other is who manage fleet themselves and keep exploring the way to improve this management.
For the former category, there are many fleet management companies offering their fleet management software to manage your fleet under the check of your fleet manager. For the latter category, stick till the end for 3 amazing tricks.
Before reading ahead, decide which category you belong to and move ahead accordingly. Let’s get started with these 3 amazing tips to manage your fleet efficiently.
Here are the 3 tips to know how to manage fleet effectively
1. Create a strategic plan
The major reasons why companies are unsuccessful in maintaining their fleet and thereby hire fleet management companies are:
- Inefficient planning
- No testimonials of the documented plan
This is similar to the situation that you must know what to deal with before actually dealing.
Include the following in your plan:
- Make a list of your assets.
- Take into account every vehicle.
- Any vehicle to be added.
- The number of vehicles for offloading.
This will help in building your strategy for replacement and disposal. Once you are acquainted with your strengths, you can begin with setting goals on daily basis to keep up with the processes like:
- Develop criteria for unforeseen repairs.
- Searching for a suitable mechanical shop.
- Create a maintenance timetable for all of your vehicles.
- Setting post- and pre-trip inspection procedures to keep you informed.
You can also add other factors depending on your convenience which can help you make informed decisions. Planning is the first step, and if you take this seriously, you can manage your fleet efficiently.
2. Set realistic and achievable goals to measure your success
Procedures you follow in fleet management are the sugar to your tea, but analyzing goals is the tea itself. How better you measure your fleet performance will decide your success. Keep a note of your scope of improvement and you will be able to enhance your company’s success with smooth fleet management.
One of the factors to consider while managing your fleet is to take into account only those points which really matters. For an instance, you are tracking fuel consumption that can be helpful while maintaining the costs of the fleet. But only tracking this will not be helpful in operating your fleet.
Make a list of different areas in terms of fleet management and set achievable goals accordingly. Set a duration in which you will measure goals consistently and look for the areas of improvement. Focus on meeting your goals with efficiency. Set a limit for the following factors:
- Operational costs
- Expenses of fuel.
- Cost of maintainance and ownership.
- Overall expenses on vehicle utilization.
Remember the list in which you will write all the factors to be measured. Now find a place to store the data you measure regarding these factors. Doing this will be helpful in making decisions regarding budgets and calculating the efficiency of your fleet. Maintain a clear report of your tracking for the sake of consistency and transparency.
3. Use of accurate technologies
The last tip among the 3 amazing tips to manage a fleet efficiently is the use of the right technologies. Fleet management seems very easy at sight but it can be a daunting process if the right technologies are not used. If you are using a cloud-based fleet management software like Secure Fleet Manager, you will have these benefits:
- Fast processing
- Efficient management
- Database to store information regarding fleet to be used in future.
- A glance at all factors in a single dashboard
- Integration with third-party services to keep an eye on fleet and its data
- Streamline processes like sending service reminders, online reservations, and vehicle maintainance schedules.
No other company can know about the internal processes of your business better than you. So if you are managing your fleet internally, you can have good control over budgeting and procedures that impacts your business positively.
Initially, it may sound like a tedious job, but once you have a list of factors and pay attention to the detailing, you can set up the processes which will keep your fleet management smooth, even when you grow to a large scale.
On the other hand, we have management software to make your work easy. SFM is one among them.
Start implementing these 3 tips to manage your fleet efficiently
Enough reading as it's the time for action. Start relating these 3 tips with your business and make a note of them step-by-step. This is how you can manage your fleet efficiently by following 3 amazing tips. If you find any need for consulting, the doors of Secure Fleet Manager are always open for you.
You can contact us by emailing us at info@securefleetmanager.com. Or go to our website and get a free demo to start your journey with us. For more updates, deals, tips, and hacks about the fleet management systems follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you for reading till here.