Any fleet, regardless of size, must be maintained for any business to expand successfully. It is logical to consider fleet management software to ensure your business runs smoothly and effectively. After all, productivity growth is the main advantage of fleet management investments.
Fleet managers have a variety of responsibilities, including developing management strategies, monitoring repairs, fuel consumption, maintenance costs, insurance, claims, etc. It’s crucial to keep developing and upgrading to the newest technology to ensure that the company keeps expanding over time. It makes sense to use fleet management to keep up with the industry’s swiftly changing pace and save time and money, which boosts business profit.
Fleet management solutions are crucial for businesses that use fleets. This fact should not be understated. These solutions can assist companies with various problems and duties related to fleet management. Many businesses undervalue fleet management to cut costs, but in the long run, the fleets cost the businesses more money than was initially saved.
What is a Fleet Management System?
Fleet management software is an essential central database that aids fleet managers in managing, planning, and coordinating the use of vehicles.
The software can be integrated with additional third-party tools, including fuel cards, accounting, and maintenance providers. It helps to track vehicle diagnostics, driver behaviors, maintenance requirements, fuel expenditure, and more when connected to sensors, GPS, and telematics devices. Here are a few of the features of fleet management software:
- Accounting: Keeping track of and checking expenses to spot fraud and control budgets
- Fuel Consumption: Vehicle sensors can detect excessive idling to cut down on excessive fuel consumption.
- Maintenance: The software can send service reminders and keep track of previous maintenance tasks.
- Real-Time Alerts: In-Cab alerts can inform drivers of risky driving practices
- Hours Tracking: With built-in electronic logging devices (ELDs), drivers can adhere to the hours-of-service regulations.
- Security: Managers have the ability to locate vehicles and determine whether they were driven after hours.
Why Do Businesses Use Fleet Management Software?
Wide-ranging advantages of fleet management software include improved driver behavior, cost analysis, and real-time visibility into fleet location and performance. By providing insight into vehicle performance and efficiency, modern fleet management software goes beyond simple location tracking and presents data in a way that businesses can easily understand.
Fleet management software can assist you in obtaining unbiased data on driver safety, highlighting risky behaviors like speeding or abrupt braking, and identifying drivers who require additional coaching. Additionally essential is maintaining your fleet’s compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, particularly ELD, DVIR, and IFTA.
The use of preventative maintenance schedules by fleet managers can help them make the most of their assets. This is made possible by technology. Additionally, many businesses use mobile apps that allow for instant data access and transfer, which helps them quickly spot issues that might have gone unnoticed or developed into bigger issues.
What are the Key Features of Fleet Management Software?
Fleet managers should always purchase a cloud-based fleet management system. By storing data in the cloud, information is always available from any computer or mobile device with an active Internet connection.
When switching fleet management software or purchasing for the first time, a business should focus on the following key features:
- Fees and costs: Free trials or inexpensive starter plans for fleet management software received more praise than more expensive options. Additionally, those who offered full feature sets on lower tiers were favored more than those who saved their feature sets for the top tier.
- General attributes: The best fleet management software should have certain features like real-time location tracking, service history tracking, and document management. Additionally, those that provide dispatching, route tracking, and maintenance alerts received higher ratings.
- Ease of use: Because it’s less likely that you’ll use the software if you can’t quickly learn how to use it, you should also consider each fleet management software solution’s learning curve. Hardware installation should be simple to complete on your own or be covered by your plan.
- Customer service: Finally, take into account the feedback received from current users of each fleet management program. Software providers with round-the-clock support received higher ratings as well.
Best Fleet Management Software
Our top picks for fleet management software provide your company with the required fleet intelligence. The features you require to keep your costs low, and your revenue high is present in many of our top picks and is easily customizable. Many also provide smartphone fleet tracker apps. Regardless of the fleet tracking system you select, you will get the real-time visibility you require to maintain the efficiency of your operation and the condition of your fleet. Some of the choicest fleet management software are mentioned below.
1. Rhino Fleet Tracking
In order to help businesses grow their revenue, Rhino Fleet Tracking offers reasonably priced fleet tracking equipment and services. Businesses can easily monitor vehicles and equipment with the help of their fleet and asset tracking solution, which offers real-time fleet tracking. Additionally, it allows for better communication between drivers, managers, and employees, which boosts productivity and maintains a high level of security.
