While every business is different and presents a variety of different challenges, there are common factors which represent the fleet management function and which are equally important whatever the size and scale of the fleet department you are tasked with running. In some respects these can be considered the pillars of the fleet manager’s responsibilities and the basis for any system designed to manage the fleet adequately.
Fleet management is all about managing changing circumstances, but this level of change is always based around these key elements and factors, so whether you have a fleet of five vehicles doing the same routes every day or one hundred vehicles doing multiple drops all over the country, these are the four most critical elements the fleet manager needs to be aware of.
- Vehicle safety is paramount
- Driver behaviour is different from one individual to the next
- Compliance is a huge factor in managing costs
- Keep an eye on developing technology
You have a fleet management role because the vehicles can’t manage themselves, even with today’s technological advancements, so maintaining your fleet as roadworthy is fundamental to the success of your function and your duty of care. It is important that you maintain records for service and maintenance and have a robust, automated schedule which notifies you in good time when planned maintenance visits are required. It is also important that you schedule MOTs and are responsive to repair needs as and when they arise. The cost of vehicle downtime and potential incidents arising from vehicle safety is very clear.
Fundamentally, don’t assume that one driver drives in the same way as another. One might be diligent to speed limits, might be careful how they accelerate, might be tolerant of other road users etc, while another might be prone to getting caught speeding, might be burning fuel unnecessarily and might be giving the business a bad name with their driving behaviour generally. All of these factors carry a cost and you need to manage them. So how a driver drives can affect what type of vehicle you give them, what type of jobs you give them, what training they require and what compliance costs they create. This all requires managing and monitoring very closely.
There are a number of different areas which combine under the banner of compliance, and much of your role is dedicated to managing these factors. Your duty of care to drivers covers such issues as corporate manslaughteras well as health and safety factors, so you need to be very careful how you appoint drivers, how you train them and how you risk assess jobs. Licensing, insurance and vehicle safety are all a huge element of compliance and you need a robust system in place to ensure standards are maintained at all times, and that all variable elements are covered by that system. For example, don’t forget that all your drivers need regular health checks to ensure they remain fit to drive and complete the tasks you are asking of them.
The last few years have been very favourable to the fleet manager in terms of providing more and more tools to help monitor drivers, their behaviours and to control costs. Telematics are now available to automate tasks and job deployment, but you also have Sat Nav tools to track vehicles and plan journeys, you can monitor fuel usage and how it is linked to driver behaviour and you have communications tools to help you manage drivers and the challenges of being out on the road where lots of things can change very quickly. The only certainty with this technology is that it will improve and offer more and more functionality, so don’t get left behind and make sure your fleet management department has access to the very best tools to make your job easier and to save costs where you can.
All these four elements are central to the fleet management assistance Total Motion can provide, and we have industry-leading knowledge and expertise which we can share with your business to develop robust and cost-efficient systems to manage your fleet.
Contact Total Motion and we can help you establish a top class fleet management function for today and for the future.
