Are you sure that all of your fleet-related areas are working smoothly? Here are the best 5 tips to execute in all the areas of fleet management be it maintaining fuel usage, following all rules & regulations, tracking vehicle reports, and much more.
Knowing where your fleet management procedures are not working well and then improving them is the key to fleet management success. This will boost the efficiency of every vehicle under management and hence your fleet performance. Though fleet management companies may differ, the basic practices for enhanced fleet management remain the same.
Following are the best 5 tips for fleet managers to follow for enhancing fleet management systems that can help you in optimizing your processes, enhancing the efficiency of the fleet, and thus, the overall performance of fleet management.
Here are the 5 tips for enhancing your fleet management
1. Maintaining all rules and regulations
Well, this is not a new thing that these rules and regulations will keep the vehicle and driver safety. But above this fact, here is some information that needs proper analysis, that is:
Driving hours: It is important to monitor that all drivers are following laws during driving hours. Because if these are not followed and get noticed by security officers, the result may be a criminal prosecution.
Walk-around analysis: Drivers must perform walk-around analysis before driving a vehicle so that if any defects are found, they can be reported on the spot within the company.
Data Inspection: Installing the new tachograph devices with automatic remote downloading that store data and do data analysis for the overall fleet optimization process.
Tachograph: A digital device that is required to be installed in the vehicle to monitor:
- Distance traveled
- Vehicle’s speed.
- Rest durations
- Driver’s driving time
Fleet managers must analyze this data which is important to find out any violation of rules and develop reports for the same.
2. Decrease idling
Did you know that idle vehicles can waste fuel costing up to $959 per vehicle/annum? Though the vehicle idling depends on the vehicle make and model, some idling can’t be avoided like in the case of high traffic or adding extra machinery to vehicles like a cement mixer or a crane.
Some everyday instances of idling includes:
- Vehicle heaters for heating up
- Air conditioning for cooling down
- Waiting in traffic while being on the phone
Using the combination of making rules for drivers to switch off the engine when idle and using technology to keep a check on driver habits, fleet managers can save a lot of expenditure.
Did you know a vehicle during idle time produces 20 times more pollution compared to running at the speed of 30mph? So reducing idle time is fruitful for both business and society.
3. Control fuel consumption
One of the biggest expenditures that have frustrated all fleet managers is fuel costs. After the lockdown is lifted, it has been rising without a bar. As compared to last year, diesel costs $7 more. These costs add up to overall costs and make it harder for fleet managers to cope up with the increasing charges especially after being hit by COVID.
What can you do to prevent it? Obviously, you cannot sit at the petrol pumps to control the prices. What is in your hands is maintaining the practices that reduce fuel consumption. For instance, using telematics, checking driver’s behavior, decreasing idle time. All these practices might save 14% on fuel per year.
4. Reduce air pollution using AdBlue
AdBlue is a diesel exhaust fluid used in vehicles to decrease the amount of CO2 and NOx in diesel engines to reduce its harmful effect on our health. Did you know that only diesel fumes are responsible for thousands of deaths in the UK every year?
And AdBlue is so powerful that it can reduce the NOx produced by 90%. Fleet managers may consider it as an additional expenditure but they have to refill the Adblue after every 5000 miles completed. Otherwise, experience the consequences of failing vehicles or failure of being compliant with legislation. You can track the AdBlue levels for better fleet operation using telematics devices.
5. Estimate the total cost of ownership
One of the best tips among these 5 tips to enhance your fleet management is estimating the total cost of ownership(TCO). Considering electric vehicles over vehicles running on petrol or diesel, fleet managers find the latter one more in budget. But as per the studies, electric vehicles can equalize the upfront costs of vehicles running on fuels in just four and a half years resulting in long-term savings.
Over a period of 10 years, electric vehicles, be it a small vehicle or large one carrying tons of load, are found to be more efficient and cost-effective compared to the vehicles running on fuel. So the most important factor for fleet managers is to estimate the total cost of ownership and realize the improvements and then take further decisions. The best way to cope up with the fuel costs is to switch to electric vehicles realizing its long-term savings that can be further invested in upgrading vehicles and optimizing overall business.
Implement these best 5 tips to enhance your fleet management
Saving, investing in the business, and smoothly executing the business are the main goals of every fleet management system. Sticking to these ways mentioned above will enable the vehicles to be efficiently used with safety and compliance to the legislation resulting in enhanced performance of the business. Along with executing, keep analyzing the data using telematics or creating reports for the same to control costs and maintain the fleet.
So these were some of the ways through which you can enhance your fleet management. Follow these tips for a few days and let us know which one you found to be most useful. Let us know about your favorite ones in the comment section below.
If you have any queries, doubts, or requests, do not hesitate to email them at info@securefleetmanager.com. For more updates, deals, tips, and hacks about the fleet management systems follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you for staying here with us.