We’re now over a month into the new year and some businesses are already making progress towards the KPIs and targets they set for themselves last year.
Unfortunately, not all businesses are seeing the same success. One of the greatest challenges I’ve witnessed across the transport & logistics, field service, and other industries that require a vehicle fleet is keeping fleet management costs down.
So how can fleet managers quickly find the source of the rising costs and work to lower them?
Four costly fleet management challenges
Optimising fleet management is one of the best ways for businesses to cut costs, mitigate risks, and increase customer satisfaction. But without the proper tools to track fleets, businesses can often end up moving further away from their goals.
And if businesses aren’t meeting their goals, their competition that is meeting its goals can start to overtake them.
So what are the four most common and costly challenges that we see fleets face?
1. Rising vehicle costs
Heavy vehicles are expensive to purchase, expensive to run, and expensive to maintain. They’re often one of the biggest costs to a business – but businesses continue paying more and more each year, and many of them don’t even know why.
2. Inefficient driving and delivery
No driver is perfect, and some may be holding businesses back with problems like speeding, accelerating too quickly, or taking indirect routes. All these behaviours have a huge impact on their efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
3. Safety concerns and non-compliance
Lack of safety is another challenge that many businesses face – in addition to maintaining driver safety, insurance costs can quickly go through the roof. Just one incident risks putting an organisation out of business if regulations aren’t followed.
4. Ineffective telematics systems
All these issues will continue burdening a fleet, but telematics system can often flag them before they balloon. Unfortunately, some unfit telematics solutions may be failing to track or flag preventative issues, and not offer proactive guidance on how to fix them. Businesses could be spending thousands without realising they’re not getting value from their outdated telematics solution.
With these common fleet challenges holding businesses back, what solution should organisations be looking for to save on costs, increase compliance, and reduce vehicle turnover?
The 3 non-negotiable capabilities of good fleet telematics systems
Most fleets are familiar with telematics system and its many benefits – but with so many systems on the market and with so many variables to track, it can be hard for them to know where to begin when looking at fleet management systems.
We believe that there are three main capabilities that are non-negotiable for any fleet manager:
1. Comprehensive data tracking
Vehicles and their drivers play a big part in a fleet, so comprehensive vehicle use and driver data needs to be tracked, reported, and analysed. Fleet managers should be able to see a variety of key points relating to their vehicles and drivers that they can then use to identify problems.
2. Providing recommendations for improvements
While identifying problems is a great start, being able to find and implement solutions is even better. Some challenges can be difficult to overcome, so it’s important to find the right tools and systems that can assist you in doing so.
3. Accessible and easy to use
None of these data points will be useful if no one can understand or access them. Businesses need to ensure that any solution they find is easy to use, accessible, and can create legible reports that provide actionable insights.
What other features can help businesses reduce costs?
After finding a fleet management solution meeting the three non-negotiables above, businesses should start looking at other features. Not all telematics are made equal, and it’s important to know what functions can help reduce costs and set fleets up for success.
Some of the key features that a great telematics solution offers are:
- Vehicle use data – track engine diagnostics, fuel usage, accident notification, and collision detection to understand the exact location and state of your vehicles
- Driver data – track routes, speeding, seatbelt use, and manage fatigue to ensure that your drivers are remaining compliant and efficient
- Coaching – improve your safety records and driver skills with in-vehicle coaching instructions
- Integration – integrate your new telematics system with your current systems with few disruptions
- Reporting – extract a wealth of information about every aspect of your fleet with real-time reporting
Implementing the right telematics system can bring new clarity to businesses as they are able to better understand each different aspect of their fleet – as well as how to optimise it so they can create a more efficient and productive fleet.
The long-term benefits of good telematics system
Telematics system is a powerful and helpful tool for businesses that want to optimise their fleet, reduce their costs, and set themselves up for success.
Once businesses implement the right-fit solution, they’ll find they’re able to:
Reduce risks and ensure compliance
Driver and vehicle use data allows fleet managers to know which of their drivers are risks, as well as how to mitigate them. In-vehicle coaching can also help drivers increase their safety and compliance, which means that there are fewer chances of accidents occurring.
Increase productivity and customer satisfaction
With clearer data on drivers and vehicles, fleet managers can optimise their routes, meet delivery targets quicker, and create a more efficient fleet. All of this results in happier customers that get their products quicker, as well as a business that has further growth potential thanks to increased output.
Create long-term savings
Fleet managers can reduce vehicle turnover and maintenance costs by proactively diagnosing and fixing vehicle problems as they appear. And with increased safety, businesses can also save on insurance costs.
Set your fleet up for success with the right tools
If your business is experiencing any of the challenges we’ve discussed above, then you may benefit from Leopard Telematics.
Leopard Telematics leverages the leading technology developed by Geotab for market-leading hardware and software solutions to aid businesses in tracking vehicles, managing drivers, and identifying solutions.
If you think that you might benefit from this solution or want to learn more about it on your journey to meeting your new year goals, you can contact our friendly team here.
