Replacing your fleet vehicles can be costly. Fleet management software helps increase the lifespan of your fleet by closely monitoring maintenance schedules, driver habits, and travel distances.
The average lifespan of these cars or vans, which are used extensively on the road each day, could be about three to five years, depending on the model and the make.
How can fleet managers prolong their lifespan? By looking after your vehicles. Here’s why you need a fleet management system to keep the car in good condition for as long as possible.
Let’s look at the top features of fleet management software that can help to improve fleet efficiency.
1. Real time GPS tracking for deliveries
Real time tracking helps with operational efficiency, but also the efficiency of your fleet. Think about when your drivers are speeding or making risky decisions on the road.
Real-time GPS tracking helps you identify and fix these mistakes before it becomes the norm for drivers to behave like this.
With vehicle tracking, fleet managers can easily take steps to improve driver safety and keep the vehicles intact.
Real time location tracking plays an important role in fleet management, giving managers oversight of what drivers do in real time. It would not make sense to only learn about what they’ve been up to on the road months later.
Identifying the problem at that moment can help drivers understand precisely what they are doing wrong.
WATCH: How to choose the best GPS tracking device
2. Route optimization improves fleet management
Driving for longer distances adds to a car’s wear and tear. Not even discussing the unnecessary time spent behind the steering wheel can impact drivers.
With route optimization, better route planning can improve the overall fleet operations. It cuts down on fuel costs and maintenance costs at the same time.
Route optimization improves not only cost savings but also operational costs.
WATCH: How does route optimization work?
3. Monitor delivery drivers’ habits
When it comes to driver performance, fleet management is the perfect software to monitor each individual’s behavior simultaneously with real time vehicle data.
Driver behavior can significantly impact the wear and tear of your fleet. Think of that driver who spins the tires when they drive off. Not only does it negatively impact fuel consumption, but it also doesn’t help prevent accidents.
Fleet management solutions help managers to send drivers for training to improve their driving skills.
With no fleet management software, poor driver behavior goes undetected, and vehicle maintenance falls behind.
4. Why is maintenance scheduling important for fleet management?
It reduces downtime, saves money, improves safety, and extends the vehicle’s lifespan.
Vehicle maintenance is crucial. It can prevent unexpected breakdowns and save you thousands of dollars on major repair work.
Not only is this costly, but having downtime on your fleet can mean you might have to hire an extra vehicle just to get by for the time being.
Therefore, regular maintenance saves money. Catching small issues before they become big is a massive win for the budget.
When a car is well maintained, it’s safer for drivers who spend their entire day behind the steering wheel to be on the road.
But what about the vehicle? Keeping your fleet in great condition can help you get the most out of your investment. And if you decide to sell the car, you might still get a higher price.
5. Fuel management prolongs fleet lifespan
Just like regular maintenance prolongs the lifespan of your fleet, so does your fuel consumption.
Route optimization, which is a feature of fleet management software, helps to choose the most cost-effective routes every time. When less fuel is used, the clock has less mileage, and the car’s lifespan is prolonged.
How does this work? There is less strain on the engine. Gradually accelerating helps to reduce the strain on the engine and prolong its life.
6. Why is compliance important in fleet management?
As a fleet manager, you want your drivers to cooperate and work with you to improve their driving skills so as not to run down the fleet.
Fleet compliance empowers drivers to complete their deliveries within the safety standards. This could be through incentives, social platform recognition, or more workplace responsibility.
With backed-up data and statistics from fleet management software, drivers can more easily see where they’ve erred and understand why they need to improve.
7. Asset tracking helps with driver visibility
Another fleet management solution that complements driver tracking is asset tracking. You want to know where your fleet of vehicles is.
Especially if you are operating in a high-safety risk area, you want to prevent theft and loss.
If your vehicle gets stolen or damaged, your fleet insurance premium will increase.
8. What is ELD integration in fleet management?
An Electronic Logging Device (ELD) connects to the fleet vehicle’s engine to track the performance.
Here’s what kind of information fleet managers can extract from it.
- How long does the engine operate a day?
- Ignition details, such as how often it’s switched on and off.
- The location of the car and where it’s parked.
- How many miles are driven by a driver during their shift?
- It can also determine when the driver logs in for the day and off for the day.
This type of information is critical for fleet management. It can accurately calculate how long it is before the vehicle needs maintenance and how the driver uses it.
9. Why does fleet management need notifications?
Imagine being in control of over 100 vans, trucks, and vehicles. Receiving notifications only when something goes wrong can help operators be more consistent and proactive in stopping abuse and damage to the fleet.
Several notifications can be set up, tailored to your business’s needs. This helps improve communication with drivers and assess and settle the problem immediately.
Make sure you choose fleet management software that allows you to modify the notification settings to your company’s needs.
10. Geofencing improves driver control
It’s all about safety here. Fleet management software uses geofencing to set up a virtual perimeter, which will alert the fleet manager if the driver crosses the boundary set.
This feature is a must-have if you want to ensure your drivers never leave with the vehicle crossing into another state.
It keeps the vehicles safe and gives managers better visibility over larger fleets.
11. Detailed analytics is vital for fleet management
You want your fleet managers to make informed decisions. Analytics and a detailed report highlight specific problems and could point out a deeper systematic error.
If several drivers struggle with the same issue, a report can indicate whether there is a wider problem that needs to be addressed. It might even be a manufacturer’s problem, not a driver’s.
If you want to improve the lifespan of your fleet, a detailed report could highlight that you might have to upgrade to another model or make when you upgrade your fleet next.
For example, if most of your fleet has problems with cludges breaking down after a specific time, it might not be a driver’s harsh usage but a problem with the model or make.
12. Remote access helps fleet management
Fleet managers need remote access to the software to gain a better view of their assets and drivers. If your company doesn’t have the capacity to monitor this itself, it can be outsourced to a third-party logistics provider.
This is more applicable to larger companies with multiple divisions and thousands of fleets. Several fleet managers are in charge of different functions.
RECAP: Features a fleet management system needs
Fleet management relies on a number of features to help fleet managers ensure optimal fleet performance. They can’t be everywhere and need accurate software and systems in place to make their work manageable.
Good fleet management software solutions, like Locate2u, help improve customer satisfaction and driver management simultaneously.
About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
