Businesses of all sizes have increasingly turned to fleet management software (or fleet tracking systems) to oversee commercial vehicle fleets efficiently. If your business uses commercial vehicles continuously, choosing an effective fleet tracking provider is vital to reduce expenses, gaining real-time insight into vehicles in use, facilitating drivers' jobs and ensuring safety.
If this technology has yet to become part of your operations plan, now may be the time to switch. Here we discuss some significant challenges fleet managers face and their advantages over time.
Fleet Management Software Benefits
Fleet management software is an excellent solution for the challenges listed above. It's also a technology most companies can afford. There are more benefits, but here's a list of the most important ones:
Remotely Managed
Fleet managers oversee the daily management of vehicles in their fleet. It may prove challenging managing activities for each driver and vehicle within such an expansive grouping as it can involve numerous drivers and vehicles at any one time.
Fleet management software gives you access to one user-friendly platform for overseeing your vehicles. Most fleet management platforms feature maps that let you see each car located, view updates from drivers and track their movement. Choose between web-based or cloud-based software fleet management types so you can access it, whether at work or away from it all.
Reducing Overhead Costs
Controlling costs in any business that uses vehicles regularly is vitally important; without effort being put forth to lower expenses, huge sums could be wasted away in wasted expenses.
Fleet management software can be an excellent way to save your company money. Packed with features that reduce driving time and fuel usage, creating custom reports to show exactly where the money has gone waste per vehicle and driver safety tools will also reduce insurance costs and liabilities, saving businesses hundreds yearly.
Upgrade Your Dispatching System
Fleet management software makes dispatching easier by offering real-time visibility of where vehicles are. Companies using fleet management can utilize improved dispatching to take on additional business faster and more efficiently, guaranteeing profits to be realized for themselves and the company they work for.
Save Time By Optimizing Routes
Many fleet management programs come equipped with route optimization features. Fleet managers will gain instantaneous information regarding the best routes both time and money-wise; additionally, it helps deliver services and complete their deliveries promptly, thereby keeping their customers happy.
Optimizing routes can reduce fuel, maintenance, and customer wait time costs - leading to faster completion rates of requests/jobs/proposals and increasing productivity for your business.
Get Real-Time Notifications
Set your fleet management software up so it will provide real-time alerts that suit the needs and priorities of your company, such as fuel consumption, mileage, completed jobs, job start/finish times/idle time/red flags - giving fleet managers access to information at any given moment without calling drivers for information they require.
The software also sends alerts when your vehicle needs service or maintenance - so no maintenance appointment will ever go by unscheduled, and your performance remains intact.
Support Instant Communications
As part of fleet tracking software, companies typically include a communication tool that enables companies to contact drivers while on the move instantly. It should also be safety-oriented, so you don't need to be concerned when speaking to your drivers while driving.
Businesses seeking to contact their drivers throughout the day will find this tool invaluable. Drivers can send managers updates, pertinent details and important notes while on the road.
Increase Vehicle Life Span
Fleet management programs allow you to effectively monitor all your vehicles' health with real-time dashboard software that displays real-time information such as mileage, service history and engine hours. Plus, this helps prevent emergency repairs or breakdowns as it will significantly extend their lives; construction companies using fleet software to manage construction equipment will find this an especially great benefit.
Improve Driver Safety
Your business likely places great importance on ensuring the well-being of its drivers. Accidents, vehicle damage and drivers who put themselves and others at risk while working are your priorities; with tools like dashboard video cameras, you can receive real-time alerts of unsafe driving behaviors to stop them immediately - hard brakes, sudden accelerations and speeds being an area where dashboard cameras may provide valuable insight.
Boost Customer Satisfaction
Your software can incorporate customer satisfaction tools if your drivers interact directly with customers. For example, real-time updates on driver location/status and wait time can be sent directly to customers using fleet tracking software, while waiting times reduction software helps drivers reduce travel times while waiting times decrease significantly for themselves due to reduced travel. Finally, integration between software systems such as point-of-sale systems allows drivers to provide clients with a positive experience overall.
Custom Reports
You want to know how your fleet has performed over time. You can get a better picture of fleet operations by using reporting and analytics. You can gain insight into what to watch out for as a manager of a fleet and ways to improve.
