What is enterprise fleet management in the first place? In its essence, it’s a modern management approach which entails incorporating technological solutions in your business operations.
By integrating relevant tech in key facets of your business, you can increase your company’s profitability, overall safety, and efficiency.
These technologically fortified business aspects include GPS solutions, routing and dispatch practices, telematics, video content policies, and compliance with relevant legislation.
GPS implementation
This is probably the aspect of fleet management that you are most familiar with. It works the same way as smartphone GPS features, except that the equipment is adapted to trucks or carriers. A GPS tracker lets fleet managers know where each vehicle is at any point in time.
Moreover, it can collect crucial data on the drivers’ habits and each vehicle’s condition. This grants essential insight into the fleet’s productivity trends. Such real time insight dramatically reduces wasted time, fuel, etc.
Telematics solutions
“Telematics” is an umbrella term for all technologies that store and exchange data by means of telecommunications devices. This includes the GPS capabilities integrated into phones and computers.
The way that good telematics save you money is that they improve and streamline your fleets’ operations. Well-implemented telematics solutions enable you to monitor factors like fuel consumption or driver habits to improve efficiency.
They also let you communicate with fleet drivers in real time to troubleshoot any issues on the go. This is invaluable when it comes to timely maintenance. For example, your business can partner with maintenance shops along your heaviest routes.
If the tech detects vehicle issues en route in, say, Eastern New South Wales, you can alert the driver to visit a partner car service in Woollahra instead of waiting to get to Sydney’s central business district and giving the problem a chance to grow.
Routing and dispatch improvement
A fleet manager in a modern enterprise needs to plot the best possible route from departure point to destination for each individual freight. Each of these routes must then be adapted in real time as the driver comes across various bottlenecks along the road.
Such bottlenecks might include traffic jams, accidents, foul weather, construction work, hazards (such as landslides), and miscellaneous nuisances. Each of these could potentially result in dramatic changes to the route. That means delays, additional resources spent, and ultimately lost profit.
This is why any fleet enterprise must have a robust, up-to-date routing and dispatch system in place. Moreover, such a system contributes to customer satisfaction. Efficient management means accounting for delivery time, as well as the number of stops along the way.
Routing and dispatch should strive to set the optimal driver on the optimal route, in the right vehicle, and with the right number of stops for their time. This results in timely, accurate delivery, which in turn builds a reputation of reliability for the enterprise.
A reliable company has an easier time retaining clients, winning new ones, and eventually expanding their business and increasing their total profits.
Video content
When it comes to fleet management, video recordings mostly oily down to dash cam footage. Some dash cams let the managers keep an eye on the inside of the driver’s cabin, while others provide the drivers themselves a better view of the outside of the vehicle.
Both are essential in dealing with accidents and potential resulting lawsuits. To begin with, a manager or dispatcher can assess the situation in real-time and respond according to the condition of the vehicle, the driver, and any third party.
Likewise, impartial video footage provides invaluable perspective in further crisis management. A comprehensive, well-rounded record of the incident protects the driver as well as the enterprise. It can save the company a fortune in legal and medical costs.
Compliance with legislation
A successful fleet enterprise will always be in compliance with their country’s Department of Transportation and its laws and guidelines. Anything else is just inviting trouble down the road. That said, it can be overwhelming to stay on top of the various requirements.
Modern fleet management relies on automation for this purpose. An enterprise will set up appropriate software to track things like:
- pre- and post-trip paperwork
- drivers’ licences and their expiry dates
- fuel prices
- all applicable taxes
- safety insections of their vehicles etc.
One important legal obligation to mention is the chain of responsibility. This is required for every carrier the enterprise currently owns, and applies to every party in the transportation chain. The DOTs usually require a fair few records to be kept, so it’s much safer to store them digitally. There is also the added bonus of multiple easily accessible backups.
As anyone who has ever dealt with legal fees knows, proper paperwork management can save you a fortune. You prevent being charged late fines, and avoid losing profit to driver downtime while their licences are renewed.
Enterprise fleet management drastically streamlines your operations. Implementing good tech solutions saves you time, money, and other resources. Not only do you cut down on expenses this way, but you’re posed for increased total profit as well.
