The fleet management market is booming in today’s age, as the leasing of vehicles is at its all-time high, especially in the Asia Pacific and the LATAM regions. The global fleet management market is ever-growing considering factors like diesel vehicle sales dip, mobility budget increase, management and fleet sourcing, a significant dip in the risk/safety factors, a focus on vehicles that use alternate fuel, etc.
Today, everything is online, and every tedious task performed by humans is automated, which reduces work and saves time and reduces avoidable errors. Owners can also automate fleet management for ease in communication among the fleet’s vehicles and the central hub to which the transports are linked. Connectivity online is vital for any business, especially in the fleet management market, which can drastically increase the efficiency. There are six factors, as stated below, that can help improve the productivity and efficiency of a fleet business with the help of connectivity.
The 6 Factors:
Several fleet management software platforms can adhere to these six crucial factors that benefit from it as it helps teams connect better:
- Route plan with automation: every employee travelling from their home, for instance, to their workplace, prefers the shortest route, and out of the total number of employees, an estimate of 70% of them prefer to opt for the company transport and the rest come by personal transportation. And towards the end of a long tiring day, all they want to do is go home a.s.a.p. and rest. Hence it is in the best interest of both employee and organization to determine the shortest route using the GPS and other intelligent navigation systems. It saves time and fuel and also improves employee satisfaction.
- Dispatching team efficiency: Once the operators map the routes using a smart navigation system and maps, the next step is to maintain good communication/coordination between every member of the fleet team, starting from the vehicle telematics team operating on smartphones and other devices, to fleet operators to the drivers. The seamless communication can ensure minimal risk and error without much interference.
- Real-time route tracking: In the fleet management market, the best units can adapt to real-time navigation problems. Once the fleet operators map out the route before the journey starts, for the driver, it is entirely different once the vehicle starts navigating along that defined route. There could be unforeseen blocks and diversions, which need to be quickly adapted by the advanced tracking technology used. It can automatically update the future planning process from the newly obtained route information.
- Performance of the vehicle: The vehicle performance tracking is of great importance to cut down on the operation cost significantly. If it is emitting too much Carbon dioxide, they must send it for service to have a better Return on Investment. One could also track other parameters, and the performance can improve; if the execution goes down, then the company’s costs go high due to more fuel going to waste, etc.
- Employee satisfaction: Have a checklist where the fleet drivers undergo evaluation concerning specific parameters, which helps them during their appraisal period and helps track their performance to improve employee. If the employee is satisfied, they will perform better at work, improving overall efficiency. The driver can receive instant feedback and improve upon their real-time skills, and one can see immediate results, rather than the old way, where the evaluation takes place after the event.
- Driver and Fleet safety: The fleet operators and managers can monitor the safety of the driver and the passengers in the vehicle. It is possible using cameras placed in a specific car, sensors, and alert sounds to make sure the driver does not fall asleep. There should be a checklist for inspecting the vehicle both before and after the trip/duty. It ensures that the car is safe always to use. In case there is a profoundly severe accident/violation done by the driver, instead of leaving everybody in a state of panic, the fleet managers can immediately connect with them via smartphones, etc. and diffuse the situation.
A sound and efficiently designed fleet management system and the software involved can make fleet managers and operators’ lives simple. The data is continuously updated, adapting to changes on the route, effective communication between the driver and the team, fuel receipt check, vehicle performance checks, etc. All these things, to summarize, in the end, always bring profit to the company and improve efficiency.