Everything you need to know about fleet management

What is fleet management?

Any organization that needs commercial vehicles to function engages in some form of fleet operations and fleet management. The purpose of fleet management is to oversee all fleet performance and fleet maintenance in order to increase productivity and help a business run as smoothly as possible.

Fleet managers are in charge of fleet operations and might be tasked with responsibilities that include vehicle maintenance, overseeing fuel consumption and fuel costs, driver management, asset utilization, route planning, and the implementation of any programs that increase company productivity and decrease instances of waste.

Fleet management companies often use vehicle telematics or fleet management software, like Samsara, to increase fleet efficiency and help reduce operational costs.

Public fleets such as governments and schools also use fleet management solutions to improve safety and operational efficiency. Today, public sector agencies use vehicle telematics data to analyze fleet vehicles, vehicle location, service delivery and coverage, driver behavior, community safety, routing, dispatch units, diagnostics and preventative maintenance so that they can optimize their service to their communities and respond to citizens. 

Interested in learning more about how you can improve your fleet operations? Check out this video below, which explores what fleet management is, and how your fleet can control fuel costs with insights into vehicle location and driver behavior.

Watch Video

What does a fleet manager do?

A fleet manager is responsible for a wide range of tasks aimed at ensuring the fleet's efficiency, safety, sustainability, and compliance with regulations. Here's a breakdown of their key responsibilities:

1. Driver safety

A major challenge for fleet companies or any fleet manager is keeping drivers safe. Ensuring safe driver behavior can be difficult, particularly when fleet managers are hundreds of miles away from the moving vehicle. There are helpful tools fleet managers can use—like dash cams or vehicle tracking systems—that provide real-time visibility, streamline coaching to improve driving behaviors, and surface evidence or footage to enhance driver training.

2. Driver retention

Driver shortages are a growing issue in the trucking industry. Stabilizing and increasing driver retention is something fleet managers need to always aim for. By creating mentorship programs, improving workplace conditions, and building stronger trust between driver and manager, fleet managers can ensure drivers are happy at work.

3. Fleet tracking

To ensure driver safety, fleet managers need to know exactly where individual vehicles are at any given time. Although this might seem simple enough, tracking vehicle location can be a challenging feat whether a fleet includes 5 vehicles or 5,000. Fleet managers often rely on GPS technology and other GPS tracking systems to know where their vehicles are and increase visibility into their fleet operations and vehicle safety. 

4. Electronic Logging Device (ELD) compliance

The ELD mandate is a congressional mandate that went into effect December 2017 that requires commercial vehicle operators to record Hours of Service (HOS) electronically. The mandate intends to replace paper logging and reduce instances of dangerous driving caused by fatigued drivers. For fleets that are subject to the mandate, fleet managers must implement ELD compliant systems to ensure they have an accurate recording of drive time.

Increase efficiency, reduce costs

See how our complete telematics solution drives measurable ROI.

5. Total cost reduction

Whether it's fuel management or lowering operating costs, fleet managers are expected to identify and weed out any unnecessary expenses to help create more cost-friendly and efficient fleet operations. Operational, fuel and maintenance costs can quickly add up. Whether it’s implementing fuel efficiency programs to minimize idling, or asset tracking to reduce down time and fleet costs, it's the fleet manager's responsibility to determine cost-saving solutions and help a company increase profitability.

6. Vehicle acquisition

In order to effectively manage a fleet, a fleet manager needs to forecast how many and what type of vehicles a fleet will need in order to operate efficiently. It might seem straightforward to purchase new vehicles when the need arises, but correctly understanding and forecasting fleet vehicle utilization is paramount in correctly determining a purchase strategy. Employee eligibility for a vehicle class, vehicle lifecycle, and even market timing are all significant factors that contribute to a sound vehicle acquisition strategy. Fleet managers can use fleet data from their telematics system to improve decision-making for vehicle acquisition. 

7. Vehicle maintenance

It’s critical for fleet managers to ensure their vehicles are operating in top condition to minimize downtime and ensure operational efficiency. Modern fleet management services offer full visibility into vehicle diagnostics data, enabling fleet managers to take a proactive approach to preventative maintenance. Fleet managers can set notifications for vehicle inspection, receive alerts for routine maintenance schedules, monitor idle time, and access key vehicle usage metrics, enabling them to ensure the operational health of their vehicles and maximize uptime. 

What are the benefits of fleet management?

Managing a fleet of vehicles can be challenging, no matter the fleet size. That's why over 75% of fleet managers rely on fleet management software or vehicle telematics to help support day-to-day operations in at least some of their vehicles, according to data from Government Fleet’s annual benchmarking survey.

Fleet management software can help fleet managers gain real-time visibility into their operations while increasing driver satisfaction and decreasing fuel usage through predictive analytics and accurate reporting.

• Fleet cost reduction: Effective fleet management minimizes expenses through fuel optimization, proactive maintenance, and efficient resource utilization.

• Increased operational efficiency: By leveraging a telematics system, you can experience significant improvements across route optimization, real-time tracking, and vehicle maintenance.

• Enhanced driver safety: Minimize incidents and improve driving behaviors on the road with real-time visibility. 

• Improved compliance: Fleet management systems ensure compliance to evolving regulations, reducing downtime and minimizing fleet costs.

What is the best fleet management software?

Samsara is an AI-powered fleet management system that helps businesses improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of their fleet operations. From transportation and logistics to food production and construction, Samsara’s fleet management system can help you stay compliant and streamline your fleet operations. 

DHL Group, one of the largest logistics companies worldwide, leverages Samsara consolidated seven separate point solutions— dash cams, telematics, compliance, trip management, DVIRs, trailer tracking, and speed monitoring—into one platform. This enabled them to deliver a better operator experience, unlock actionable insights, and vastly improve driver safety and retention. As a result of deploying Samsara across 20 sites, DHL reduced accidents by 26%. They are also partnering with Samsara in their fleet electrification journey, helping support DHL’s ambitious sustainability goals.

“Instead of juggling dozens of different vendors, we now have an integrated, easy-to-use platform,” said Jennifer Miller, Vice President of Integrated Transportation. “That’s why we chose Samsara as the right partner for the future.”

Watch Video

To learn more about fleet management software, check out Samsara’s Platform solution and speak with our team today.