Fleet management can present you with new and different challenges every day. The most important aspects you must continuously return to and improve are efficiency and cost.
Maintaining a fleet of vehicles can be difficult at first, so we have put these tips together to help ensure you have the most efficient fleet possible.
Plan ahead and set goals
Preparation is the key to ensuring your fleet runs as smoothly as possible. Set goals and expectations to make sure everything is running in accordance to what you need.
How can you make sure everything runs smoothly? We recommend providing driver incentives to encourage your employees to work harder to achieve targets.
Another factor you must plan around are the vehicles themselves. It is important to keep your fleet well maintained, and you could benefit from a regular fleet maintenance programme.
By keeping your vehicles in their best condition, you will be reducing downtime and maintaining an efficient fleet. Or, better yet, invest in our lease agreements and let us cover your fleet maintenance for you!
Measure everything
There is no way to test your fleet for improvements if you have nothing to compare your performance to. Measurements are important for keeping track of costs and conduct: leading to efficiency.
It is useful to measure the costs of each trip per mile by tracking journeys, times and fuel costs. Tracing the amount of orders per driver is helpful too. This lets you redirect some drivers to help pick up a backlog of jobs.
Find the right drivers
What’s as important as the vehicles in your fleet? The drivers! When you recruit drivers, make sure you hire the right ones. You can do this by ensuring a senior driver from your fleet attends the interview. It is best to get an experienced member to sift through potential drivers because they know what it takes to do the job.
A second interview would also be a good time to get potential drivers to demonstrate basic skills which will be essential to the job. You can always get some ideas from Uber’s recruitment process!
Make the most of technology
Having the latest technology can be the key to efficiency. Satnavs and GPS tracking can be used to find the quickest or shortest route possible. This helps keep control of mpg rates and fuel costs.
Cruise control is another feat of technology which will make long distance journeys much more bearable for drivers. Dashcams are very useful when monitoring safe driving and provide vital evidence if a driver is ever involved in an accident. This will help with vehicle insurance claims too.
Fleet management software is a valuable and often essential tool which will keep you and your drivers organised.
Use traffic to advertise
First impressions are massively important. The reputation of your business is reflected in the presentation of your vehicles. Customers will see your car before your driver, so make sure your vehicles don’t arrive looking dishevelled.
Your fleet is the perfect place to advertise your company. Imagine your drivers travelling miles to their destination, how many people do they pass on the way? Use this driving time to increase awareness of your company with high quality vehicle livery.
Save costs, lease!
Did you know our long and short-term leases cover everything except insurance and fuel? Cut costs with vehicles by using fleet leasing instead of purchasing. There is no need to worry about maintenance costs or road tax because we have that covered. You and your drivers can simply sit back and get on with work.
Discover the benefits of business car leasing before exploring our fantastic, flexible leasestoday!