Fleet management can be complex, and the prior notion was to outsource tasks and decisions. Some of the reasons included a lack of expertise in-house, the size of the fleet, the type of fleet, and potential cost savings.
Large fleet management companies (FMCs) advocated that they could manage your fleet better than your organization could. However, by outsourcing fleet management, you are at the mercy of the FMC’s decisions, and you can lose the in-house knowledge (and data) to challenge the decisions being made on your behalf.
On the surface, outsourcing your fleet management may relieve short- term pain but may end up costing you more in the long run.
SOFTWARE SOLUTION
The services FMCs offer can now be handled by fleet management software at a much lower cost. With fleet management software, you can effectively manage your fleet in-house and have direct access to important fuel, telematics, and maintenance data through easy-to-use software integrations.
These integrations also improve your fleet operations by significantly reducing the amount of manual data entry that needs to be done. Your data should not be held hostage and should always be accessible in real time.
If you haven’t already, now is the time to evaluate how you manage your fleet and prepare for the future of fleet management.
REAL-TIME DATA ACCESS
Oftentimes, FMCs provide you monthly or quarterly reports on how your fleet performs. These reports are often high level and lack necessary details. They are really just a report of things that have happened in the past.
This information then gets shared by email or in a meeting with leadership at an organization. This process does not allow for proactive fleet management or any type of collaboration within an organization.
Today, an FMC will tell you they are proactively managing your fleet. They do this through a call center that makes decisions on your behalf. For example, an FMC will often try to save you money and may choose the cheapest tires to put on your vehicle. These cheaper tires will most likely need to be replaced sooner, costing the fleet more in tires over the life of the vehicle.
With real-time access to your data, your organization can collaborate, make decisions, track why a decision was made, and learn from those decisions.
By having all the details about your fleet in one place, you can use that data for exception management, benchmark how each vehicle is performing against other vehicles in the fleet, and help someone who is not an industry expert make data-driven decisions.
Why would you let someone else make decisions for you on one of the largest expenses your business has, managing your fleet?
API
In layman’s terms, an API (application programming interface) allows a piece of software to interact with another piece of software. A common use case for an API would be to push your fleet data into another system (like an ERP or accounting system) or pull data into your fleet software.
Are you getting a weekly or monthly data dump from an FMC and having to build processes to import that data? Using an API integration would prevent this.
SYSTEM INTEGRATIONS
Real-time access to your fleet data can be very valuable, and while capturing this may seem like a monumental task, it’s fairly simple. Proper fleet management software can integrate with other products, giving you a single place to get all of the information about your fleet.
Integrations can also eliminate manual data entry, which saves time and money. Some of the most popular integrations are GPS, telematics, fleet fuel cards, recalls, and maintenance shops.
One of the most valuable integrations for any fleet is a maintenance shop integration. This allows a fleet to automatically pull service record data from companies like Firestone, Tires Plus, Monro, Pep Boys, and independent shops into their fleet software with line item level details. Viewing real-time maintenance data helps you make the right decisions sooner and ultimately lowers total cost of ownership. A maintenance shop integration also allows you to keep up with preventive maintenance compliance, have fine-grained control of repairs, and reduce downtime for drivers.
Integrating a telematics solution with fleet management software is a great way to improve visibility and optimize daily workflows. With telematics, you are able to automate fleet maintenance processes and improve efficiency. Some benefits of telematics include preventive maintenance alerts, the ability to track asset health, and eliminating communication delays and duplicate data entry.
The list of integrations will grow over time as we see vehicle connectivity grow. Here are a few examples:
- Embedded telematics on most new vehicles
- Emerging connected tires technology
- Predictive analytics
- Vehicle inspections enhanced by artificial intelligence
Why wait to take advantage of your data?
ACCESS & AUTOMATION
Mobility and convenience are two critical components today. Since fleets are mobile by nature, it only makes sense that the way you manage your fleet should also be mobile based. Having the ability to access and update information from anywhere is a true difference maker that technology offers fleets.
For example, a driver vehicle inspections report (DVIR) completed on a smartphone instead of paper provides a better experience for a fleet driver and operational efficiencies for the company.
Performing a vehicle inspection on a smartphone saves time because vehicle information can be pre-populated rather than manually entered every time.
Letting the fleet driver take photos and add notes is an easy way to communicate issues without having to go back to the office to drop off paper logs and explain where the issues lie.
This also eliminates manual data entry, providing time savings for the company and giving the fleet manager immediate access to the inspections to ensure the company vehicles are safe on the road.
When you add the fact that you can automate workflows, be alerted when an issue is found on a vehicle, and track that issue all the way to a verified resolution, mobile inspections become a very powerful tool for a fleet.
The list of benefits of having mobile access to fleet information is long, but one of the largest benefits surrounds driver satisfaction. Today, finding and keeping quality drivers can be challenging for many businesses with fleets, so why not use mobile tools to help keep your fleet drivers happy?
For example, giving drivers easy access to a shop directory to locate a shop and get service performed makes their job easier and will make sure their vehicle maintenance stays current, preventing a breakdown and saving the company money in the long run.
TRANSPARENCY
Technology continues to advance many industries, and fleet management is no exception. Old business models will be no longer relevant in the near future, mainly driven by customer demand for transparency around fleet costs and real-time access to data. This truly is an exciting time to be in the fleet industry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Greg Mattes is the vice president of product strategy at Fleetio, a modern fleet management software. Mattes has worked in the B2B/Fleet space for over 18 years. Working with Advance Auto Parts and Bridgestone prior to joining Fleetio, he has spent thousands of hours with fleet customers helping them leverage technology to improve their operations. At Fleetio, Mattes and his team focus on creating a short-term roadmap and long-term vision in a world of new technology and the rapidly changing fleet industry. Find out more, visit www.fleetio.com.
