Reduce Costs with a Fleet Management System
Fleet managers help reduce costs
One of the objectives of mobility companies is to reduce expenditure on the vehicle fleet and to reduce the costs of the activity, both those considered as direct costs as well as indirect costs.
By direct costs we mean all costs that we can clearly and immediately control, such as vehicle depreciation, repairs, tyres, maintenance, fuel consumption, insurance or vehicle taxes if the vehicle is owned by the company.
On the other hand, we have the so-called indirect costs, which are more difficult to locate, calculate and monitor. These costs have an impact on the company´s accounts that is sometimes very high, so a fleet manager saves costs by locating and monitoring these indirect costs.
In this article we will outline the benefits of transport fleet management.
Direct cost control
As we said before, having a management software allows us to save costs in fleet management, as well as to control the company´s fleet of vehicles in a much more comprehensive way. Some of the direct costs that we must control and that the fleet management software allows us to monitor in a very detailed way, may be:
Fuel Consumption
One of the main costs borne by any company with a fleet of vehicles. In some sectors, such as transport, this cost can represent between 40% and 50% of the activity, so managing and minimising consumption is a priority.
Optimising fleet management allows us to have direct and clear access to the consumption data of the vehicles. Reading, analysing and understanding this data helps to locate excesses derived, for example, from inefficient driving, which, if corrected, will reduce fuel consumption and ultimately generate control of this cost.
How to manage truck fleets: Repairs and Maintenance
The use of vehicles means that they need to be serviced, maintained and repaired as and when necessary. It is the company´s responsibility to guarantee and ensure that its entire fleet of vehicles is in perfect condition to carry out its work.
This requires monitoring of the fleet, which can be achieved by incorporating a fleet manager for the company. By equipping the vehicles with fleet management systems for companies, analysing the data from these subsequently, we will be able to schedule the maintenance of each of the vehicles, based on data such as mileage or the assigned workload.
The advantages of fleet management are many. By scheduling maintenance we will be able to maintain safety levels, not interrupt the service (minimum interruption of the service due to the vehicle not being available), and also reduce the number of future repairs, prolonging the useful life of the vehicle.
Similarly, the telematic systems of fleet managers provide a significant volume of information data, which, when correctly managed, provides a diagnosis of each vehicle. By managing this diagnosis, we can schedule potential repairs, achieving a lower impact on vehicle downtime.
Indirect costs
Some costs are not at all easy to identify, to control and to account for in the day-to-day business. On the one hand, these costs can be unpredictable, or they can be difficult to calculate within the activity.
The advantage of using a fleet management system is that it gives the possibility to control and manage in one place these types of costs, which have a greater impact on the activity than is often thought.
Unpredictable” costs include traffic fines, fines received by vehicles (failure to pass the MOT on time, etc.), or even drivers´ sick leave. Here we should also note the costs and damage to the company´s reputation caused by fleet activity.
On the other hand, there are other costs that are difficult to allocate, such as a vehicle repair that takes longer than scheduled or, for example, time lost in traffic jams.
Conclusions
Fleet managers offer a 360º vision, implementing this transport software creates an ecosystem of control over both direct and indirect costs, being able to focus our efforts on our activity, having the peace of mind of being able to manage all costs from a single place and platform.
The benefits of fleet management software are extensive.
