What Is fleet management?

Fleet management, also known as fleet maintenance, is a standard of procedure, with a goal to keep a company or agency’s multiple vehicles and their operators in top-running condition. One of the highest costs involved in operating a fleet management business is labor, followed closely by its mobile assets, which includes cars, vans, trucks, even boats and airplanes. Fleet management also covers large, moveable equipment related to the operation of the organization.

The primary objective of fleet management is twofold:

• Establishing the close monitoring of drivers on the field from home base for the most efficient and effective delivery of goods and services.
• Controlling the costs of operating and maintaining vehicles and equipment to retain their values and extend the life of their usefulness.

Fleet management is about establishing the best possible level of control over an inconsistent environment, where factors such as weather, traffic, breakdown, customer demand and availability of manpower and equipment can change from day to day or even hour to hour.

How GPS Tracking Helps Fleet Management

GPS tracking is the preferred and most up-to-date and efficient method of managing a fleet of vehicles. GPS tracking systems, which use U.S. Department of Defense satellites for location and navigation, are accurate and reliable, and can help greatly reduce the incidents involved with human error.

Through a sophisticated mathematical formula called triangulation, the GPS tracking receiver will find its location, usually within a few feet of accuracy. Incremental position updates are made every few seconds or minutes.

The data collected includes:

• Day and time
• Directional heading
• Latitude and longitude (or street address)
• Duration of stops
• Speed of the vehicle
• Miles logged

With a passive GPS vehicle tracking device, the raw data is recorded inside the unit, which can then be downloaded at a later time. Custom-designed software translates the raw data into detailed travel history reports that are easy to read and analyze.

Real-time vehicle tracking devices collect locating data in the same manner as a passive device, and then transmits the GPS tracking information from the vehicle to a server on the Internet for “live” viewing on a remote computer. Cellular data communications is the most common and cost-effective method of real-time data transmission.

From a computer at home base, a dispatcher or manager can view every unit within a fleet at the same time, or isolate the information on just one single driver. GPS tracking reduces the need to have close verbal contact with the driver by cell phone or by two-way radio.

GPS tracking systems are also quite cost-effective and has the potential to gain a quick return on investment when used for fleet management.

Benefits of Fleet Management

A fleet management program saves companies money by making them work “leaner.” It focuses not only on vehicle operation, but the personnel and equipment that support them.

Fleet tracking can:

• Inform management about wasted time, wasted fuel, overlapping routes and unnecessary trips.
• Assist payroll, bookkeeping and billing since it gives an accurate accounting of hours logged, addresses of stops and miles driven.
• Help in scheduling routine maintenance, control breakdowns and extend the life of the vehicles.
• Curb unwanted driver behavior such as personal errands, excessive idling, speeding or other erratic driving.
• Increase safety, reduce accidents, and possibly lower vehicle insurance rates.

If using GPS fleet tracking in real-time, companies have the additional advantages of:

• Schedule flexibility for the unexpected call, to add or remove a stop from the schedule, navigate around traffic tie-ups and substitute one driver for another.
• Security and theft recovery.
• Geo-fencing: receive a text message or email alert when a vehicle travels outside a predetermined geographic zone.
• More accurate Estimated Time of Arrival for customers.

Who Can Benefit From Fleet Management?

• Localized material transport: cartage, catering, messenger service, parts delivery.
• “People movers”: bus and taxi services or car rental agencies.
• Public service organizations: police, rescue, snow plowing, environmental and forestry services.
• Companies that specialize in time and temperature sensitive, classified or hazardous materials.
• Long-haul trucking

The Goals of Fleet Management

Fleet management is a tool that effectively fine-tunes a company’s schedule, its vehicles and its drivers.

Many organizations discover the unanticipated benefits of GPS fleet tracking. By cycling and replacing aging vehicles and equipment, they can reduce the size of their fleets and more efficiently utilize its individual units.

And with better service comes increased customer satisfaction, leading to repeat business and customer referrals.