10 Features Your Fleet Management Software Must Have:
- GPS Fleet Tracking: fleet management app provides a GPS fleet tracker that allows your staff to view the location of the delivery vehicles in real-time and compare the data with the delivery positions. Businesses can easily trace vehicle movements in order to calculate delivery times, verify routes, and determine costs.
- Turn-by-turn Navigation: Truck drivers who use this navigation can find directions to their destinations based on their vehicle. The system will warn them about restricted road conditions and provide turn-by-turn GPS truck navigation. The drivers can get truck routes based on the vehicle type and receive updates about obstacles. Also, they can see the verified feedback of drivers on road conditions.
- Tracking Delivery: The delivery tracking function provides dynamic communication between dispatchers and drivers on the road. This feature helps businesses improve customer service by providing real-time visibility to order status and scheduling information.
- Integrate with the Order Delivery Tracking System: By integrating with other fleet management apps, such as those that track fuel consumption, compliance and ETAs of vehicles, teams can be empowered to monitor vehicle usage, compliance with regulations, and fuel efficiency. You can even use dashcams and scorecard footage to help your drivers improve their driving skills. It also offers roadside assistance and commercial navigation for drivers.
- Proof of Delivery: This feature automates and streamlines the delivery documentation. POD application for mobile eliminates paperwork and takes pictures and data to confirm the order, in whole or part.
- Real-Time Status Updates: Automated status updates allow access to real-time information such as order and customer details. Real-time tracking allows drivers to choose more precise and accurate routes and avoid areas with high traffic.
- Electronic Logging Device: The Electronic Logging Device is a device that records the movements of vehicles. It can also be used to reduce costs by generating idling statistics.
- Driver vehicle inspection reports: Fleet management apps enable drivers to submit their daily vehicle inspections using a tablet in the vehicle. This device records pre-trips and post-trips electronically and then sends the digital report to fleet managers.
- Fuel Logging for Equipment: Fuel management is essential to control, monitor and maintain fuel storage. The use of a fleet app that logs fuel consumption for equipment allows companies to save money and maximize their resources.
- Reporting Equipment Incidents: Using an efficient incident reporting system in your fleet management application, you can quickly and accurately report incidents, allowing for easy identification of risks. By keeping all the accident data together, companies can stay ahead of risks and get instant insight into repairs and downtime. This will ensure that your assets return to service quickly and safely.
Installing a fleet management app on your smartphone gives you access to your fleet management software at any time while on the go, providing convenient management capabilities on demand. Fleet apps offer simple operations while communicating efficiently with drivers and quickly responding to job changes.
Fleet tracking applications typically include features like mapping tools to combine jobs/orders, GPS tracking with automatic order status updates, dynamic geofencing capabilities, preventative maintenance logs, point-of-sale order entry etc.
What Is The Working Of Fleet Management?
Fleet management serves various functions that help companies know where their vehicles are and ensure compliance with government regulations, costs and productivity increases while prolonging vehicle lifespan. Tracking vehicles, diagnosing issues with them and using telematics are just examples of fleet management's functions; other functions may include managing drivers.
Fleet management helps companies keep tabs on where their fleet vehicles are, manage drivers more effectively, use telematics effectively for fleet tracking purposes, and manage drivers effectively for driver management purposes. Each function helps companies manage drivers efficiently so that they know exactly where their vehicles are situated while adhering to government regulations or rules. They also lower costs and increase productivity while prolonging vehicle lifespan over its useful lifetime.
All these tasks were previously tracked manually; with fleet management software, owners can now view all information, from dispatching drivers to updating customers, in one centralized place.
Once installed, Fleet management software collects vehicle data automatically through GPS tracking. Telematics allows for remote vehicle tracking and dispatch decisions; live GPS provides real-time insight into where vehicles are and who is driving them via natural 360deg streams and engine speed measurements. Real-time insight provides real insight into where your vehicles are and who is at the wheel.
Reports with ease-of-use reports will give you an in-depth view of your fleet's performance, giving you all of the data necessary for optimizing processes.
Read More: Assistance of Arion ERP in Fleet Management
Why Does Fleet Management Software Matter To Fleet Owners?
