Technology

The Importance Of A Functional Fleet Management System: Here’s What You Need To Know

The world is running on the wheels, and companies with businesses across states and borders have a large number of vehicles, colossal manpower in terms of drivers and logistics, which they have to take care of. 

With a robust fleet management system put in place, managers and owners can take care of all these challenges, right from managing the asset information to acquisition and disposal. 

It can help fleet managers gain real-time visibility into their operations while increasing driver satisfaction and decreasing fuel usage through predictive analytics and accurate reporting. To understand more about the benefits of a fleet management system, visit this link.

However, there are a few challenges that a fleet management system has to overcome. Let’s go through them one by one.

Security Threat To Vehicles 

Glitches in fleet management software can introduce vehicles to many security threats. Since a particular company uses a large number of fleets, a fleet management system needs to check whether the safety measures and back-up systems are in place and make sure car camera is working or not. 

The technologies involved also need a look, whether it may be the dispatch software or the braking system. Even a small mishap in the fleet management system can affect the company’s distribution channel and deadlines.

This comes as a big challenge for fleet management, because even a small loophole in the overall vehicle status may lead to a significant danger to the total security of the vehicle and disruption in the distribution system of a company.

Glitches in the fleet management system can also lead to inadequate usage of fuel, which may, in turn, affect the entire budget of a company. Approximately 40% of the company’s fleet management budget is spent on fuel costs, and an inappropriate fleet management system can impact the budget of a company very severely.

Optimum Usage Of Data

The bigger the number of fleets, the more amount of data is generated. With GPS tracking, managers are able to check the location of the truck at all times. 

A GPS device is used to update the position of the fleet in a specific period. If this period is set to 5 minutes, the updates for one particular fleet would be 12 times in an hour, which means around 300 location points for a single fleet in a single day, just multiply this number with tens and thousands of other fleets. 

Therefore, a fleet manager needs to watch over a significant amount of data. Poor usage of data may lead to unnecessary data overload, which in turn will impact on the overall productivity of the company.

Impact On Driver Availability And Behavior

A large company involves HR for man-management. Similarly, a large fleet needs effective man-management strategies to deal with different driver behaviors, a lack of experience to handle different on-road situations, and a shortage of expert drivers.

One of the main challenges in the fleet industry is filling up vacancies. This issue seems to plague not just the US but the entire world.

If a fleet management system fails to overcome driver availability and behavior issues, it impacts the overall distribution channel, which in turn affects the brand image of the company.

Driver management is the heart of the fleet management system and is very important to the overall business of the company. 

Getting Specific Fleet Information Quickly

While managing a large fleet, it may happen that obtaining specific information related to a particular fleet may become very difficult and also time-consuming. This becomes even more tedious, considering the amount of data that comes across various fleets. 

Problem-solving related to a particular fleet becomes lengthy if fleet reports are not generated quickly. An efficient fleet management system requires immediate problem solving with instant solutions based on the information received.

Data Migration, Integration And Overload

Data overload issues are a common phenomenon in fleet management systems. Small packets of data are received from every fleet in large numbers. 

A fleet management system must manage data handling and integration of functions such as recording driver and vehicle details, the tracking of procurement costs, scheduling of maintenance and servicing tasks, import of fuel transactions, and measuring of fleet performance via reports and charts. 

Such an overload of data, when not handled efficiently, becomes a significant threat to the productivity of the company.

When it comes to fleet management systems, it is equally important to manage the data by transferring it across various software programs to obtain a substantial result. Software that allows data integration leads to increased productivity.

Avoiding Unauthorized Use Of Company Assets

Monitoring the usage of company assets is still a challenge for the fleet management system. Misusing company trucks and trailers, along with dangerous driving, is unfortunate but common in the industry, and keeping tabs on your employees can be difficult if your system is not up-to-date.

Any unauthorized usage of a company asset can impact a company in the longer run. A fleet management system must be efficient enough to counter this challenge as it may severely impact the overall company business and strategy.

Make sure that your fleet management system is on top of logistics and routing issues. If you are wondering what is dispatch track and how it can help you, it provides software that can help you keep track of your deliveries.

Cost Of Fleet Management System

Fleet management systems are undoubtedly a nice tool to have, but the migration to a completely digitized process can be overwhelming and even intimidating for some. Moreover, the initial outlay of costs, not to mention the cost of changing processes, can act as a barrier for some trucking companies. 

The cost of a fleet management system can strain the company budget. However, a closer consideration will show how the benefits far outweigh the cost of fleet maintenance software.

Conclusion

Although a fleet management system is designed to reduce the challenges for the company, there are a few challenges which a fleet management system itself has to overcome. 

An efficient fleet management system is something that not only increases the productivity of the company, but it also overcomes these challenges to give them an edge over all their competitors.