There are several businesses that depend on transportation and make use of fleet management to control costs, productivity, fuel management, and compliance.
Simply put, fleet management includes of a number of tasks related to keeping vehicles and their operations running efficiently and competently.
Recent statistics point towards approximately 40% of non-privately owned commercial vehicles are estimated to integrate the fleet management systems. With such open-armed adopting of these apps, no doubt the market is progressing at such a whirlwind pace.
A fleet management app constitutes a varied range of opportunities. Data logging, satellite positioning, and data communication to a back-office application is only a few of them.
Read Also: 24 Best GPS Tracking Apps For Android
Defining Fleet Management
Spireon puts it best: “Put simply, fleet management is the optimization of costs, risks and efficiency in fleet operations.”
Consequently, manager that are responsible for the fleet managers are in charge of monitoring costs, boosting profitability, and lowering fleet vehicle hazards.
Using a Fleet Management Apps
Its expected that specialised fleet management apps will increase in number exponentially in the near future. Experts predict that this will add a lot of value to the responsibilities and roles of those who are currently operating in this segment.
Next generation social media, internet and 24/7 connectivity will be immensely helpful in enabling fleet operators to remain connected through mobile technology and app-based solutions.
Managing your fleet effectively does not only stop at your vehicles. In fact, it entails over seeing drivers, customer billing, controlling fuel budgets, maintenance schedules and so much more.
If are the owner of your private fleet of vehicles, or perhaps professional equipment, you will undoubtedly be aware of instances of low income, modest performances and driver turnovers. Such issues can be easily resolved with the integration of a fleet management app.
This brings us to the next set of questions.
- How fleet management apps is helpful?
- Is creating a fleet tracking app at all required?
- Can the features in the app solve your business problems?
Features of Using Mobile Technology in Fleet Management Application
Experts project that mobile devices will be used universally to manager fleet along with its related operations, almost exclusively, in the next few years.
Reporting mileage, details of the trip, current vehicle locations, searching for vendors and looking up customers are going to performed through smartphones.
With this vital information available to the operators, managing business would be streamlined ensuring enhanced productivity and also increasing longevity of its vehicles.
Read Also: How To Create A GPS Tracking Application
Most of these apps offer the following benefits:
1) Real-Time GPS Vehicle Tracking
This is possibly the most important feature of a fleet management app. Real-time GPS vehicle tracking allows the operator to track the exact location and condition of each individual vehicle in the fleet. This is a must-have feature on this app.
Additionally, the real-time GPS tracking feature can provide the following facilities:
- You can easily track the location of a stolen vehicle or equipment.
- You have access to information about damage or inappropriate usage of any vehicle in the fleet immediately.
- You can gather data about road and weather conditions to detect risky drivers before commencing on a trip.
2) Fuel Consumption Monitoring
Apart from GPS tracking, monitoring fuel consumption is the next important feature that needs to be incorporated in your fleet management app during development.
This is essential as drivers tend to deviate from the charted route for many reasons. This can lead to fuel wastage and additional mileage on the vehicle.
While GPS tracking you know the whereabouts of the vehicle, the fuel consumption monitor helps in keeping a track of how much fuel a particular vehicle on a specific trip is using. It decreases errors, misappropriation, and negligence.
3) Augment the Routing to Lower the Operating Expenditure
While every trip is important, not all trips are profitable. As a business owner, your job also includes identifying profitable routes which will save on fuel and unnecessary expenses. Typically, companies that adopt these solutions reduce total miles driven by 5%-10%.
Ensure that you avoid taking on long distance, one-way or multi-days trips. These tend to cut down on your profits whilst you still have to pay your driver and budget for fuel.
Operating costs can only be reduced by optimising routes. You can combine two or more orders on the same route so that your vehicle does not return empty to the garage.
This can only be achieved with the help of a fleet management app where data and information access can help you identify profitable routes along with opportunities.
4) Improve the Real-Time Shipping to Reduce Overlaps
Schedules, routes, availability of the vehicles, status of orders delivery, etc., are all part of shipping and dispatching in any transport business. Managing all of this in the absence of a centralised system can be a nightmare.
The fleet management app can bring in the system where operators will be able to access this information through a process of automated scheduling and order management.
5) Investigate Your Work to Detect Vulnerable Spots
To boost business growth and expansion, you must examine your work in real-time as much as possible. This can only be done through fleet management apps that have in-built analytics and statistics tools which can acts as indicators for fuel usage, mileage tracking, and drivers KPI (Key Performance Indicator).
As a business owner, having access to this key information is absolutely essential in scaling your organization in the right direction.
6) Set Timely Reminders to Vehicle Maintenance
Being able to track the status and condition of your vehicles is imperative to running a profitable operation. The fleet management app with this feature ensures that situations can be averted where your vehicle is out of work as the due to damage or insurance expiry.
The app makes sure that you receive timely notifications for maintenance for each individual vehicle in your fleet. You will also be sent alerts and reminders that will help you plan for vehicle inspections, repairs and insurance renewals.
Read Also: Reasons Why Enterprise Needs Mobile App
7) Cut Down on Paperwork and Combine Data Across the Distributed Offices
The fleet management app integrates the CMS and CRM functions along with software that deals with accounting and other related systems in an all-in-one platform.
A single mobile interface can combine all of these functionalities without having to duplicate information through implementation several different processes.
Benefits of Fleet Management Applications
Having a fleet management app integrated with your organizational processes has multi-fold benefits.
1) Reducing Fuel Costs
Verizon Connect states that fuel accounts for almost 40% of fleet ownership expenses. Having fleet management software installed can bring these costs down by 20%-25%.
Having such a solution in place triggers alerts whenever you have an idle vehicle thus earning you a prospect to make adequate use of your fleet. Monitoring vehicle performance and education drivers to minimise idle time also works through the app.
2) Increasing Fleet Productivity
By assessing maintenance, minimising idle time, downsizing the fleet, enhancing tracking and routing, keeping up with safety mechanisms, upgrading employee performance together increases overall fleet productivity.
Being proactive with preventive maintenance helps you comprehend the number of hours your vehicles can run.
It can be as advanced as providing data on engine hour and optimising maintenance schedules. These insights will help you figure out exactly when to replace any individual vehicle in your fleet.
3) Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
With a fleet management app you can take the help of all these features put together and reach your customer in the shortest time span.
This ascertains that you do not miss any deliveries or appointments, ensure driver compliance to regulations whilst keeping to your schedules.
With automation, you ensure that you utilise the right resources in combination with your fleet management app to eliminate possibilities of errors.
Closing Thought:
Implementing a fleet management application with your transport business helps in solving in everyday challenges in real-time.
Along with that you can access insights and big data that will help your business reach new heights of success whilst carving a unique identity in a very competitive economic landscape.