What is Fleet Management?

What is Fleet Management?

It is an encompassing term that describes the procedures and steps that a fleet of vehicles needs to take to operate effectively, on time and within budget. Millions of vehicles are managed across the globe using fleet management software and it is used in the private and public sectors for all kinds of industries and sizes.

Why do Businesses Have Fleet Management?

After buying or leasing a vehicle, other fees need to be included as part of the ownership cost. Items such as storage, fuel price, insurance, maintenance and titles. When you multiply this for all the vehicles in a business it can be more than overwhelming for an owner. Fleet management solutions make it easier for businesses to track and view vehicle data in a single app or interface and the software is extremely helpful to modern businesses.

Example Fleet Management Users

Almost all businesses that have a set of vehicles need and use fleet management services. It is useful to manage workflow within apps and users such as Food Delivery, Emergency Services, Construction, Landscaping, Public Transport, Couriers and Utility Companies that use fleet management to monitor their vehicles and staff workflow.

What is a Fleet Manager?

Smaller business owners may be able to manage their fleets by themselves using fleet management software. Larger organisations choose to hire a person or team to monitor their fleet of vehicles. A fleet manager can be an inside or outside position. The idea is a firm can be used to outsource fleet management if a business does not want to manage itself.

A fleet manager’s prominent roles are to monitor vehicles daily, manage running costs, purchase or lease new cars, maintain vehicles, manage drivers, plan routes and ensure the fleet operates safely.

Benefits of Fleet Management

The new streamlined world we live in now relies on fast delivery and instant updates. For maximum efficiency and growth as a business, it is now essential that companies with fleets use some form of fleet management. 

This is because fleet management lowers labour and fuel costs, analyses data for optimisation aids in driver and vehicle safety - preventing long-term repairs and downtime, whilst locating fleet vehicles and much more.

Fleet Management Features and Options

A fleet management system can analyse vehicle data, locate anyone within a business's fleet and manage records on a particular vehicle or driver. Other common features are:

Vehicle Tracking - Via GPS, fleet management can locate vehicles in the field. Ensuring a smooth operation and determining if maintenance is required. A fleet vehicle may be equipped with a camera too, enabling video recording and live remote access from anywhere.

Driver Analysis - Some fleet management software uses a score-based system. If the driver is driving dangerously, they receive a lower score. This rewards safer drivers and ensures employees are operating the vehicle safely.

Fuel Records - How much fuel is used and components of a vehicle are monitored. Combined with driver analysis, this can identify areas for improvement such as braking and idling less to save fuel. 

‍Route Monitoring - For optimum efficiency, the best routes for drivers can be mapped out by the software. This is then fed automatically to a driver to improve operations and time on the route.

Ways to Save on Fleet Management Costs

Log your vehicle details. When going in for repair, maintenance or service these records must be logged. Fleet management software helps by storing digital records of all of this and when your vehicles need to next go in for a service. This all aids in reducing maintenance costs and preventative maintenance can take place if a problem is detected early - saving on fleet running costs. At High Mobility, our advanced API transfers live vehicle data to our customers without the need of hardware, informing fleet managers on service due date, distance since the last service and the current condition of the vehicle.

Understand your breakdown and insurance coverage. If your fleet vehicle breaks down, getting your driver and vehicle back on the road as soon as possible is vital for business operations and customer satisfaction. High Mobility can transfer live location data from a host of brands and deliver it into one easy interface. Our customers can build their interface using our advanced API to display data items including ignition and engine status, fuel usage and coolant temperature to make sure a fleet is operating effectively.

Partnering with local service centres or having a service plan with your fleet ensures they are being properly maintained. Plus, in an emergency, fleet managers can rely on service centres to fix the vehicle and get it back on the road asap thanks to their established relationship. High Mobility live data transfer shows service status, location and diagnostic data to fleet managers using our advanced API.
‍

Let us be your fleet data partner and sign up with High Mobility today. Start by trying out our simulator, and get testing right on the web browser. Best of all, you only pay when you are ready to connect your fleet to your very own fleet management platform.