Exciting Features:
- Complete all orders within the allotted time
- Keep tabs on your fleet and drivers using a computer, tablet, or phone.
- Thorough field reporting
- Stop times are measured and reported
- Fleet data is displayed in a single location on the fleet tracker dashboard.
2. TruckLogistics
Designed for small and midsize less-than-truckload (LTL) and full truckload (FTL) fleet operations, TruckLogics is a cloud-based fleet management solution. Dispatch, route planning and optimization, freight brokerage, rates, and quote management, compliance management, load optimization, and fleet maintenance are among the common fleet management applications offered by TruckLogics.
It supports international shipping and includes modules for barcoding, fuel reporting, and inventory tracking. Users of TruckLogics can track historical vehicle information as well as fuel records. The cost of TruckLogics is a monthly subscription based on how many trucks are in the user’s fleet. 24*7 support is available over the phone, via email, and by live chat.
Exciting Features:
- View moving vehicles turn by turn
- Alerts for excessive speeding, sudden braking, a sharp acceleration, engine idling, nighttime driving, and more
- 100% web-based fleet tracker solution
- Alerts for vehicle maintenance based on the number of days or miles driven
3. Fleetio
Fleetio is a cutting-edge, web-based fleet management platform that makes it easy to control and track machinery from any location. Regardless of what your fleet size is, this software solution makes tracking, analyzing, and improving fleet operations more manageable. With built-in automation and a mobile-first design, Fleetio provides an all-in-one fleet management solution for fleets of all sizes.
Exciting Features:
- Software designed to facilitate integrations
- Fleetio releases software updates in rapid iterations.
- Focusing on mobile devices for fleet tracking
4. Geotab
With the aid of Big Data, Geotab, an award-winning provider of secure open platform telematics technology, assists fleet managers in enhancing compliance, productivity, and driver safety. It is a web-based fleet management tool that collects information on drivers and vehicles in one location to help users make better business decisions.
Exciting Features:
- Capable of scaling for all fleet sizes
- Dependable instruments for creating fresh chances for expansion and financial savings
- Reduces the complexity of data collection and turns it into information that businesses can use to make decisions.
- To help fleet managers measure events in five key areas—productivity, safety, fleet optimization, compliance, and expandability
- Numerous other things include route optimization, engine health and maintenance, robust engine data reporting, advanced reporting, driver behavior management, and GPS vehicle tracking.
5. AUTOsist
AUTOsist is a web-based delivery management tool that aids in fleet management and automates dispatching procedures for delivery companies. Users can use geofencing technology to track the real-time location of on-field personnel and assign tasks to delivery agents based on their schedules.
Reporting, alerts/notifications, scheduling, barcode scanning, booking management, behavior monitoring, and other features are among AUTOsist’s features. The administrative dashboard allows managers to view agent availability and monitor the progress of active orders on a single platform. Additionally, it provides delivery executives with mobile applications for iOS and Android devices so they can access customer information and update task status even when they’re far away.
Exciting Features:
- Real-time fleet visibility
- Ensure that unauthorized use, speeding, and maintenance schedules are under control.
- Boost general effectiveness and output
- Automate reporting via electronic means to do away with time-consuming paperwork.
- To improve customer service, shorten response times, provide better ETAs, and demonstrate job completion.
To Sum Up
A fleet management software will help your on-demand logistics business in several ways. The idea has many advantages that can help you advance your company and set yourself apart from your rivals.
The compatibility of the chosen GPS hardware with the fleet tracking software is one of the first things to check. It is crucial to choose hardware and software that, when used together, deliver the required amount of data for the lowest possible price. The size of your fleet is another important factor. The software can be easily scaled to meet even the most demanding enterprise needs, while some programs are designed specifically for small fleets.
Verify how you will handle fleet maintenance as a final suggestion. Since streamlining these activities is essential to running an effective fleet, consideration should be given to which software tools offer the best value. This is the ideal time to adopt this technology if you don’t already have it before it’s too late. The logistics sector is growing quickly; now is the time to take full advantage.
