Power up your fleet’s productivity
Effective fleet management is a critical part of increasing fleet productivity – reducing costs, protecting your drivers and providing first class service. Ensuring fleet productivity is to the highest standard comes with its own set of challenges. Improving your daily practices to more modern and seamless solutions will streamline workflow, improve communication and increase visibility.
But what is the best management tips to save time and increase your fleet’s productivity?
Set clear policies and process
To prevent confusion between teams and drivers, fleet owners should introduce clear and organised processes and policies. Quite often your insurance broker will be able to provide you with a Fleet Management Policy booklet but if not, you will be able to find on online.
Processes and policies may be related to a range of key areas: vehicle procurement, fuel purchasing, driver policies, cost tracking and driver satisfaction & performance.
Having these policies and processes in place means all your drivers will understand what is expected of them and what steps they need to follow.
Analyse Fleet Data
It’s vital to analyse your fleet data to understand how you will be able to improve productivity.
With so many different fleet telematics available, some of which allow you to access real time data, you will be able to collect useful information about your drivers such as speeding, braking and idle time.
The data then can be used to see which drivers might need extra driving training and if you have drivers whose driving is excellent but they’re refuelling frequently, it might mean that the vehicle isn’t performing as well as it could be.
Improve Safety
Your driver is your business’ most important asset and every successful fleet manager understands that. A driver’s habits and driver performance can have a significant impact on fleet productivity.
It is essential to invest in reliable vehicle safety training initiatives – educating drivers on road safety and the importance of preventive maintenance.
Whether your business’ primary purpose is driving and delivering goods or you provide company vehicles for your employees as an incentive, you should create a culture around being safe on the road. This should involve limiting working hours to prevent tiredness, conducting driver background checks and encouraging employees to report risky and harmful behaviour.
Additionally, tracking safety data is a great way to reward drivers who are practising safe driving habits. Safer drivers will prevent fewer insurance claims (preventing your premium from going up significantly in the future), less money being spent on repairing vehicles and your drivers being safer and unharmed on the roads.
Minimise Fuel Costs
Fuel is going to be one of the most significant expenses that come with managing a fleet and with the rising fuel costs, it is becoming a concern for many companies.
Consequently, it might be worth introducing a strategy aimed at reducing fuel costs. One way could be introducing company cards for each driver for when they need to fuel their own vehicle. This will allow a fleet manager to track how often each driver stops for fuel and they’ll be able to calculate how much fuel your entire fleet consumes on a monthly basis and plan ahead.
This type of planning will allow you to plan ahead and avoid overspending. Additionally, with this data, you will be able to see which vehicle consumes the most fuel and you may see that it might be time to upgrade the vehicle or even switch it to an electric vehicle.
Check for maintenance issues regularly
Failing to maintain your fleet can be overwhelming if you don’t conduct scheduled regular checkups. To ensure that your vehicles are performing at their very best, it is best to have routine checkups.
Regular checkups can prevent vehicle malfunctions and reduce the time, money and resources spent on maintenance.
A well maintained fleet will also be safer for drivers and other workers.
Review and Improve Your Strategy
Developing and improving continuously is key to managing a fleet well.
As part of your review and planning, it’s good to get input from your drivers and everyone else on your team. They may see problems on a daily that you wouldn’t and their input could improve productivity.
Encouraging the team to speak their thoughts and opinions and developing a two way relationship will allow you to foster trust and increase job satisfaction.
Time to upgrade your vehicles?
If you’re looking to upgrade your current commercial vehicles, speak to our team of specialists. As we search the whole of the market, we can often find cheaper deals than a dealership.
Call us on 01270 443510 for a no-obligation discussion about your business plans or complete our contact form and we’ll be in touch with you as soon as possible.
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Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 6ZQ
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