Fleet vehicles are needed by a business for a number of reasons, and fleet management is increasingly seen as a core function in a business because of its influence on so many other departments. Fleet vehicles aren’t just a status symbol for executives, although they do still exist for senior management and for sales personnel making trips to clients etc, but fleet vehicles can also include all delivery vehicles, vehicles used for transporting people and equipment to sites and public service vehicles such as taxis and minibuses.
There are a number of outputs as a consequence of running a fleet which mean it is an important function to a business and one that needs managing carefully and strategically. This is why fleet management has developed in recent years to incorporate progressive management tools, techniques and software and technology and which puts more focus on the function and seeks to incorporate improvement targets.
What is fleet management?
Fleet management is the function of overseeing how vehicles are used by a business. This includes how vehicles are sourced and maintained, how drivers are trained and monitored and how operations are managed. The overriding factor is that fleet vehicles carry a lot of costs, both directly and indirectly, and so the key objective of a fleet management department is to manage these costs via various activities, including the use of analysis tools, communications and technology.
What are the key functions of a fleet management department?
- Vehicle sourcing
- Vehicle maintenance
- Vehicle tracking
- Driver training
- Compliance
- Communications
While the cost of running vehicles needs to be managed, the cost of sourcing them in the first place is obviously a key variable, so a fleet manager will be tasked with finding the most cost-effective procurement basis for sourcing vehicles, such as multi-bid funding, through contract purchase, flexible leasing solutions or using a salary sacrifice scheme. And fundamentally, the fleet manager has to match a business need with the right type of vehicle also. Ultimately, the sourcing of vehicles has to make sense for the business and be cost-effective over the long term.
Service and maintenance is critical in how a vehicle performs and with its compliance in terms of being safe and roadworthy. Scheduling service and maintenance to maximise vehicle efficiency is one thing, but with a large fleet this also needs to ensure that operations are not affected by vehicles not being available. There are also various different packages for service and maintenance which vary by vehicle type and age.
Software is now available for vehicle tracking which gives the fleet manager complete visibility over where vehicles are and how efficiently they are performing. From this you can develop programmes to cut out wasteful journeys, monitor fuel efficiency and analyse driver behaviour. This is a function with great opportunities for cost savings and performance improvements.
Leading on from vehicle tracking, the fleet manager can develop techniques to ensure drivers are suited to the right vehicles and journeys and that their driving behaviour is monitored to reduce wasteful or unsafe practices.
The fleet manager is responsible for all elements of compliance. This will include the service and maintenance function and ensuring vehicles are safe and roadworthy (including MOTs) but also involves building a database of licenses, taxation and insurance to ensure everything is legal and compliant. The business also has a responsibility for grey fleet, and managing vehicles that aren’t necessarily owned by the business, but are used by the business.
How a fleet manager communicates with the fleet itself is critical in how it functions. In a fast-paced business things can change quickly and that needs to be managed and communicated effectively to keep things running smoothly and cost-effectively, so a good communications hub is there to support drivers, provide information and give them a framework for reporting accidents, delays and other day-to-day issues, and it also provides a basis for keeping in touch and monitoring where drivers are. So good communication provides benefits for both the driver and the business.
What are the benefits of good fleet management?
Whatever the size of your business, and more importantly the size of your fleet, the main benefit of effective fleet management is to reduce wasteful costs and manage vehicles more efficiently. A fleet vehicle for a small business may only amount to one vehicle, but that vehicle is absolutely critical to that business, so its availability and cost-effective running has a huge influence on how the business runs. This is all relative as the size of the fleet increases.
So bottom line cost reduction is the primary benefit of fleet management, but it can also support the main functions of the business and help operations run more smoothly. So this could be supporting the sales, manufacturing and warehousing departments and helping them flow more efficiently. And because cost reduction is a primary aim, this requires the implementation of objectives and targets, which helps develop a more disciplined workforce and engages them in the concept of continual improvement.
Contact Total Motion for the best help and advice with fleet management
Total Motion has been an industry-leading organisation in the fleet management field for over 20 years. We have developed software, techniques and management tools which have revolutionised the industry and been widely adopted, and as fleet management experts we can pass this knowledge and experience on to you, so contact Total Motion today and we can help to improve your business.
