A fleet manager or transportation manager is a key person within a business that has vehicles. They must ensure the safety of all vehicles, organize logistics, deal with finance, manage drivers, and more. This could be within a vehicle rental business, a taxi firm, or any company which transports people or cargo. It is a multi-faceted business role and requires plenty of organization, patience, and attention to detail. If you are working as a fleet manager or thinking of taking this role, you may be wondering how you can do it most effectively and productively. We have compiled some tips, tricks, and solutions to help increase productivity, as well as make this complicated job that little bit easier. Sound like something you need to read? Well, read on to find out more.
Record keeping
One of the most tedious aspects of this job, like many, is keeping timely and accurate records regarding your vehicles, drivers, and maintenance. Pre-digital age, many fleet managers did this by keeping record books and folders whilst manually entering data. A long and tiring job! However, nowadays there are plenty of software tools available to make this process a lot smoother and easier. Consider investing in a data management software tool aimed at fleet or courier services. These will actively and automatically keep a record of each vehicle’s mileage, maintenance records, expenses, and more. A small investment in this kind of software will free up a lot of your time, allowing you to spend more time communicating with clients, drivers, and other staff.
Skipping the DMV Queue
Everyone knows that waiting in line at the DMV is one of the most painful tasks, whether for work or personal reasons. Imagine you are managing a fleet of 100 vehicles and need to update registration paperwork, insurance, or other legal necessities. As suggested in this website, find a tool that will help you do all of these items remotely, and consolidate all your vehicles into one manageable invoice. This makes accounting easier, keeping track of vehicle status easier, and again saves you hours and hours of your working week to focus on more important tasks. There are some things that are just far better done by outsourcing to someone else, and this is certainly one of those jobs.
Data Analysis
This ties in with your record keeping. There is a great deal of data to be collected, stored, and analyzed when it comes to managing a large fleet of vehicles. One key aspect is safety monitoring. You need accurate data on a vehicle’s maintenance status, last service, mileage, and more to ensure the vehicles which leave your lot are safe for the road. You also need to keep data on your driver’s mileage, hours on the road, and safety record.
These bits of data would be hard to analyze daily on paper, but luckily you don’t need to do that anymore. Automated fleet management software not only gathers this data for you, but it also alerts you when something doesn’t look right. For example, a driver has done too many hours, breaching safety protocol, or a vehicle has a safety warning which hasn’t been addressed, your software can flag this data and let you know there’s an issue, saving you hours of perusing through data to try to keep accurate records yourself. Field service management software to monitor data like outonsite.co.uk is a tool for growing tradesmen and contractors.
Communication Tools
A key part of this job is communication with clients and drivers. Long gone are the days of one person sat in a fleet manager’s office answering their phone to each and every person. Nowadays it is best to invest in some call center-style software and hardware. Having dedicated phone lines for customer support, as well as direct lines to each driver can only make this job easier.
GPS
Finally, you need a strong and accurate GPS system. This needs to be installed in every car and linked to proper software in your office. Without it, you’d be constantly guesstimating times and calling drivers for updates. A good GPS tracking system will show you the location of a car, what speed it is traveling, and it’s estimated ETA. These all help deliver timely and accurate data to clients, as well as gathering more of that all-important data.
These tools are not only useful, they are essential for a fleet manager to do his or her job accurately and productively. A combination of them all can only make for a simpler, faster, and more productive service for your business. Get started with some of these tools today and see how quickly they can make an impact.
