Many commercial establishments have a fleet of vehicles for aiding various business-related processes. Logistics, food, healthcare, manufacturing, and delivery businesses are examples of businesses that are heavily reliant on transportation. Most of these may even have their own fleet.
If you are a business that owns a fleet, then you are aware of the challenges in managing the fleet. Fleet management software can help you in this aspect. It can improve the fleet’s productivity, make it more efficient and secure, and even reduce the costs associated with the fleet.
What To Look For In Your Fleet Management Software
While there is no dearth of fleet management software, all of them are not up to the same standard and do not offer the same set of features. Choosing the right software is key to ensuring that you are reaping all the benefits that a fleet management software promises.
Here are the top 5 points to consider when you are picking the fleet management software.
Match Business Needs With Software Features
Every fleet management software comes with a host of features such as GPS tracking of the fleet, fuel usage tracking, maintenance updates, security cameras, routing and scheduling, and many more. Each of these features serves a specific set of requirements.
Depending on your business, you may or may not need all these features. The cost of the software depends on the features it offers.
You need to find a software that offers all the features you absolutely require while also ensuring that you don’t end up paying for ones that you don’t need. Towards this end, you have to first analyze the needs of your business.
Do you transport frozen foods? Then you need to be able to monitor the reefer temperature.
Are you a logistics business where you may need to update the routes while the vehicle is performing a delivery? Then, the ability to instantly update routes in real-time without calling up the driver is vital.
These are just a few examples of how to evaluate your need to match them to the features offered by fleet management software.
User Training And Customer Service
The software can have great features, but they are not of much use if it is not user-friendly and has a steep learning curve. One cannot assume that the people using the software will be tech-savvy.
Therefore, even if the fleet management software has the most advanced features such as real-time route mapping and scheduling, fuel tracking, real-time speed tracking, best dash cam, etc. these should be extremely easy to use.
The software manufacturer should also provide comprehensive training to all your employees on how to use the software effectively. Apart from the initial on-boarding, continued customer service is another factor to consider.
The manufacturer should respond if some of the functionalities of the software are not performing as they should or if the software throws up an unexpected error. They should also offer continued assistance to those who may need help regarding software usage.
Security Functionalities
There are two aspects that you need to consider while looking at the security functionalities of the fleet management software: data security and vehicle and driver safety.
The software records all the data pertaining to your fleet, drivers, and delivery addresses. All of these are sensitive information. The software must have adequate security to ensure that your data is protected from any threats or leaks.
Data security is of the utmost importance in today’s world. A security breach is all it takes for clients to lose trust in your business. The software must also ensure that the data is backed up and remains available in case of a natural calamity or destruction of property.
Vehicle and driver safety are equally important. While all drivers are briefed and aware of the safe driving practices, some may not follow them diligently. In a rush to reach the destination on time, they may indulge in unsafe driving practices that can endanger their own, as well as the vehicle’s safety.
An AI-enabled dash cam can detect these behaviors and promptly warn the driver as well as the fleet manager. To know how AI dash cams can benefit your business, find out more about truck dash cam enabled with the most cutting edge technology.
Integration Options
Even if you are not currently using a fleet management software, you may be using some other software to track expenses, hours worked by employees, etc. By integrating the fleet management software with the others that you are currently using, you can gain the benefits of both.
The fleet management software records information such as the number of hours that each driver worked in a month, the fuel consumed by each vehicle, and much more.
By integrating the fleet management software with your HR software, the payroll process becomes seamless. Similarly, fuel consumption and maintenance information can be used by accounting software to make projections about the monthly expenditure and revenue.
ELD Compliance
As per the guidelines of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), every commercial driver can only work for a specific number of hours at a stretch. For the sake of compliance, all vehicles are required to have an Electronic Logging Device or ELD that records the Hours of Service or HOS of every driver.
A fleet management system that is also ELD compliant serves two purposes. It offers all the benefits of the fleet management system while ensuring that you are compliant with the ELD mandate of FMCSA without spending anything extra.
It will promptly inform the manager as well as the driver when the driver’s daily HOS is about to get over. The manager can use the HOS information while planning the route or allocating additional trips to the driver.
Therefore, this is a feature that you should look for while selecting a fleet management system for managing commercial vehicles in your business.
Get The Best For Your Business!
The right fleet management software can reduce costs, enhance driver performance, ensure optimum vehicle condition, timely maintenance, compliance, and also offers valuable insights into your business.
The points mentioned above will guide you so that you can find the best fit for your business.
