Building a successful business that has a fleet of vehicles can be challenging. It requires keeping track of the vehicles and their drivers, maintaining accurate maintenance schedules and records, staying on top of fuel use and costs and many other tasks. Many people attempt to handle all of these tasks manually. While it is possible to do it, it can be very time consuming, labor intensive and difficult to do it accurately. Fortunately, there is software that can be used to get better, faster, more accurate results. It's called Fleet Management Software and it can make a dramatic difference for businesses.
Fleet management software can help make vehicle tracking and maintenance, fuel management, driver safety monitoring and myriad other tasks relating to managing a fleet of vehicles much easier and more accurate.
What is Fleet Management Software?
Fleet management software is a type of computer software which helps users accomplish a wide range of specific tasks necessary for the management of all aspects of a fleet of vehicles which is operated by a company or organisation. The software monitors all the specific tasks required to successfully manage a fleet of vehicles. It can help with all operations from the acquisition of vehicles, their use, maintenance, fueling to their disposal. This helps to present a clear picture of how cost-effective each vehicle in the fleet, and the fleet in general, is in its operation.
Some of the functions fleet management software handles include monitoring, gathering, storing, processing, creating reports, as well as exporting information on a fleet of vehicles. The information can be gathered from sources like drivers' logs, gas pump processors, vehicle registration authorities, automotive repair shops, insurance companies, human resources and finance departments and more. Fleet management software can gather information on the routes vehicles take, the mileage travelled, tasks they completed, hours used and the income generated.
What Are the Benefits of Fleet Management Software?
Businesses and organizations can derive many benefits from employing fleet management software. It can help to create more affordable fleet management, keep vehicle maintenance on an optimal schedule, help improve fuel economy, monitor and improve driver and vehicle productivity, improve driver safety and combat fraud and theft. Fleet management software can also improve the level of efficiency and effectiveness of the fleet while saving time, money and man hours. The software also generates regular reports that are easy to read, understand and use to get better results from your fleet.
Other benefits of using fleet management software include its versatility. The software can be used to monitor cars, light duty vehicles or heavy duty trucks and other forms of transportation and driver performance. This gives businesses and organizations easy access to the accurate and timely information they need to make good fleet management decisions. Plus, fleet management software is affordable, provides help with analyzing systems and can be loaded to a company's computers in a matter of minutes. It can also help to keep the entire fleet running longer with less downtime.
Popular Fleet Management Software
There are a number of excellent, affordable brands of fleet management software on the market today. The following are a few examples.
Samsara Fleet Management Software
This cloud-based fleet management software system provides a list of very helpful features. They include GPS tracking, dashboard cameras, trailer tracking, routing and dispatch information and more. It's software designed for small and midsize companies. It helps fleet business operators to track the physical location of each vehicle in their fleet, monitor the activities and behavior of their drivers and ensure they are ELD and FMCSA regulations complaint. The GPS device offers real-time traffic updates, plus they show the drivers the best available route. The software gathers data on unnecessary stops, hours of service, vehicle performance, fuel usage and breakdowns.
Verizon Connect Reveal Software
This cloud-based fleet management system is ideal for most small and mid-sized companies. Lets users view all their vehicles on a map. The software automatically detects vehicle misuse like harsh braking and hard corning. It sends dispatchers and supervisors real-time push alerts when dangerous driver behavior is detected. It also offers a dynamic map view identifying the location of each vehicle. This enables dispatchers to give customers accurate arrival times. Drivers can use a smartphone to receive assignments, track their performance metrics and receive turn-by-turn navigation.
Silent Passenger Software
A cloud-based fleet management software, Silent Passenger allows companies to track and manage their fleet of vehicles. Designed for businesses of all sizes, it is commonly used by businesses involved in delivery, utilities, construction and field service. The software employs built-in Google Maps functionality to enable users to pinpoint the exact location of every vehicle in their fleet in real-time simultaneously using split screen views. It also maintains records on fleet maintenance, driver activity, fuel consumption and budgets.