Common Fleet Management Mistakes

Common Fleet Management Mistakes

Managing a fleet means coordinating drivers, vehicles, routes, and deliveries to ensure operations run as smoothly as possible to maximize profits. But there are some common fleet management mistakes that any fleet manager can make that will negatively affect business efficiency. Knowing what those mistakes are will help you realize when you are making them and will allow you to correct those errors faster.

Route Efficiency

When it comes to driving, the majority of the responsibility falls on the driver. Once they are out on the road, the fleet manager has very little say in how they drive or what routes they take to make their deliveries. While this takes some work away from you, this can lead to inefficient routes that will lead to longer delivery times and an increase in fuel consumption.

Map Routes Before Hand

Have a GPS in place to determine what the quickest routes are between delivery points to make the most out of drives. Having an automated system to generate the fastest routes possible will reduce the cost of fuel as well as facilitate more deliveries due to shorter delivery times.

Adhering To Regular Maintenance

Vehicles break down, and they will break down faster the more you use them. It can be easy to neglect the necessary maintenance until problems start to arise, but by the time issues start making themselves known, there may be more severe problems at work.

Have a Maintenance Schedule

The benefits of regular vehicle maintenance far outweigh the cost by making vehicles safer for drivers and less likely to break down for good. Allowing your vehicles to go too long without a check-up will lead to more serious problems in your car that will make it unsuitable for the road and will lead to high repair costs.

Using Your Vehicles Too Much or Too Little

When your fleet becomes a certain size, you may find yourself using some vehicles more than others or not using older vehicles at all. Failing to utilize every vehicle in your fleet will put unnecessary strain on some vehicles, causing them to deteriorate faster. In contrast, others are left to sit and waste away due to lack of use.

Use Everything at Your Disposal

No vehicle should go underused or overused; if you have it as one of your assets, you should be using it to the best of your ability. Your business’s efficiency will suffer if you allow some vehicles to do no work while letting other vehicles take on the majority of the labor.

Maintenance and Administration

Always be on top of vehicle maintenance and constantly audit your systems to ensure your business operates as efficiently as possible. Don’t fall into the trappings of fleet management mistakes that can cause your productivity to suffer. Know where the issues are sprouting up, and don’t wait to correct those problems.