It's always a smart idea to have outside opinions about how you run your business to avoid internal bias. Analyzing how well you're managing your fleet vehicles is a good place to start considering efficiency is likely a large part of your company's focus so you are successful.
Not having the proper vehicles or technologies available will only make things harder in managing everything. You could end up facing slower execution and more mechanical breakdowns not paying attention to specific management areas.
What should you analyze first to see what you're doing right or wrong?
Finding a Fleet Management Consultant
Your first step toward fleet analysis is to find a fleet management consultant that knows how to do an expert audit.
Don't attempt to analyze on your own because it's too easy to overlook things due to keeping things the same for so long.
With an outside consultancy team, you'll have individuals who understand what fleet managers need today to stay competitive. Having outside analysis will help scope out exactly what you're doing wrong and find fast solutions to improving your ROI.
Finding New Fleet Vehicles
No doubt you remember back to when fleet selection was a major component of starting your business. It's likely been a number of years since you selected your vehicles, though. The ones you have are undoubtedly aging quickly.
A quality fleet management consultant guides you to choosing the right type of vehicles designed for today's demands.
As a result, you'll be able to find newer and more technologically advanced fleet vehicles like ones from renowned General Motors. They won the Vincentric Award five years ago as the best fleet vehicle in America, a designation that's held steady.
Deciding Whether You Should Buy or Lease
Your fleet analyst not only determines if you need new vehicles, they'll also help you decide whether to buy rather than lease. If you've leased your vehicles all these years, you may find more advantages in buying instead.
All of this goes on a wider analysis of your finances and whether you're truly ready to take on vehicle ownership. While owning does have more responsibility, good management will help make that easier.
Consultants also help you make some alternate decisions, as in whether you might want to buy off-lease vehicles. Those of you who need to watch your budget may prefer this because you can get quality used vehicles at a more reasonable price.
Analyzing Your Maintenance System
How efficient is your maintenance plan for the fleet vehicles you currently have? Have your drivers found it useful finding repair centers in their local area for timed maintenance or repairs?
The analyst you work with will determine whether the maintenance program you're offering now is really worth keeping or reorganizing.
Some things you're maybe missing include a proper maintenance checklist, including proper technology to monitor any developing vehicle issues.
Finding and Using the Right Vehicle Technologies
Fleet vehicle technology is a wide-ranging subject. It's going to require an even more deep-dive analysis to determine whether what you're using now truly works.
One thing for sure is if you haven't upgraded your technology in a couple of years, you've definitely fallen behind.
Vehicle tech like dashboard cameras are just the start of what you could add to track maintenance and monitor driver behavior.
The latter is an area where you've possibly lapsed, leading to some drivers breaking rules.
Other vehicle technologies your drivers could use include mobile apps for log-keeping, and GPS systems to help them create smarter routes to save gas. Recently, Ford launched new commercial vehicles with connectivity ability to help monitor data on driving performance.
Contact us at Wilmar, Inc. where we can provide a quality fleet vehicle analysis quickly and affordably. We'll guide you to the above paths so you can prepare yourself for the demands of the coming decade.
