In a competitive industry, fleet managers will want to make sure that everything they do is as perfect as possible. That said, as humans, we can’t be perfect and often make mistakes—some mistakes are more common than others. Let’s go over four of the more common mistakes that fleet managers make when doing their job. Take note of what applies and try to see if you’ve done any of these in the past.
1. Misuse of Vehicles
When manufacturers design and develop a vehicle, they do so with a range of parameters. This means that your vehicle is meant to operate within a specific range—use it too much or even too little, and you can expect problems to start coming up. Because of this, it’s good to have a consistent rotation when it comes to assigning jobs to vehicles in your fleet.
Of course, you could always just make use of modern GPS and tracking systems. This helps fleet managers monitor vehicle usage fairly accurately, allowing fleet managers to plan better and make informed decisions.
2. Letting Vehicles Idle for Too Long
Leaving your vehicle idling is fine for the most part. The problem is when we don’t notice when our trucks are left idle for too long. The thing is, as your vehicles go about their routes, there will come times when drivers need to step out for some problem or another.
Over the course of the day, these idle moments tend to stack up and increase the wear on your trucks needlessly. Fortunately, finding a tracking device that fits your fleet is easy since these devices can monitor your vehicle’s run-time.
3. Lack of Constant Maintenance Reassessment
Every fleet manager is sure to be familiar with managing the maintenance schedule for the company fleet. It’s an important step in prolonging the life of your vehicles and should be taken seriously after all. The problem here begins when we don’t check if our maintenance schedules can keep up with how we use our vehicles. This can lead to some unpleasant surprises in the future.
Of course, the trick to this one is to make sure you’ve got accurate records about your vehicles’ usage. It’ll help if you have digital platforms that can synchronize with onboard devices—with direct readings, how can you get more accurate?
4. No Standardized Route
There’s a reason why big companies standardize their operations as much as possible. This is because of the fact that predictability is a big deal when fleet managers are drafting plans for their fleet’s routes. You wouldn’t want your drivers picking their own routes, after all, as this can complicate things when you’re trying to track how far a truck has been driven.
Because of these kinds of problems, fleet managers have turned to using digital monitoring techniques and devices to track the operating cycle of their vehicles. This makes the overall planning stage much more efficient.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it’s about how you use what’s available to you. With the steps taken in modern technology, it’s perfectly possible to optimize your fleet management—all without breaking the bank. All it takes is a little time on your part to learn how to use them, and you’re sure to find that all that effort is well worth it.
Manage Vehicle offers the best fleet GPS tracking systems in Melbourne, VIC that can help you protect your fleet. Contact us today to know more about our business vehicle management services!
