The sheer amount of admin needed to run a successful fleet is no laughing matter, and many fleet managers find themselves weighed down by admin tasks when they are urgently needed elsewhere.
The constant juggling of fleet admin tasks vs daily fleet management is a nightmare for all fleet managers–you are not alone! The catch is that the admin and reporting side is vital to managing your fleet. Admin errors lead to inaccurate reports, which means you don’t have the correct information on which to base your fleet planning and management.
All fleet managers know that capturing accurate data is the only way to ensure their fleet operations and budget can stay on track. The good news is that there is a much easier way of keeping track of all your fleet data and ensuring all admin is accurate, which in turn reflects in your reporting and planning.
At EQSTRA we know that every fleet is different and has different admin and reporting needs, which is why we tailor-make solutions for each client. Depending on the type of fleet you are running, some of the following solutions may be your admin answer:
GPS tracking and telematics
In simple terms: this system allows you to track and record all vehicle movements and even evaluate driver performance. This allows you real-time access to fleet movements as well as detailed reports that you can use to optimise routes and plan upcoming fleet movements.
This system will also automatically capture information such as hours or mileage per vehicle/driver. Real-time data will flag concerns such as excessive idling, over-revving, or any driving patterns that waste fuel.
Fuel management and tracking
Fuel is arguably the biggest expense in any fleet, and manually tracking fuel spend–even for a small fleet–is not only time-consuming but prone to human error or even fuel theft.
Having a system in place that tracks every cent spent on fuel and every kilometre covered, means you have an accurate picture of which vehicles/drivers are the most efficient, and which may be problematic. This gives you the information with which to decide whether certain vehicles are no longer performing up to standard, or whether you need to address driver performance concerns.
In addition to tracking fuel efficiency, you can include automated fuel card tracking that will immediately alert you to possible fraudulent tracking. Many companies save thousands, if not millions, of Rands each year by implementing fuel tracking systems. Preventing fuel fraud is a team effort, read more about this in our blog ‘How to prevent fuel fraud’.
RECOMMENDED BLOG: HOW TO PREVENT FUEL FRAUD
Vehicle maintenance admin
Vehicle maintenance management and the admin that comes with it is a lot, to put it mildly. Fleet managers must ensure that vehicle maintenance happens regularly and on time (especially if you’re under manufacturer warranty), but without letting required maintenance affect their fleet operations.
Staying on track requires detailed planning, scheduling maintenance ahead of time, planning for unforeseen fleet needs and even potential breakdowns. If you’re doing this on a spreadsheet, chances are you’re ready to throw your laptop out of the window.
With a trusted fleet partner all of your maintenance schedules and related admin can be expertly managed with no downtime to your fleet operations. This saves you a lot of time and saves your fleet a lot of money by eliminating downtime.
License, registration and fines admin
This may just be the worst part of fleet admin! Vehicle licensing and registration is a fairly straightforward process, but it requires a ton of paperwork and patience when dealing with licensing departments. All of this detracts from your time as a fleet manager and everything just runs smoothly if this is handled by an expert fleet partner.
Fines management is a constant moving target in South Africa – the system seems to change every week. If you’re in charge of a fleet, the last thing you need is a pile of fines on your desk that all need to be processed. The risk of falling behind on fines admin is that you could end up with a series of court dates that can’t be avoided, which is a nightmare for any company. Do yourself a favour and outsource this task to the experts. It will change your life and improve your fleet operations.
Accurate reporting
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, access to accurate information is the only way to ensure your fleet is operating at its best. If you are manually handling all of the above-mentioned fleet admin processes, you likely have very little time to double-check information before compiling fleet reports.
This means you are likely working with inaccurate information. People make mistakes, receipts get lost, and sometimes forms are skipped when we’re in a hurry. All of this makes it more difficult for you to get an accurate picture of your fleet’s performance.
By automating, or outsourcing, some or all of the above processes, you know that every bit of information is being captured. With EQSTRA you can even tailor-make your reports, or set up automated reports on all fleet processes from fuel spend to driver and vehicle scheduling.
Very few of us enjoy the admin side of fleet management, but the point is not whether you enjoy it or not. The question you need to ask is: am I really working with all the information, or are some things slipping through the cracks? If you think that even a small percentage of your admin is not up to par, it is well worth consulting with a fleet partner. You’ll be surprised by how much time and money you can save by streamlining your fleet admin tasks.
Find out how you can up your admin game by downloading free resources from your fleet management team.