Managing Your Commercial Fleet in Strathmore: Tips and Strategies
No matter the size of your commercial fleet, managing it is a challenging job. Managers are often responsible for balancing reducing costs, decreasing liability, and increasing safety, and efficiency. It is no easy task so don’t be intimidated if you are new to fleet management, or if you want to optimize an old fleet. These are some top tips for Strathmore commercial fleet management to help you organize your fleet.
Don’t forget to register!
Commercial Fleet Registration in Strathmore is a must for any legitimate business. Our GoldKey registry offers a fleet program that is permanent within the province. You must have at least 10 commercial vehicles registered in the fleet to be eligible.
The registration system automatically sets you up to renew annually on an annual basis. This expiry date is December 31 regardless of your last name or corporate name. You have the option to choose whether you want to renew quarterly, semiannually, or annually. All vehicles in the fleet that have an expiry date will be deemed obsolete on the date they are set.
Remember that registrations less than one quarter (3-month terms) cannot be released. A full month will include a portion (15 calendar days) of the month.
Hire a fleet manager
You should hire a fleet manager if you have more than 12 vehicles in your fleet and are growing. A fleet manager oversees logistics and ensures that your fleet is ready for work.
They ensure your assets are financially and operationally efficient by closely monitoring their performance.
You will need someone to manage all of the assets. Fleet managers are available to help with the management of fleet vehicle maintenance, overseeing the operation costs, how to manage the purchase of your vehicle, maintaining a close eye on vehicles’ regular inspections, and monitoring driver performance.
Use management software
Your business must ensure that vehicles are on the road and expenses are under control. Small business fleets using outdated tracking methods such as paper and spreadsheets can find it difficult to keep track of their vehicles.
Fleet managers often get too caught up in manual data entry to effectively track and manage their assets. Data entry and combing through spreadsheets can be a waste of time when you are busy managing all aspects of your fleet. Many small businesses are turning to fleet management software to ease these burdens.
Fleet management software provides the best way to automate fleet processes and streamline data. Automated processes can be created using data from your fleet from inspections, maintenance, costs, and utilization. This will allow you to save time and focus on improving your fleet.
Automating workflows so that all fleet data is uploaded to a central software increases asset health, operator productivity, and overall efficiency of your fleet.
Offer training courses for drivers
Most road accidents are caused by unsafe driving behavior. Poor driving habits can not only affect the safety of other drivers but also lead to increased costs for insurance, vehicle repairs, fines, and property damage.
Implementing a driver training program that promotes driver safety is essential to avoid these situations.
Driver coaching can be a great way for drivers to get rid of bad driving habits. Driver coaching technology provides drivers with real clips from the camera that show what happened when they drove in unsafe conditions.
This is a great way to encourage your drivers to be more aware and improve their work habits so they can perform their duties as safely as possible.
Keep the vehicles clean
Cleanliness is key to your vehicle fleet not only to help keep your vehicles in good shape, which is particularly important if you have to return them to a leasing agency at the end of the agreement, but it also helps your business present a professional image to potential and current customers.
Perform regular vehicle maintenance
Downtime and repairs can slow down your business’ growth and cost you your business. Preventative maintenance can reduce the chance of major repairs. This will also be a benefit for your drivers. Vehicle issues will make it less likely for drivers to get in an accident or break down.
Don’t neglect insurance!
Insurance is not just a legal requirement. It’s also crucial in protecting you against unexpected expenses. One example would be the theft or vandalism of a vehicle. However, choosing the right commercial car insurance is not as easy as selecting insurance for your car.
You will likely need a policy for the entire company that allows all employees to drive all cars. There is also a business use category that you will need to add.
You should already have business and public insurance. This insurance is a great place to start when you are looking for vehicle insurance quotes.