Managing commercial fleets of vehicles can be a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. But thanks to the Internet of Things – the new and innovative technology has completely revolutionized fleet management, adding efficiency to the process through automation.

So what is fleet management exactly? Briefly speaking, it is the use of sophisticated software and vehicle telematics to oversee fleet performance and fleet maintenance to increase productivity and enhance the smooth operation of the business. 

For any organization that incorporates vehicles for use within the business, an integrated fleet management solution is of vital importance. 

The system provides extensive intelligence to fleet owners and operators regarding vehicle location, performance, driver behavior, etc. which help them save precious time and cost and ultimately improve their bottom line.

Below are the seven interesting ways in which fleet management ensures optimum utilization of your resources.

Reduce Cost

Most managers aren’t even aware of their biggest cost drivers. Fleet management software reveals those blind spots since it continually gathers and analyzes data on vehicles and driver behaviors.

Everyone in the trucking industry knows that poor driver behavior, such as hard braking or speeding, burns excessive fuel. They are also responsible for the early wear and tear of the vehicle. With proper management of their truckers’ drivability, companies can lower fuel and maintenance costs.

Similarly, other relevant information on fuel consumption, miles logged, speed tracking, and vehicle utilization are important to help keep your fleet in the best condition and reduce downtime.

Improve Fleet Utilization

The fleet management system has an intelligent navigation system that can take into consideration a host of parameters such as sales territory, pick up orders, vehicle characteristics, and capacity as well as on-ground information. 

The system allocates vehicles, roué plans, and deliveries in the most optimal way possible, resulting in the most efficient route plan for your delivery. This leads to a huge saving in the time traveled, miles covered, and the number of vehicles used. 

You can use the resources saved in this way to cater to new customers, thus boosting your profit while keeping your customers happy and satisfied.

Optimize Delivery Routes And Schedules

Fleet management software often includes asset tracking through GPS technology and video telematics, which provides operational data on vehicles, roads, and the environment allowing you to optimize route designs on the go. 

This valuable insight into fleet performance and driver behavior enables you to tackle situations such as traffic congestions or unexpected break down right on time.

Your ability to respond quickly to the unfavorable situation and make real-time changes will increase efficiency, help drivers and deliveries stay on schedule, and save you from bearing the brunt of disappointed customers. 

Preventive Maintenance

Maintenance is one of the biggest expenses that the fleet business incurs, and its efficiency has a key impact on the profitability of the organization. With sophisticated fleet management software, you can monitor the health of your fleet remotely from any place.

You can ensure your vehicle’s longevity by providing preventative maintenance with alerts for service needs like low battery, coolant temperature, check engine, inspection reminders, and other such factors.

Alerts will notify you with early warning signs of trouble, whether it’s an overheating engine, low fluids, or declining oil-life. This way, preventive maintenance saves you from the extra downtime that a bigger malfunction or repair job can cause in the future.

Measure Success Over Time

A good manager likes to keep track of the company’s performance over time. This can be done by comparing operations then to now, and even by comparing to industry standards. 

Fleet management system facilitates such comparison by enabling you to view dashboard summaries of vehicle operations, driver performance, risks, and much more. Such information gets accumulated over time. 

You can then compare the month-over-month and year-over-year performance of your fleet. The findings can help you make fact-based decisions on how to build the best driver safety programs and customer service practices.

Centralized Information

To optimize your fleet operations and reduce costs, a complete and organized view of your data is essential. Most businesses have information stored in different systems, which makes it difficult to get a holistic view of their performance. 

Fleet management system solves the problem by bringing all your data together, so you have all the information you need at your fingertips. 

The best fleet management software integrates with your other solutions easily through APIs, acting as a hub for all fleet data, including vehicle locations, driving behaviors, fuel reports, trip history, and video. 

This allows instant sharing of information from vehicle hardware in the field to the fleet software in your office, instead of being manually recorded and reported by drivers. 

Enhanced Safety and Security

Safety should be a critical business value and not merely a convenience, especially for businesses with fleets. Unsafe driving habits such as speeding, harsh acceleration, harsh braking, cornering, and stop sign violations can be attributed to most of the accidents. 

Accidents make businesses vulnerable to compensation claims and can even lead to civil lawsuits. Fleet management systems can log data relating to bad driving habits so that managers can use this information to address unsafe habits on an individual basis. The software can also be used to help train drivers and develop effective fleet safety initiatives. 

Thus an intelligent fleet management system can not only reduce the risk of accidents and vehicle damage but also decrease the likelihood of fine.

In Conclusion

One cannot undermine the importance of smart fleet management in today’s competitive era. It has become an invaluable prerequisite for the smooth operation of your business. 

Some businesses are choosing to outsource fleet management to third parties instead of keeping an in- house control. This takes the load off managers and enables them to focus on other strategies. 

Now that you’ve understood the innumerable advantages of efficient fleet management, it’s time you make it a priority in your organization. A smart fleet management system will give you a competitive edge so that you can stay at the top of your game at all times.