Fleet management software prevents your fleet from wasting your money. Most companies aren’t even aware they are bleeding money.
There are hidden costs like inefficient routes, vehicle downtime, and poor driver habits. All of which eat into your profits.
If your operational costs are rising, but efficiency isn’t improving, it’s time to reassess your fleet management strategy.
Here are seven red flags that indicate your fleet is losing money—and how better fleet management can fix it.
7 Signs Your Delivery Fleet is Wasting Money And How Fleet Management Can Change That
Fleet management software helps your business to track everything that is happening with your fleet. With the help of a tracking system you can follow the vehicle with its GPS location.
Apart from knowing where your fleet is, you also want to understand how that vehicle is being driven.
“Is the driver turning around the corner too hard, so you want to measure the harsh braking.?Are they idling for long periods of time,” explains Steve Orenstein, CEO and founder of Locate2u.
You also want to check whether there is regular maintenance on a specific vehicle. There are also options to automate the process to schedule the upcoming time for a new check-in at the garage.
Here are seven things to look out for to know whether you urgently need fleet management software.
1. High Fuel Costs With No Clear Explanation
Wondered why your fuel bill is through the roof, and there is no clear explanation for it? Fuel expenses are rising, and if they are not monitored, they could get even worse.
It might be that your drivers are taking inefficient routes or are idling too long.
Fleet management software can give you this specific information for each vehicle. It’s easier to address specific drivers who are not adhering to the regulations than to send a blank message to the group.
Therefore, it’s also easier to monitor fuel usage to eliminate potential misuse of company fuel. You won’t know if your drivers are using the vehicle for their personal benefit in between shifts if you don’t track them.
Route optimization software is also beneficial in saving money on fuel and eliminating inefficient routes.
READ MORE HERE: Mastering route optimization strategies for efficient travel planning
2. Frequent Vehicle Repairs and Unexpected Downtime
If you are feeling you want to pull your hair out at the rate of how many times a vehicle is unexpectedly in for a service, then listen up.
Unplanned breakdowns should not happen too often. If it does (and we know how much that costs,) you need to look at other options. No, you don’t have to necessarily replace your entire fleet.
By having fleet management software you can keep up with preventative maintenance. If you continue to delay regular maintenance it ends up in expensive fixes.
Fleet management software alerts managers when it’s time for maintenance well in advance, in order to plan better and have no unexpected downtime.
READ MORE HERE: 10 Strategies to Cut Maintenance Costs with Fleet Management Software
3. Poor Route Planning Leading to Delays and Inefficiency
If your vehicles are stuck in traffic congestion every day for just an hour, it leads to unnecessary delays but also wastes a ton of fuel.
With higher fuel consumption and longer time spent on the road, it impacts the wear and tear of your vehicles.
Using route optimization software your drivers know exactly where to go next and the system takes into consideration the traffic congestions and weather patterns.
What Is Route Optimization?
4. Excessive Overtime and Labor Costs
Some workers spend long hours behind the wheel, not because they are necessarily hard workers, but due to poor planning.
If the work hours are not tracked, it can inflate your payroll expenses. Fleet management software tracks each driver’s worksheet, allows them to fill it in, and gives management the oversight to verify.
When drivers are spending too much time on the road, fleet management software will pick this up and can give managers a full report to get better insight into the problem.
It can be time-consuming if one person has to do this manually, but with fleet management software, driver scheduling and monitoring of work hours are automated.
5. No Visibility on Driver Behavior and Performance
Hard braking, speeding and idling all lead to higher fuel costs. These are all aggressive driving behaviors that are significant contributors to higher fuel consumption.
The optimal fuel usage depends on the type of vehicle. However, according to FleetClear, the speed should typically be between 35 and 50 MPH.
With unsafe driving habits, the chances of accidents are higher. With fleet management software, drivers know there is accountability for their actions. When there is accountability, there is more productivity.
You can create a positive mindset to reinforce good behaviour by giving incentives to the best performing driver of the month.
6. Customer Complaints Due to Late or Missed Deliveries
There is nothing worse than a late or missed delivery. When orders start arriving late or never arrive, there will be an influx of complaints from customers.
Poor communication with drivers can lead to mismanagement, and late deliveries. If you want to track your deliveries, real time tracking helps to give the power to the customer. The entire last-mile delivery should be transparent to allow customers to know when their parcel will arrive.
READ MORE HERE: The Best Ways to Utilize Live Tracking Parcels for Efficient Delivery
7. Compliance Issues and Costly Violations
Whether you like it or not, there are regulations that your fleet has to follow. Missing inspections or expired documents can lead to hefty fines, costing you more money.
In some countries, there are emission regulations, and failing to meet them can set you back each month.
To avoid unrecorded hours-of-service violations and legal trouble, fleet management software can keep track of all of these fines and regulations for you.
Automated compliance tracking with the software helps avoid any future penalties.
About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
