Fleet Management
What is fleet management?
In general, fleet management is the art and science of ensuring that your organization’s fleet operations support your business objectives and overall corporate strategy.
In more specific terms, fleet management is the administrative work supporting a group of commercial vehicles that are essential to your organization’s operations. This involves all the people, systems, processes, and tools that go into keeping these vehicles safe, reliable, and available to efficiently move people, products, or services from one point to another. A comprehensive fleet management program should cover everything from vehicle acquisition and leasing to maintenance management and the tracking of metrics and KPIs to improve safety and efficiency. Most importantly, it should provide visibility to all of those tasks—all at once.
Most companies that provide a service that involves vehicles will rely on fleet management to streamline their operations and save money, including industries like:
- Contractors
- Pest control
- Construction
- Food & beverage
- Telecommunications and utilities
- Courier and delivery services
- Government agencies and municipalities
- And more
Debunking fleet management myths
There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about fleet management. We've debunked the top five in this short video.
Best practices in fleet management.
A cohesive fleet management strategy can reduce a company’s administrative burden, increase revenue while decreasing operating costs, act as an employee attraction and retention program, and, ultimately, help a business reach its corporate goals.
The essentials of fleet management typically fall into three main categories: Finance, Operations, and Analysis.
Financial tactics
- Strategic funding ie. Open-end lease vs. closed-end lease vs. ownership
- Cash flow requirements
- EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) prioritization
- Depreciation rate
- Owned asset value
- Manufacturer incentives
- Vehicle acquisition strategy
Operational tactics
- Streamline administrative tasks such as toll management reporting
- Maintain compliance (DOT & DMV)
- Proactive vehicle maintenance
- Monitor drivers and vehicles
- Implement driver safety programs
- Standardize and right-size vehicles
- Upfit vehicles for equipment and occupational needs
- Track fuel usage
- Brand vehicles
- Keep consistent records in a centralized location
Data Analysis
- Total cost of operation
- Cost per mile
- Maintenance by mileage
- Fuel efficiency
- Third party benchmarking
- Productivity
- Vehicle life cycle
- Strategic vehicle disposal
What are fleet management companies?
A fleet management company (FMC) specializes in the strategic management of commercial fleets, partnering with businesses or government agencies to manage some or all aspects of their fleet program. Dozens of fleet management companies exist in the United States alone—but the right company will listen to your specific needs and then work with you to develop a highly-personalized plan that helps you meet your goals.
Benefits of partnering with an FMC.
Diverse OEM network with established partnerships and bulk ordering incentives.
Expertise in all aspects of fleet operations including financing, vehicle acquisition, upfit, maintenance, telematics, licensing & registration, etc.
Specialized technology to track metrics and access to industry KPIs provide fmc clients data-driven insights for ongoing operational improvements.
Centralized fleet management system, with all vehicle information in one place allows adminstration efforts to be streamlined.
When should you partner with an FMC?
This largely depends on your business and your goals, but there are several considerations that may indicate that it’s time to enlist the support of a fleet management company. Many companies will opt to work with a fleet management company when they reach a certain number of vehicles—often between 15 and 25 units—but others will consider working with an FMC when:
- Their costs are too high.
- Safety becomes a concern.
- Internal resources aren’t available or sufficient to keep vehicles in top condition.
- The business is growing or expanding into new territories.
- Existing fleet operations don’t support overarching business goals.
At Mike Albert Fleet Solutions, we’ve harnessed the power of Fleet Science®: Our approach to collecting, organizing, and analyzing specific data to build a holistic view of your fleet and identify key insights that can reduce costs, optimize operations, and improve safety.
"The most important questions to consider when choosing an FMC for your business should be: How much of a burden can they take off of your shoulders, and how can they help you reach your goals?”
Fleet management services
Organizations utilize fleet management services to maximize vehicle and driver safety, efficiency, and compliance, while streamlining fleet administration.
What fleet management services are right for you? We can help.Our proprietary fleet management platform for clients includes an admin portal that provides a streamlined view of all their fleet information with easy-to-navigate dashboards, and a mobile app that helps drivers simplify the management of their mileage reporting and vehicle registration and maintenance tasks.
Our proprietary, cloud-based, fleet vehicle and driver monitoring platform merges vehicle telematics data with the expertise of our maintenance management team to report vehicle health, vehicle behavior, and driver behavior in a streamlined, prioritized format on a single pane of glass for faster, easier fleet management.
We partner with best-in-class telematics companies to capture information from engine computers and GPS tracking systems that provide vital data on driver behavior, vehicle health, route statistics and more, enabling clients to make informed decisions about their fleet.
Transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) is becoming a more viable and desirable option for many fleet owners. Our fleet electrification experts help clients design a holistic plan for integrating the right EVs and charging solutions into their fleet operations.
Through trusted vendor partnerships, we provide clients with fleet fuel cards for drivers to use as payment at the pump. Our vehicle-assigned fuel card service centralizes billing and reduces the potential for fraud.
We combine the expertise of our ASE-certified technicians with our vetted service provider network and advanced admin technologies to ensure: preventive fleet maintenance is completed on schedule; all services and repairs are done correctly and charged fairly; and no needless repairs and upcharges occur.
Our Advantage® team acts as a concierge service for clients that need outside help handling day-to-day fleet tasks like fuel card administration, licensing and insurance, vehicle ordering, and fielding questions from drivers.
To help clients maximize safety and avoid costly violations, we partner with expert DOT compliance providers to proactively manage all the ever-changing federal, state, and local regulations that a fleet with commercial motor vehicles must meet.
With this service, our titles and license team handles all the vehicle registration renewals for a client's fleet drivers in all necessary states, in order to ensure DMV compliance, reduce administration tasks, and avoid late fees.
Our toll and transponder management service, administered by a trusted vendor, enables clients to centralize the controls, reporting, and payment processing of fleet vehicle tolling, eliminating the risk of costly violations and the hassle of managing multiple toll agencies.
With this service, we help mitigate risks—that could lead to costly accidents in terms of human endangerment and financial loss—by providing clients with driver safety training; motor vehicle reports on previous accidents involving their vehicles and drivers; and post-accident administration.
With this service, you receive a consultation with a truck engineer who helps to identify the equipment needed to support your driver's occupational needs and to secure cargo.
Expand your knowledge in the Fleet Studies Lab.
Want to perfect your fleet smarts? Head over to the Fleet Studies Lab for everything you need to know about fleet operations—from EVs and telematics to sustainability, finances, and beyond.
Choose your subject area:
