Modern Fleet Maintenance Management – How to improve fleet management?

Modern fleet management blog article

Pen & Paper, Microsoft Excel or Fleet Management System?

Fleet managers and other personnel who manage organization’s vehicles and other assets know how difficult it is to keep up with the status of the fleet. Less than ten vehicles are still manageable with Excel or pen and paper if the fleet has just a few drivers. However, there will Excel, or pen and paper methods will prove challenging if the vehicles are used by multiple staff members, they are located in many different locations, or if you intend to track expenses real-time.

Defect reporting to the fleet manager or maintenance manager via telephone is time-consuming. Especially the smaller defects, dents, window cracks & chips, wear and tear, and anything else which doesn’t stop the vehicle from operating safely, are often overlooked. All these smaller problems may come as a surprise to the fleet manager and maintenance personnel when the vehicle comes to service. In the worst-case scenario, these minor defects may prolong the service downtime if the necessary spare parts are not available, fail a safety inspection, and even get the driver fined by a police officer.

All types of IoT and vehicle sensors are more and more common in new vehicles, and it is even possible to retrofit these sensors to older vehicles. Nonetheless, if the fleet management and fleet maintenance processes are not adequate, it is difficult to fully utilize the data those devices provide. Sensors and other IoT devices can give useful information to the driver and management, but they can’t entirely replace human perception.

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    In-house Maintenance Team, Maintenance Partner or a Hybrid Model

    Many companies still have in-house maintenance teams, others have outsourced maintenance operations to a maintenance partner, and many uses both. Specialty equipment and vehicles often require maintenance from the manufacturer, but some parts and components can also be done by a general repair shop. If the company owns vehicles from multiple manufacturers, the fleet maintenance management can often be very inconvenient without a proper fleet management software.

    What to Consider When Choosing a Fleet Management Software?

    • What type of vehicles and machinery the company has?
    • Are all your vehicles and assets made by the same manufacturer?
    • How many users are using the vehicles?
    • Do the vehicles and machinery require periodic condition checks?
    • How to keep track of mileage and usage hours?
    • How can pre-drive safety checks and other periodic checks be tracked?

    Different types of vehicles and machinery require a different kind of attention. For example, trucks, passenger cars, vans, and excavators are all used for very different purposes. Our philosophy for making fleet management software has always been that the customer knows their fleet and processes better than us. That’s why we have developed our fleet management solution to be highly customizable to solve our customers’ fleet management problems. Our system is built from versatile components which allow our software to be used in buses, trucks, and vans, as well as in trains, locomotives, and other specialty vehicles and machinery.

    Would you like to hear more about our fleet management solutions?

    Please leave your contact details and we'll be in touch.