05 February 2020

Fleet Management Challenges? Use Asset Management To Solve Them

Companies like transport agencies, shipping and delivery services, utility companies, public transportation organisations, and more rely a lot on their fleet of vehicles to ensure the smooth functioning of their daily operations. In fact, fleet-related costs are some of the biggest for an organisation, making fleet management essential for these companies.

The Importance of Fleet Asset Management

Fleet asset management is not just about owning and operating a fleet; it refers to the complete management as well as the coordination of the fleet, covering all the stages that are involved in the lifecycle of a vehicle, starting from acquisition and maintenance all the way to retirement. Asset management services provided by the right management software can help an organisation improve their efficiency, mitigate risks, ensure reliability and safety of the fleet, effortlessly comply with regulatory standards, and reduce overall operational costs.

Keeping the fleet in good shape, while offering timely services and staying within budget is very important in transit operations to keep the stakeholders and customers satisfied.

Overcoming Challenges in Fleet Asset Management

Regardless of the size of your fleet, asset management services can prove to be vital for the efficient handling of your vehicles. There are several challenges that an organisation may face in fleet asset management, but they are nothing that effective asset management services cannot overcome.

Improved Visibility Regarding Vehicle Location

With real-time tracking of the vehicles’ locations, you would be able to provide your customers with the right information when they inquire. You will also be able to ensure that the vehicles haven’t broken down or been stolen. Asset management services offer GPS-powered systems that let you track your vehicles in real time. Even if a vehicle is stolen, the chances of recovering it are better with tracking.

Increased Efficiency in Route Scheduling

A common challenge in fleet asset management is traffic and other road issues that may result in delayed arrivals at onboarding or deboarding. While experienced drivers are generally well-versed with the best routes to follow, even they cannot predict blockage or delays on the roads. Then again, if you face issues like services cancellation from a customer, driver shortage, vehicle breakdown, or a special request from a customer, you will need to do some quick adjustments to the routing schedules to accommodate the changes.

Ensuring timely delivery of your services is pivotal in the transportation industry. Asset management services help ensure the same as they allow for your data to be effortlessly tracked, letting you maximise the efficiency of the drivers’ journeys, optimise routes, and make any required dispatch adjustments in quick time.

Ensuring Safety

Ensuring driver safety should be a top priority for all organisations. With the right fleet asset management software, you are allowed to track the location of your vehicles. Apart from this, the software also provides you with timely alerts regarding driving incidents that may jeopardise the safety of the vehicle, driver, or even a pedestrian. These incidents can include speeding, hard acceleration, or heavy braking, apart from other behaviours. Data about the driver’s behaviour can also be collected and used to develop training programs tailored to suit a particular individual.

Reducing Operational Costs

Fleet asset management services have several aspects that allow you to employ the right strategies to help reduce overall operational costs. Some of these include:

• Proper Utilisation of your Assets: With real-time tracking, you can maximise the utilisation of your vehicles.
• Maintenance of the Fleet: Fleet asset management lets you keep track of the maintenance histories of your fleet and lets you schedule maintenance accordingly.
• Driver Abuse: Keep track of your entire fleet to ensure there is no privilege abuse or vehicle misuse.
• Ensure Customer Retention: With all the benefits of asset management services, you can ensure the delivery of timely services to customers, offering complete customer satisfaction.
• Regulatory Compliances: With asset management, you can keep a record of your licenses, registrations, insurances, inspection reports, and other documents well-organised.

With the right asset management services, you can easily overcome the challenges posed in fleet management, increase operational efficiency, and reduce overall costs, thereby driving better business results for your organisation.