The correct way to fill out your vehicle asset register

Vehicle asset registers are more than another piece of admin - they’re extremely useful tools.

The fleet asset register is a vital tool for fleet managers but like any other piece of equipment, will work only if operated correctly.

Simply, the register is a comprehensive and accurate account of every vehicle in the company fleet along with details of each allocated driver and a record of maintenance and other costs

Why it matters

Heather de Vos, General Manager Fleet Solutions and New Business at Eqstra Fleet Management explains: “It is a document every company should have and it should be kept updated at all times.

“Company fleets looking to move over to a full or partially managed service, such as those provided by EQSTRA Fleet Management, will be asked to provide this document so the details can be input into our system. This is particularly important if we are going to take over the fleet financially and handling any settlements or acquisitions.

“Quite often clients simply note vehicles as Nissan bakkie or Toyota sedan. We need to have a full, detailed description of the vehicle, the date of purchase, mileage and more,. as all of these elements are part of the ‘value’ of the vehicle. For example, a car bought in January of any year will have a different settlement or resale value to the same model bought in December of the same year.”

Driver details

Driver details are also mandatory in an asset register. Current law requires any company providing an employee with a vehicle must know at all times who is driving that vehicle.

For a fleet management company this is also vital if tasked with the job of redirecting traffic fines from the company nominee to the actual driver – something the EQSTRA Fleet Management system handles automatically with an updated and accurate register.

Vehicle tasks

Another useful inclusion on the register is to list the cost centre and task for each vehicle – e.g. Jhb Sales or Cape Town Deliveries.

“With this information, EQSTRA Fleet Management can then do data analytics and compare, for example, tyre replacement on vehicles in different parts of the country or fuel use statistics,” says De Vos. “All of this is vital information for fleets looking to maximise their efficiencies.

While extreme examples – some 30 000 vehicles that went ‘missing’ from the California administration in 2005 and 208 that vanished from the presidential fleet in Ghana in 2017 – it is not difficult for a large fleet with vehicles scattered around the country to lose track of these assets if they do not keep an updated and accurate vehicle register.

“The vehicles themselves are just the conduit for everything else,” says De Vos. “This is why the asset register is so important.”

What goes into a vehicle asset register?

• The date of purchase, including month
  • This is crucial as it will determine the final resale value of the vehicle.

• Mileage
  • This is the opening reading on the odometer taken on delivery of the vehicle and impacts on both service schedules and replacement cycle.

• Driver details
  • Full driver details including ID number and Licence Number along with physical address are important - for example, in redirecting traffic fines.

• Cost centre for the vehicle
  • Fleet vehicles do not operate autonomously and each one carries a cost. Especially in larger fleets, it is important to know where, and how, to allocate that cost.

• Task for each vehicle
  • Vehicles purchased for company business, such as pool cars or company cars, need to be fit for purpose and allocating the task to each. For example city sales calls, rural delivery – makes it easier for fleets to plan buying and replacement.

• Service due date
  • Effective fleet cost management relies on a number of factors and ensuring vehicles are serviced on time is just one of them. Keeping track of these dates also helps planning and minimising downtime in the fleet.

• Tyre replacement date
  • Tyres do wear out and need replacement before they become a danger to your driver and other road users. Monitoring scheduled replacements and incidental replacements can also identify potential bad driver behaviour. 

• Licence renewal date
  • This is vitally important and correctly monitored will prevent any chance of vehicles being issued with infringement notices.

• Drivers licence renewal
  • This is a fleet aid to its drivers to ensure they remember to renew their licences before being stopped by the authorities. 

• Maintenance costs
  • Again, another vital cog in the machine. All maintenance costs, scheduled and unscheduled, need to be recorded with proper identification of what work was needed. This also helps in building a working picture of the fleet and identifying potential problems.

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