Successful fleet management requires a lot of organization. You need to track maintenance schedules, lease paperwork, fuel logs, and repair paperwork.
One of the most important things to stay on top of is vehicle registration. Letting your vehicle registrations lapse can result in lost time, money, and efficiency within the business. It might seem like a basic task, but anyone who has managed a fleet can tell you that it isn't. Learn why registrations are such a hassle and what smart fleet managers are doing to make it easier.
Why Are Fleet Registrations Such a Hassle?
The old way of handling fleet registrations was to take your paperwork down to the local DMV office and submit it to a clerk. They'd do the bulk of the work while you sat and watched them and then paid a bill at the end. It was a time-consuming process, made even worse if you needed to manage registrations in various towns, counties, and states.
That process has become slightly easier over the years. Thanks to the pandemic, institutions like the DMV had to move a lot of their processes online and allow people to do more of this process virtually. That took the hassle out of making a special trip to the DMV's office, but it hasn't cut down on any of the work. You still need to make sure you have the right paperwork at the right time or you run the risk of operating a vehicle on a lapsed registration. And in some states, registrations are still taking up to 12 weeks or longer. That's time your business doesn't have to waste.
That's a big deal, too. Late fees, tickets, and additional fines can make an already-expensive registration a lot more costly. If you can't get the renewal done on time, you may have to take your vehicles out of commission, too, leaving your team scrambling to get around. That's lost revenue for the business and a massive headache for you.
How to Make Fleet Registrations Easier
One of the best ways to take the hassle out of registration renewals is to organize and automate the process as much as possible.
Organize
Keeping your vehicle paperwork as organized as possible will help speed up the registration process. Most states require the following for a registration renewal:
- Photo identification
- Proof of insurance
- Vehicle title
Additionally, you may need to bring proof of an emissions test and a VIN verification on some vehicles, depending on their age, make, and previous registration. If you aren't sure what you'll need, check out your local DMV website or give them a call before you start the process. Having this prepared ahead of time will help you get through the process on all your fleet vehicles.
Automate
You really don't have to handle the registration renewal process on your own anymore. Sophisticated fleet management services handle the process from beginning to end. They can take over the management of your fleet from start to finish or just handle the parts that take up too much of your time, like registration renewals. By turning it over to a fleet management service, they can ensure your registrations are up-to-date so you don't incur fines or fees and don't have to deal with any of the troublesome paperwork.
That's not all a fleet management team can do for you, either. They can help with fuel card services to control costs and even manage your vehicle disposal when it's time to upgrade your fleet. It's the best way to automate more of your fleet management so you can focus on the things that really matter within the business.
Want to learn more about automating registration renewals? Or how Wilmar can help make your fleet management tasks a breeze? Get in touch with our team today to learn what we can do to make fleet management a pain-free task in your organization.