The risks and challenges of running a fleet are numerous. You don't need to travel with drivers in order to understand what they are doing. You need an automated system to mitigate risk and not overlook important parts of your operation. Fleet management software can help.
Fleet Management Software Has Many Reasons To Be Used
- View all fleet activity: Fleet management systems allow you to monitor what your fleet does without being present on the roads. From monitoring driver distraction to pinpointing which vehicle is closest to the pick-up location and finding out who the earliest deliverer might be - fleet management systems make keeping track of everything simple with just a couple of taps on a mobile phone or computer keyboard.
- Fuel management can reduce fuel costs and maintain fleets: Fleet operations must run efficiently. Fleet management systems provide information on fuel consumption and miles driven for each vehicle in your fleet; managers can allocate fuel according to usage. Furthermore, some software has tracking features that show which parts require repair immediately.
- Access essential data quickly: Fleet management offers the benefit of instant data access. The software gives managers an insight into the actual data, which allows them to analyze and streamline operations appropriately.
- Improve customer satisfaction: Companies can offer accurate vehicle locations and delivery times data. Fleet management systems give real-time updates regarding any delays or problems with orders. At the same time, managers gain greater insight into all vehicles so they can effectively communicate with customers while solving potential issues.
- Improve dispatching processes: Telematics allows you to find the location of a vehicle in an instant. No need to call in your requests because the location of all vehicles can be seen in real-time. You can optimize your routes to send the closest driver to his next task.
- Safety and Compliance: Fleet management software enables fleet owners and managers to track and measure driver behavior. Distracted driving poses severe liability and safety threats for fleets of all kinds; dash cameras help monitor driver activity in real-time to reduce damage and enhance safety - notifying drivers when they stray too closely together or use cell phones while driving too closely, for instance. AI-powered Dash Cams send notifications whenever drivers veer too closely together or use cell phones while behind the wheel - helping prevent damages to fleets as a preventive measure to stay aware of potential liabilities arising when distracted drivers take to their wheels - something Fleet Managers cannot do.
- Get real-time updates: Fleet Management Systems provide vital information, from driver status to route mapping. Managers can update their teams with accurate data and make logical decisions.
What Is The Future Of Fleet Management?
After the pandemic, fleet management industry trends for 2023 differ significantly from their predecessors; companies now deploy cutting-edge technologies and methods to increase efficiency while decreasing expenses. Here is our overview.
Technology Switch
Although driverless cars may not yet be part of fleet management trends, many vehicles already utilize technology to enhance driving experiences. 2023 promises an explosion in in-vehicle technologies, from improved cruise control and precise navigation features to new health and wellness features like air filtration systems that detect pollution and massaging capabilities that improve circulation while simultaneously relieving stress during long trips.
The Rise of MaaS
Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) will become ever more widespread as fleet managers tailor services and change strategies, becoming increasingly flexible to their environment and shifting away from old strategies. According to one report, by 2025, the global MaaS industry could reach USD 23400 Million.
Fleet managers can test company vehicles before leasing or testing them themselves, using Mobility as a Service to change fleet management trends and share vehicles more effectively while decreasing carbon emissions. Fleet metrics have evolved beyond vehicle numbers to include timing, trip completion rate, attendance rates and annual budget figures as crucial benchmarks for success.
Remote Operation
Remote fleet management is a top contender due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Fleet managers look for new ways to manage their activities remotely and monitor the efficiency of drivers. With a fleet management system, managers can better communicate with executives, monitor fleet statistics live, and keep in contact with staff.
Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicles (EVs), subject to more stringent emission regulations, experienced a surge in sales last year. Their adoption is projected to rise further as businesses launch high-end models which improve communication via data sharing and intelligent fleet management software. Automated Vehicle Technology has made great strides; increasing driving times while improving productivity is now possible with this cutting-edge tech.
Video Telematics System
Fleet managers can leverage geolocation tracking and telematics to measure real-time diagnosis levels, using customizable dashboards to monitor drivers, vehicles and safety protocol compliance. In 2023, fleet management solutions may include voice integration, data analytics and Artificial Intelligence capabilities, and in-cab video technology as standard features of fleet management solutions.
