In this post, we’ll discuss the key aspects of fleet management, exploring some of the principles that will help you streamline your processes and maximise your fleet’s efficiency.
For more information on how we can help you and your fleet, get in touch with us on 020 8290 9099 or email us at commercial.motor@anthonyjones.com.
Vehicle Acquisition
A fleet manager is responsible for selecting and acquiring the vehicles for the fleet. This will involve calculating what sort of vehicles are required to meet your business’s haulage needs.
You might have to choose between petrol, diesel, hybrid, and electric vehicles, for example. And you might have to make special considerations depending on your operations. For example, will you need to keep your cargo at a specific temperature in transit?
Read our complete guide to considerations fleet managers might make when acquiring vehicles.
Vehicle Maintenance
Having acquired your vehicles, you’ll then be responsible for ensuring they’re kept in good working order.
To begin with, this will mean registering your vehicles to ensure they meet all the relevant standards for UK roads. You’ll then have to keep on top of daily, weekly, monthly, and other periodic checks, to make sure your vehicles remain safe and roadworthy.
Any time any repairs or maintenance is necessary, you’ll be responsible for ensuring it’s carried out promptly and to an appropriate standard.
Read our gull guide to fleet maintenance checks.
Budgeting
You’ll have to manage your business’s budget for vehicle acquisition and maintenance. And of course, you’ll also have to budget for other ongoing running costs, including fuel and commercial fleet insurance.
We have a few guides to budgeting for fleet managers:
- How vehicle repair costs impact fleet insurance.
- Managing your fleet operating and maintenance costs.
- Haulage fuel price predictions.
Fleet Driver Management
As a fleet driver, you’ll be responsible for ensuring your fleet remains as efficient and cost-effective as possible. And for this, you’ll have to manage your drivers, and their behaviour.
This will involve:
- Hiring – Recruiting the appropriate drivers for the job, including conducting interviews and completing all necessary risk assessments and background checks.
- Training and development – As well as training drivers for their role, you’ll also oversee their ongoing training and development.
- Behaviour management – You’ll have to ensure your drivers stay on the right side of the law, which includes taking all of their legally-mandated rest periods. You can also closely monitor their driving behaviour to identify areas where you might make improvements to safety, efficiency, and fuel consumption.
Many fleet managers rely on a range of tools to manage their drivers’ behaviour. For example, telematics software can generate reports on a specific driver’s average speed during a journey, along with information about potentially dangerous or wasteful behaviour that might require some additional training.
We have many guides to help you better understand how a fleet manager can encourage good driver behaviour:
- What to include in your HGV driver risk assessments.
- Can driver safety apps improve driver behaviour?
- Are driver-facing cameras legal?
- A guide to tracking business mileage for fleets.
- Understanding driver fatigue.
Also be sure to check out our full guide to managing driver behaviour in your fleet.
Fleet Insurance & Risk Management
Finally, as a fleet manager you’ll be responsible for identifying and responding to any risks your drivers might face. You’ll also have to ensure your fleet insurance provides adequate cover to meet all of these risks.
Risk management is a vital part of the service that we provide. We can help you understand the risks you and your drivers face in your daily operations, and on what actions to take in the event of a serious. We can then tailor for you a fleet insurance package that will offer full protection, with no gaps in your cover.
For more information on how we can help you and your fleet, get in touch with us on 020 8290 9099 or email us at commercial.motor@anthonyjones.com.
