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Monitoring Your Fleet Effectively

 

Whether your business has less than ten vehicles or over a thousand, it’s up to you, as the person managing the fleet, to keep track of them. However, staying on top of your vehicles is a complex task without the right tools in place. From managing fuel spend to tracking mileage, you need accurate information – fast.

 

In this blog, we explore why tracking your vehicles is important and all the best methods to do this without the paperwork.

Why you should keep track of your fleet?

There are many reasons why monitoring your vehicles is key to improving fleet efficiency.

These include:

See below

 

  • Saving time and mileage by optimising routes with GPS
  • Uncovering more cost-effective ways of operating
  • Receiving alerts in the event of theft or accidents sooner
  • Meeting your Duty of Care obligations
  • Delivering better customer service

What should you be keeping track on?

Different businesses and fleets will have different priorities, but in general you should at minimum ensure you’re keeping an eye on the following:

Vehicles

  • Contract terms (the number of years your contract runs)
  • Maintenance and servicing history and schedule
  • Overall condition (including any historic damage or incidents)
  • Mileage (especially vs limits set within your contracts)
  • Vehicle Off Road (VOR) time
  • Fuel consumption
  • CO2 emissions

Drivers

  • Licence types, status, expiry dates and conditions
  • Mileage and fuel claims
  • Route efficiency
  • Fines or penalties
  • Training status

How can you get insight from your vehicles

GPS-enabled vehicles

Today, modern systems can do much more than simple navigation. Using satellite technology, GPS is handy for understanding traffic conditions, finding petrol stations or charging points, as well as providing insights on roads or weather updates.

Telematics

Telematics systems have GPS built-in already but provide more a comprehensive set of data. So, you can get reports on areas such as speed and fuel consumption to monitor vehicle performance and driver behaviour – and make better decisions as a result.

Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs)

Gone are the days of pen and paper. ELDs are digitally connected to the engines of your vehicles, so you can automatically track all driving activity throughout the day. Both fleet managers and drivers can also access the information within seconds.

Dashcams

Dashcams are a good way to keep your drivers and others on the road safe. But they also help you save money on insurance and can put an end to false claims. And if you have your dashcams on 24/7, it means you can protect your fleet even when unattended.

Fleet Management software

Specialised Fleet Management software can help bring together all the important information about your vehicles and drivers in one place. This allows you to manage, review, and maintain logs on your fleet, and to recognise challenges, opportunities, and trends as they arise.

Talk to our experts

Got questions? We’ve got answers

If you have any questions about fleet management for small or medium enterprises our team of experts are here to help, offering you comprehensive knowledge, clarity and can focus on your specific requirements.

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