Improved Vehicle Security For Commercial Fleets
Fleet cars contain sensitive data that must be protected. 2023 will see fleet management trends prioritize cybersecurity enhancement; some fleet owners are shifting focus from tactical management to strategic leadership and upgrading IT skills for additional responsibilities, with greater emphasis placed on collecting information for analysis with greater visibility.
Read More: Why Transportation Management is an Important Module of School ERP
Fleet Analytics & Data
Fleet management trends will continue to advance and prioritize safety as an objective of fleet operations. Geofencing, Driving Behavior Analysis (DBAA), Alert systems as well as other features will continue to advance to further reduce accidents and injuries, with intelligent surveillance providing more specific vehicle and driver alerts as well as reports providing a deeper insight to identify flaws within existing safety protocols and make necessary corrections.
The Hero of the Supply Chain: Last-Mile delivery
Automating the delivery process can boost productivity, profitability and efficiency. It also helps forecast future fleet management trends and needs. Technology also helps to meet changing consumer needs and preferences. In 2023, more companies will adopt last-mile software to automate order dispatch, route planning, work distribution and performance analysis.
The Top Lows to Prepare For
Fleet managers face a variety of challenges that can affect productivity as well as profitability. These are some of the biggest challenges in fleet management for 2023.
Fleet Redundancy
COVID-19 caused significant disruptions to international supply chains due to its impact on businesses all around the globe, forcing their closure and impacting trade routes around the globe, placing fleet managers under immense strain, as they needed replacement parts delivered for their fleets quickly.
Many fleet managers search for alternative suppliers of vehicle parts and supplies when one runs dry; once such suppliers no longer meet requirements, they can switch providers to maintain their vehicles properly.
Constraints on Supply Chain
Fleets will remain plagued with supply-chain disruption throughout 2023. From auto industry restrictions and rising material costs to COVID-related lockdowns that compromise essential transport routes - fleet owners and leaders may face similar difficulties again. However, their presence can likely be reduced over time.
Sky-High Fuel Prices
Fuel prices fluctuate constantly, and 2023 offers little insight into their future trajectory. Fleet industries may be vulnerable as crude oil surplus temporarily reduces costs, creating an illusion of security for fleet managers. Oil production remains stable, but fuel shortage could occur; should demand drop due to the pandemic outbreak, prices should become stable once again.
Environmental Controls
Climate change has come under scrutiny with extreme weather events and new clean air standards being put into effect in many countries. Fleet managers face new challenges as regulations tighten up; public pressure may require internal engines to be removed altogether. Therefore, technical specialists assisting fleet managers must understand these problems and find solutions to them effectively.
Arion ERP Fleet Management Solutions Explored
Arion ERP, a Fleet Management System that is efficient and effective in improving fleet operations, will do the following:
- The most critical problem for any fleet manager is to ensure optimal delivery. Fleet maintenance . A regular maintenance program is essential to prevent most issues, as fleet maintenance can be expensive.
- Using optimization tracking software, fleet managers can easily track maintenance requirements and save time.
- Fuel costs are one of the most significant expenses for any company with a fleet. When international oil prices fluctuate, and fuel taxes rise, companies find it challenging to produce an ROI and maximize performance. When fuel taxes and international oil rates fluctuate, it is harder for companies to maximize their performance. Route optimization Arion ERP feature can help a company contract fewer vehicles while maintaining maximum efficiency.
Automating fleet operations has caused an unprecedented transformation within the sector. Arion ERP Fleet Management Tool can assist managers in enhancing the performance of their fleet while keeping clients happy.
Arion ERP offers a complete fleet management solution featuring accurate scheduling, efficient resource utilization and process oversight through a dashboard interface. Our software makes managing assignments simpler for fleet providers with real-time vehicle tracking that provides accurate performance indicators to make better decisions more efficiently.
Last Thoughts
Fleet management can be challenging. Fleet management software can make operations more streamlined by eliminating manual tasks ranging from checking drivers' locations and updating customers to monitoring the performance of Arion ERP AI-powered technologies which provide your team with critical intelligence for optimizing fleet operations.
Get intouch with the best and most reliable software solution to manage your fleet of vehicles effectively and efficiently.
