When you have a startup, your fleet might be one of your biggest investments, so you will want to make sure you are caring for it as best as you can. Having a fleet can be a fast-paced, exciting experience, although it has its challenges. Often, the amount of profit you bring in is based on what you can deliver, and that will depend on the fleet.
There are several ways startups can improve their fleet management.
Ensuring Safety.
Ensure that you focus on helping drivers be more proactive. That way, you can reduce the likelihood of injuries or accidents. Plus, you will have lower fleet costs since accidents can cost money. Your employees are one of your most important assets since they represent the organization. If a driver isn’t trained correctly, they can make more mistakes. Having an untrained driver is a liability since they might not be a good driver. The right training program can make a difference since it can improve your fleet.
One way of being proactive is to choose a vehicle camera system for the fleet. This allows you to monitor both the drivers and vehicles. This can provide a better level of accountability. If you are thinking of getting this system for your vehicles, you can review a guide on how to choose the right vehicle camera system.
Another part of safety involves checking the vehicles often to look for issues that you might need to address. This is something that drivers can do before they go out or at the start of each shift. Train them on how to inspect vehicles and come up with a checklist to go through. They can identify any issues before they worsen. There are plenty of such checklist for startups online. You can use them as a starting point and then customize them so they fit your business’s individual needs.
Tracking Your Vehicles.
It’s important to track your fleet – by using Bluetooth GPS asset tracking devices, for example – so you can understand where your drivers are at all times. You can then use this to improve the logistics and pick better routes. Plus, you can give more accurate estimated times of arrivals. By using trackers, you can stay more in control of the vehicles and evaluate each driver’s abilities. Tracking also provides essential data when it comes to deciding on a fuel card for business, for example.
As one way to build an empowered workforce you can reward good driving and penalize things that they are not doing well. Or you can offer training in areas that need improvement. Software will also help with the tracking of trucks or cars your startup uses. They can help you improve business operations since they reduce the amount of time it takes to input data.
Doing Maintenance.
Maintaining the fleet and fixing issues before they happen can help your fleet be more efficient. This reduces downtime, allowing the drivers to be out as much as possible. When you spend a bit more money now taking care of the vehicles, they will be much less likely to break down. Plus, they will not use as much fuel, allowing them to get further on the road before the next fill up. Doing the recommended things on your fleet now can save you from needing to replace them in the future.
