Toughest Challenges Associated With Fleet Management
Muamer Hodzic February 1, 2015
Does your business rely on a fleet of vehicles to sell a product or service? Many companies have a large fleet, and it can be challenging to maintain a successful one. If you are a fleet manager, you probably deal with several problems each day. Although every fleet is a little bit different, the following challenges seem to be the same across industries. Many say they are some of the toughest problems to overcome on the job.
Information Overload
There is countless data available for fleet managers, and it can be time consuming to go through it. Since this data is so helpful, it is important to take advantage of the right tools and filters. This will enable you to focus on the information that is meaningful. You can also avoid wasting time on meaningless data.
Utilizing All Your Assets
When companies grow, they often mismanage their fleets. Some of their assets are overused and others are underused. In many instances, certain assets are rarely used. Although this may not seem like a big deal, it actually represents a big loss for the company. If you are struggling to properly utilize all of your assets, a fleet management program might be beneficial for you.
Managing a Large Geographical Area
Fleet managers often face challenges when they have to manage a large geographical region. A perfect example of shrinking cost would be ServiceOne who was able to reduce costs associated with operating fleets across multiple states. This makes it harder to communicate with drivers, and it requires a lot of patrolling a map. With the right software, you can easily pinpoint where your drivers are. You can also communicate with them more effectively.
Finding Specific Information
Sometimes fleet managers need specific details to do their job. For example, a customer might need to know what time a shipment will be arriving. This type of information is hard to determine if you have a lot of trucks delivering shipments around the country. However, with an asset tracking system, it is much easier for managers to local this information. This can help companies improve their overall efficiency, and it often eliminates many of the simple day-to-day challenges.
Monitoring Employees
Part of fleet management also involves monitoring employees. Managers need to know if the employees are using their time wisely. They also like to know how they are treating the equipment. If a company has several employees, it can be difficult to monitor all of these individuals. When this happens, it is more likely that employees will misuse the equipment or take longer breaks. For this reason, asset tracking software can be utilized to track the behaviors of the employees.
Fixing Small Problems Quickly
Small problems happen more often than not when a company has a large fleet. These problems include things like a problematic tire or a customer that needs an emergency shipment. For optimal performance, it is important to be able to respond to these issues quickly. Too often, it takes too long to resolve simple issues. When this happens, bigger ones might arise.
Managing a fleet is not easy, and there are many challenges associated with it. Fortunately, asset tracking software can help you overcome problems and improve your performance.
