Vehicles are a huge company asset and expense, whatever size your business is and whether you own or lease the vehicles. A business uses vehicles to transport people, equipment, machinery and product, and hence vehicles are visible on the road as a physical representation of the business, and carry significant costs, so they need to be managed accordingly.
And the more vehicles you have, the more critical fleet management becomes, although even if you are a one-man band, a vehicle is even more important and a lifeblood for your business, so fleet management is the function of overseeing the operation, compliance and sourcing of company vehicles, whether these vehicles are cars, vans, lorries or trucks, and within that there are a number of important duties.
The duties of a fleet manager
A fleet manager’s duties are long and varied and can differ according to the size and nature of a business and its fleet, but in general, the following duties will apply:
- The sourcing and disposal of a vehicle inventory, including purchase and leasing.
- Using softwareto track vehicles on the road, finding and designing the most efficient routes to ensure resource utilisation and to minimise downtime and waste.
- Communication with drivers.
- Monitoring driver behaviour, enforcing policies, ensuring driver training on efficient and compliant driving.
- Monitoring operational costs.
- Ensuring vehicle and driver compliance in terms of MOTs, service and maintenance, emissions, driving hours, licensing, tax and insurance.
- Using data and metrics to meet KPIs and to report to management on targets and objectives and where cost savings can be made.
Why is fleet management important?
Fundamentally, fleet management is important because it impacts on almost every department of an organisation, and the smaller the business is, the more critical this impact is. The movement and efficiency of vehicles can have an everyday impact on manufacturing, sales, procurement, finance, warehousing, human resources, environmental, health and safety, as well as how it responds to senior management objectives and targets. For this reason, fleet management has increasingly become a core function in a dynamic and progressive business.
In addition to this central focus within the business, fleet management also:
- Is a key cost within a business –impacting on operational cost in terms of fuel management, route optimisation and vehicle and delivery efficiencies, but also investment and asset management costs, such as vehicle leasing and procurement.
- Continual improvement – there are many metrics within the fleet management function which can contribute to key performance indicators and where a business can continually strive to improve.
- Influences compliance – failing to comply with driver and vehicle compliance issues can be costly to a business. This can be financially but also in terms of public relations. If the accident record of a business is poor, this can reflect badly on a business and impact its market position, for example.
Fleet management is a function of the business where it is possible to see a return on investment more quickly, so if a business invests in new software or new personnel, for example, these costs can be tracked very easily and can lead to direct savings in terms of operational costs. This means the fleet manager can show these savings quite clearly, and this kind of transparency is not always possible with other areas of the business. Therefore, fleet management is a key contributor to a dynamic business where smart investment can see fast, effective and meaningful returns.
Professional fleet management services from Total Motion
At Total Motion we have many years’ experience in providing effective fleet management services. We have worked in many different industry sectors and delivered innovative solutions which have brought pioneering change to the fleet management sector.
If you want your business to benefit from our influence and expertise, contact Total Motion today and we can talk to you about bringing game-changing fleet management to your business.
