Are you running a mixed-vehicle fleet? If so, there are a number of pitfalls you should be watching out for.
Effective fleet management is tricky enough with a parking lot full of same-spec vehicles. So, when you start throwing different models and specialised vehicles into the mix, you really need to stay on top of your game to keep things running efficiently. Some of the below danger zones may seem obvious, but when you’re running a mixed fleet some mistakes are easy to make, especially when it comes to slogging through all the data and compiling budgets and reports.
Here's the 10 biggest mistakes made by mixed fleet managers:
Fit for Purpose
One of the biggest challenges when managing a mixed fleet is ensuring every single vehicle is fit for purpose (FFP) and perfectly suited to its job. It’s often tempting to stick with the same manufacturer because you know and trust them, but this could end up being a very costly mistake. Your preferred vehicle brand may produce a vehicle that seems FFP on paper – you know them, how they work, what their parts availability is like, etc – but do your research anyway. The last thing you want to do is purchase a number of specialised vehicles that turn out to cost much more than expected because some aspect isn’t 100% suited to the job.
Driver Training
With a mixed fleet, it is often necessary to train drivers on different types of vehicles. Even if they don’t need different licenses for each model, they may need to apply different driving styles in order to be most efficient. So, whether you’re swapping drivers between sedans / panel vans / 4x4, you need to ensure your drivers know how to properly care for each type of vehicle. It’s a big (and often costly) mistake to assume that a license means someone can drive any vehicle. They may know the basics, but with a fleet you want to ensure each vehicle is driven as efficiently as possible, and that requires training on every type of vehicle you have in your fleet.
Fuel Costs
Whether you track fuel in-house or have a fleet partner assisting you, a mixed fleet adds a definite level of complication. You’re average and predicted fuel consumption can’t be standard across the fleet, so you have to break it into vehicle categories and then work out an overall average (if necessary) to see what your fleet consumption is per month. If you have a mix of diesel and petrol, it further complicates your budgets. In addition to consumption, good fleet managers will be able to adjust their consumption levels according to which driver is allocated to which vehicle. This is where you need accurate methods of measuring your fuel costs and quick ways to pick up any red flags, otherwise your fleet budget planning is going to take a huge knock.
Maintenance
Fleet managers in charge of a mixed fleet need to pay extra attention to the maintenance needs of their fleet. It’s easy to miss signs of poor maintenance if you’re familiar with every type of vehicle under your care. And it’s surprisingly easy to miss scheduled maintenance dates if all your vehicles run on different cycles. If you miss just one vehicle, and it affects the warranty (or results in damage), it could come with a really nasty and unexpected price tag. Make sure you have a foolproof method for checking and maintaining your entire fleet when you’re running a mixed fleet.
Communication Gaps
As with any company structure, a mixed fleet can be divided into different ‘departments’ that take care of specific jobs. And as with any other business, certain departments will require more of your attention than others. There’s nothing wrong with this, but make sure you don’t neglect the ‘easy’ departments that pretty much seem to run themselves. Fleet managers working with mixed vehicles must ensure they have an effective communication system to regularly check in with all ‘departments’ and avoid potential problems slipping through the cracks.
Inconsistent Policy
If you’re managing a mixed fleet you need to ensure that your company policies applying to vehicles factor in the differences. Many companies that gradually incorporate a variety of vehicles forget to update these policies and that quickly becomes a crisis when there is an incident or even a change in company structure. For example: staff may have a R500 per month fuel allowance that is calculated on a petrol sedan, but if you suddenly incorporate larger vehicles or diesel, this will probably need to be adjusted to allow for the different fuel prices and consumption.
Replacement Cycle
Similar to varying maintenance schedules, fleet managers with mixed vehicles need to be vigilant of replacement cycles. You’re like dealing with different manufacturers and warranties, and you need to plan well in advance when one group of vehicles needs to be replaced. And it might not depend solely on your company replacement cycle – it could depend on model changes from the manufacturer side. With mixed fleets it’s easy to miss a brilliant upgrade opportunity because you’re too focused on your internal replacement cycle and not paying attention to what’s happening in the vehicle industry as a whole.
Inaccurate Costing Models
Think of it as grocery shopping: it’s easy to compare the price of Cornflakes between three or more different shops, but when you have a list of 20 items to compare between all these shops it becomes very tricky to keep track. Especially if they all change their pricing regularly without warning, and never at the same time. Forecasting and costing for a mixed fleet is the same principle: it becomes a full-time job to track parts, fuel and vehicle pricing across a varied fleet. This is often where big data and an experienced fleet partner can save your business a lot of money and unnecessary admin.
Misinterpreting data
Speaking of big data (above) – managers of mixed fleets need to track a lot more of it than those with uniform fleets. And they need to know exactly what to do with all this information. Depending on the types of vehicles you’re running, you may need to prioritise different data for each category. With long-haul vehicles, your routes may be the critical info, but with vehicles used on construction sites it might me wear & tear of tyres. How you prioritise and interpret your fleet data will depend on the types of vehicles you manage and what they’re used for. With mixed fleets this will constantly vary and managers can’t make the mistake of focusing on the wrong data – or misinterpreting the information they have – as it will negatively affect an entire portion of your fleet.
The Basic Admin
It goes without saying that running a mixed vehicle fleet involves an enormous amount of admin that will include all of the points mentioned above. Similar to replacement cycle and fuel costs, you can’t make the mistake of managing all vehicle groups in the same way. Your basic admin is where the initial mistakes happen that have a knock-on effect all the way through to driver training. So, if you’re looking after a mixed fleet make sure you consider all of the above and work it into all your daily admin structures.
Every fleet has its own curveballs, but mixed vehicle fleets are especially to tricky to manage. You need to ensure smooth efficiency across the board, and that’s tricky when your vehicles don’t have the same needs.
