What You Cannot Miss When Managing a Fleet of Vehicles

Written by Paulo Nogueira

Published on 06/04/2021 at 07:06

Updated on 18/02/2022 at 14:57

Frota de Vans/ Fonte Pixbay

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Fleet Management Is A Challenge For Most Companies, As It Often Is Not Directly Linked To The Company’s Core Business

Fleet management is the term used to address the management of vehicles used by a transportation, collection, or service company. Contrary to what many believe, fleet management does not only apply to large companies with significant numbers of vehicles. Any company that uses a vehicle to make deliveries or provide services should have management in place.

But how to manage a fleet of vehicles? Here are 6 important points that must not be missed in vehicle fleet management!

What Is Fleet Management?

Fleet management encompasses all the data, plans, and strategies regarding the company’s vehicles, used to reduce costs and risks while utilizing the fleet more efficiently in service of the company.

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Preventive Maintenance For Vehicles

Taking vehicles for maintenance only when there is a problem can lead to higher costs than performing preventive maintenance. This is because, many times, we only notice the problem in the car when it has already progressed significantly.

Performing preventive maintenance not only reduces expenses but can also ensure the safety of your fleet’s drivers. Corrective repairs on the vehicle generate higher costs and disrupt the company’s transportation schedule, potentially leading to losses or customer dissatisfaction.

Drivers can contribute to preventive maintenance by preparing a checklist and checking all included items before starting a trip. This way, problems can be identified more quickly, avoiding more complex repairs and issues and/or accidents.

Insurance For Fleets

Even with vehicles up to date on maintenance, accidents, theft, robberies, collisions, and issues can occur. Having auto insurance for fleets can help save resources and protect the drivers.

In addition to protecting the company in case of theft and robbery, auto insurance offers 24-hour assistance for issues involving mechanics, electrical problems, and others such as flat tires and damaged keys.

In the event of accidents involving third parties, the insurance will cover damages to vehicles, as well as provide assistance in case of injuries in the collision.

Route Management

Neglecting route management is one of the most serious mistakes in fleet management. It is important to perform this task to reduce costs, especially with maintenance and fuel.

Having access to information about distance, possible types of routes, whether they are paved and safe, or the number of tolls along the route allows fleet vehicle management to be conducted in a way that facilitates a more efficient and safe trip for the driver.

Up-to-Date Documentation

During fleet management, there is a relevant obligation: to keep vehicle documentation up to date, as well as to pay necessary fees and taxes.

IPVA, Mandatory Insurance, ICMS, among other fees and commitments are subject to interest and fines if not paid on time, which can even lead to the seizure of vehicles, resulting in losses for the company.

Driver Training

Providing training for drivers is essential, as it becomes a way to bring out the best in each professional, improving team performance. Training that involves vehicle care, defensive driving, and traffic laws are great topics to address and pass on to the driving team.

Additionally, paying attention to the health of your driver team can be a way to increase fleet efficiency. Drivers work about 12 hours a day in Brazil, performing repetitive movements.

Guidance on preventive health, nutrition, physical exercise, proper sleep, and driving techniques can be measures that ensure greater productivity while preserving the health of drivers.

Fleet Management Software

With so many vehicles, drivers, and data to collect and analyze, the professional managing the fleet can rely on technology to their advantage. Thus, the task will become even more efficient, reducing errors. Fleet management software helps in tracking activities with agility, control, and practicality.

By: Andreia Silveira, editor at SeguroAuto.org.

What You Cannot Miss When Managing a Fleet of Vehicles

Fleet Management Is A Challenge For Most Companies, As It Often Is Not Directly Linked To The Company’s Core Business

What Is Fleet Management?

Preventive Maintenance For Vehicles

Insurance For Fleets

Route Management

Up-to-Date Documentation

Driver Training

Fleet Management Software

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What You Cannot Miss When Managing a Fleet of Vehicles

Fleet Management Is A Challenge For Most Companies, As It Often Is Not Directly Linked To The Company’s Core Business

What Is Fleet Management?

Preventive Maintenance For Vehicles

Insurance For Fleets

Route Management

Up-to-Date Documentation

Driver Training

Fleet Management Software

While in Brazil a 10-story building takes 2 years to complete, in China a company stacks pre-fabricated modules and raises the entire building in just 28 hours and 45 minutes.

The oldest tree in the world, alive since before the birth of Jesus Christ, is cut down in a scientific study and the case changes environmental preservation rules.

An entire island in the Pacific wants to surround itself with a colossal barrier against the ocean to try to escape increasingly violent waves and not be swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

After ten days orbiting the Moon, science confirms that the astronauts of the Artemis II mission return with altered bodies.

Peru built a tunnel at an altitude of 4,738 meters cutting through the Andes Mountains, and the road leading to it reaches 4,818 meters, making it the highest paved road in the entire world.

Seen from space, an image taken by an astronaut shows in Argentine Patagonia the exact point where a colossal glacier, a turquoise-blue lake, and a greenish arm of water meet, creating one of the rarest and most impressive landscapes in the region.

In the Saudi Arabian desert, the world’s largest green hydrogen plant is 80% complete and will use 4 gigawatts of solar and wind energy to produce 600 tons of clean fuel per day when it opens in 2027.

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India has connected for the first time a nuclear reactor that generates more fuel than it consumes — it produces 500 MW, cost nearly $1 billion, took 22 years, and places the country among the few with this technology in the world.

Suape Port is receiving R$ 15.8 billion to become the largest green hydrogen hub in Latin America — and a partnership with China promises an additional R$ 8 billion.

Petrobras robots dove nearly 3,000 meters deep and 201 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro confirmed what geologists suspected — there is more oil hidden in the pre-salt of Campos.

For the first time in history, an allied nuclear submarine launched and recovered an American drone underwater without surfacing — and the test changes underwater warfare forever.