Trying to save fuel and cost?
A headache trying to reach your drivers?
What happens if your driver gets into an accident? Will you possess a sturdy case to fight for compensation?
These issues are just the tip of an iceberg in most transport and logistics companies not only in Singapore but all over the world!
You see, most companies nowadays are clueless about how having a Fleet Management Software can not only help them to solve problems, but also to prevent them.
As the famous saying goes “Prevention is better than cure”.
You should always work towards prevention rather than the solution.
So you may be wondering now, what is a fleet management system?
Why is it so significant for transport and logistics companies?
Basically, fleet management is the management of commercial vehicles such as cars, vans, trucks etc, aviation, marine vehicles and rail cars.
Fleet management includes numerous features such as vehicle telematics, fuel management, driver management, etc to assist companies in their daily operations.
So how exactly can a fleet management system assist companies in these areas, and why do companies need fleet management?
Here are 13 reasons on the importance of a Fleet Management System:
1. Cost reduction:
Everyone wants to save, that’s the primary objective of every company, but who actually managed to do it?
Most companies nowadays are blindly investing more in technology, but who actually saved and who actually suffered losses?
One prominent feature of implementing a fleet management system is that it saves cost.
Yes, it’s that practical.
Below is a chart of the amount of savings we saved for our clients in a year.
With the implementation of our fleet management system, our clients have saved almost 40% on fuel in 1 year!
Even more information on how using fleet management can save cost can be found here.
2. Driver management:
Most companies would ignore this factor, simply because they do not think having a proper driver management system would benefit them in any way.
If you’re having the same thinking as them, you are terribly wrong.
Drivers are the core employees of any transport and logistic company and they need to be managed and taken care of.
With the feature of trip reports, driver’s profile can be generated via the use of vehicle telematics which includes details such as average speed, the routes that they traveled, breaks and choice of gears.
Without the use of fleet management, these details are impossible to track.
Consequently, the generated driver profiles can be used to remind drivers of their bad habits and ensure that they are meeting their KPI.
3. Maintenance
How often should your car be maintained?
The answer usually lies in your user manual (which no one really reads), usually 2-3 times per year.
But how would you be informed when maintenance is due?
By installing a fleet management system in your company, you can:
- Be notified when your vehicle is due for maintenance
- Extend the lifespan of your mechanical components
- Fewer breakdowns and driver downtime
- Reduce future repair costs
- Increase resale price
4. Reports & Analytics:
A handy feature of the fleet management system, providing a full range of reports for effective review and assets management – simply made for your AGMs, meetings, reports and presentations.
5. Route planning
Tired of having your GPS going the longer route?
With fleet management, you can plan the routes ahead for your drivers to follow.
Planning ahead can reduce both fuel cost and time, which is the essence of any fleet management system.
You can even re-plan a route for your driver in case of a traffic jam!
6. Conflict prevention:
Often stuck in between your drivers and customers?
Conflicts between drivers, managers, and customers are most problematic matter as shown in our customers’ testimonials.
Companies previously with no fleet management system installed are often caught in between their drivers and customers as multiple calls have to be made to the drivers to find out their exact location.
As a result, multiple probings leads to a frustrated driver (imagine your mum/wife nagging at you) and will most likely end up in a conflict with their managers and customers.
Managers can now track their drivers’ exact location with the fleet management system and report it directly to their customers, thus avoiding all conflicts (nagging).
7. Risk management
Risk management is one of the crucial factors to take note of when it comes to logistics.
Any risk that happens can be a big impact to the company, regardless in monetary form or your reputation.
Henceforth, it’s imperative for transport managers to cautiously plan a safe route and a contingency plan to lessen the risk of accidents.
Furthermore, having a contingency plan just like how Batman always does, is essential in case of any mishaps.
In return, this reduces the chance of repairing your vehicles and saving cost on your insurance!
8. 24/7 Live tracking:
The main function of the fleet management system – live tracking.
Transport managers are able to grasp the location of their drivers anytime and anywhere without the need of calling them.
Drivers’ locations are precisely pinpointed in the map in the tracking portal, showing their vehicular details from their driver profiles.
It’s also extremely easy to understand how a vehicle tracking system works!
9. Automated logging:
What’s better than manually logging? – Automated logging.
The fleet management system contains a feature that automatically logs down every trip made with details such as speed, location, and mileage.
A database saves all these logs and you will eventually find out that these logs will be your savior when it comes to accident cases.
In addition, these logs will also be your barrier against fraud and accusations.
Talk about hitting two birds with one stone aye?
10. Geo-fencing:
Imagine having the power to set up a virtual boundary where you would get notified when someone enters or exit it.
In fleet management, Geo-fencing does exactly that, except the virtual boundary is meant for your vehicles.
This allows you to be notified whenever your vehicle enters/exit your let’s say, warehouse or customers’ place.
This will ease your burden of having to worry whether your drivers are on time for their delivery.
Your employees will also be more cautious as they know they are ‘being watched’.
11. Engine immobilizer:
Kill the ignition of your vehicles safely in events of theft and unauthorized usage.
How amazing is that?!
Vehicle theft cases have always been a concern over the years, however, according to a 2016 study in the Economic Journal, the engine immobilizer feature has lowered the overall rate of car theft by a whopping 40%!
12. Accessibility:
Tracking portals (consider this as an app that allows you to view all your vehicles’ location and details) such as the one in our company are accessible not only on PC but on all mobile devices as well.
Meaning, you can track your vehicles even when you’re out of the office, at home or even when you’re overseas!
By using our tracking portals, your company’s productivity and efficiency will improve by at least 50%!
13. Mobile dispatch:
As you can see below, Digital influence Lab has a wonderful statistics (really well done!) that shows us there was a 34% increase in mobile internet usage in 2015!
This simply shows how important it is for companies nowadays to cater to mobile users.
Henceforth, it’s advisable for fleet management companies to invest in mobile apps for clients to handle their fleet.
Mobile dispatch is a feature that allows clients to allocate jobs to their drivers through their mobile phones.
By doing this, it saves the time of having to call the drivers and explaining the job details to them.
By now some of you may be thinking, wouldn’t it be costly to invest in building a mobile app for a fleet management System?
Once again, I have to emphasize on how important it is for companies to look towards the long-term plan.
It actually saves more than you think.
Embedded from Digital Influence Lab
Do the benefits of a fleet management system outweighs the cost that I have to invest?
The above points may have you thinking: Don’t we have to spend more for all these to happen?
Yes, you would have to definitely invest in fleet management for all these to happen.
There’s no free lunch in this realistic world, remember that.
However, look into the long-term perspective where you will realize that having fleet management saves more than it costs.
Here’s an article on why companies need to think long-term instead of the other.
However, there’s good news for SMEs in Singapore!
Under the government’s grant – the Innovation & Capability Voucher (ICV) Grant.
SMEs can receive a voucher valued at S$5000 to improve their business efficiency and productivity.
This means that SMEs can install a fleet management system for as much as no cost! (Of course, it depends on your number of vehicles)
Clueless on whether your company in Singapore qualifies for the grant?
Check with us! Consultations are on the house!
If you’re looking for more benefits of a fleet management system, do read up on my other article here.
If you have any inquiries about this article or simply just want to reach us, please contact us at james@skyfy.com.sg or call us at +65 6727 7627 and we’ll get back to you ASAP!
Copyright © 2017, Skyfy Technology Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved
One thought on “13 Top Reasons Why Fleet Management Is So Important 2017”
I think the biggest benefits you mentioned was how fleet management software can help you save money on your operating costs. This seems like it would be something just about any business with a fleet would want to have. It’s definitely something I’d consider if I were a manager at a business with a fleet to manage.