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7 Best Practices for Fleet Management
Facilities management companies that operate in solid and waste water management usually deploy large fleets of trucks, compactors and tankers. Over the years vehicle manufacturers have made more reliable, fuel efficient and eco-friendly trucks. Poor management of an organisation’s fleet can result in high fuel and vehicle maintenance costs.
Here is a round-up of 7 best practices on how to manage one’s fleet efficiently.
1. Give importance to preventive maintenance:
Properly maintained vehicles reduce unscheduled repairs and downtime. Preventive maintenance may include oil changes, tire rotation/inspection and general vehicle safety checks. Whether you’re following oil change intervals at a set mileage or use an oil life monitor, be sure to maintain tire rotations and overall vehicle inspections on a regular basis. All too often, this is the only time a vehicle is inspected all over for fluid levels, air pressure in tires and more.
2. Pay attention to maintenance costs
Keep an eye on your maintenance costs and notice when they begin to rise based on vehicle age. Additionally, understand the manufacturer’s warranty coverage and how it impacts your total cost of ownership. Understand the residual value of the asset, trends in the used vehicle market and the optimal time to sell the vehicle for a cost-effective fleet.
3. Putting green back on the agenda
By making sure that employees spend less time on the road and use less fuel, FM businesses can help to put green issues back on the agenda.
Companies should consider the overall impact their activities make on the environment and make a concerted effort to address this, especially as an increasing number of companies are actively looking to employ businesses that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability.
A combination of improved routing and smarter scheduling will drastically reduce the mileage covered by company vehicles and better driver behaviour will guarantee optimal efficiency on the road. Fleet management technology can then report back on factors such as carbon dioxide emissions to help monitor trends and the setting of environmental KPIs.
4. Hire responsible drivers
Make sure all drivers are aware of their responsibilities and company vehicle use policies. They should have a complete understanding of your company’s PM schedules, maintenance policies and know what to do if the vehicle needs repair or is involved in an accident.
5. Regular check-up of tyre pressure
Often the importance given to tyre pressure is overlooked during vehicle maintenance. Tyre pressure affects vehicle handling, tyre wear and fuel mileage – all contributing to vehicle and driver safety. Also overlooked is the effect of air temperature on tire pressure with the changing seasons. Instill the importance of checking and maintaining tyre pressure with your drivers.
6. Set guidelines for fleet vehicle purchasing and disposal
Consistency is key. Without purchasing guidelines, personnel from varying departments and locations may buy vehicles as needed and keep them for as long as they see fit. Without bulk purchasing and insight into the right time/mileage for selling vehicles, your company could be hemorrhaging money.
Take the time to spec out vehicle options to meet the requirements of your fleet and put a purchasing plan in place. You should aim to optimize vehicle replacement.
7. Document everything digitally
Ditch your file folders. In the world of cheap online storage, there are no excuses for not knowing where your fleet information is stored. Invoices, work orders, receipts, photos, employee records, product manuals and more can be kept in one central digital location and accessed from any internet-connected device.
It’s time to join the modern era of fleet vehicle management. Move your fleet documents to the Cloud and find your fleet information instantly.
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