Delivering the right goods to the right clients at the required time requires paying a lot of attention to details. The task involves monitoring the drivers, choosing the best vehicles in a fleet for transport, and ensuring that the fleet is always in top-performing conditions. A fleet manager has to stay on top of all these for them to consider their work done. Keep in mind that a fleet can have thousands of vehicles, so there has to be someone with some skill, experience, and knowledge to manage the operations. A fleet manager works closely with other fleeting business departments to see some of those operations. We have put together an outline of a fleet manager’s responsibilities and duties to help our readers understand what goes into maintaining a fleet.
Responsibilities and Duties
1. Keeping Records
One of the essential tasks that a fleet manager has is documenting the drivers’ and vehicle operations. Since managers work together with other departments, they may require that the manager also details how resources will be reutilized to ensure the fleet’s performance. In such a scenario, the fleet manager can disburse duties to controllers and superintendents for the sake of efficiency. When the manager wants to install a new system that will improve the way they run things, they will outline what it will take to install that system officially.
2. Scheduling Transportation Including Identifying Convenient Routes
The route that a vehicle in a fleet takes to deliver goods or services determines the amount of fuel and time it will take to get the job done. Managers have to identify convenient routes so that it will improve the way organizational resources get spent. Determining the course before sending a driver off reduces wear and tear on a vehicle, minimizing the company’s amount of money spent on maintenance and repairs. It is important to plan which vehicles will leave to deliver goods to prevent glitches in the system. Some managers opt to install software like the ones we have to help them with scheduling.
3. Fleet Maintenance
Managers have to ensure that all the vehicles in their fleet are in top-performing condition. It requires regular servicing and checkups on the vehicles. This move is essential to ensure that the drivers don’t have a hard time on the road when cars break down and for their safety. Often, managers can use software to update the scheduled preventive repairs on time. Such programs also notify them when they have missed a scheduled repair for the vehicles in their fleet.
4. Recruiting Personnel
Managers have the task of identifying potential employees, especially drivers. Often, they have to arrange interviews to identify skilled drivers who will fit in their fleet. The managers cannot afford to miss critical details required as required by the law when employing drivers. They utilize advertisements for such jobs and then wait for people to reply to them with questions.
5. Registration and Licensing of Fleet Vehicles
As long as a vehicle is functioning within a fleet, it is up to the manager to ensure that it has appropriate documentation and tags required by law. It is vital to ensure that every vehicle in a fleet identifies with the company so that authorities on the road do not flag it down, which could cause delivery delays. When it comes to registrations, managers decide if a vehicle belongs to their fleet or should get reassigned.
6. Monitoring Fuel Usage
In most fleeting companies, fuel management is the thing that determines if the company will grow or not. No company wants to spend the largest part of its profits on fuel. Therefore, managers utilize Fuel Cards to keep tabs on the amount of fuel consumed in 24 hours. Fleet managers may also use comparison tools like iCompario when selecting the most suitable fuel card for their fleets. They may combine Fuel Cards’ use with changing routes and upgrading their fleet to help with fuel management.
7. Planning Vehicle Purchase and Leasing
Once in a while, the manager may have to upgrade or additions to the fleet to ensure that organizations make more profit. They have to draw up plans and projections to explain why they should approve additions to the fleet. They can also recommend leasing instead of purchasing new vehicles, depending on the way things look on the ground.
8. Staff Training
Sometimes state laws change, which may require managers to encourage the drivers to update their skills. Sometimes, when they add upgrades to their fleets, managers may have to train drivers on using some of the systems installed in those vehicles. Updating the drivers is essential to ensure that an organization achieves intended profits. Managers also update the drivers on any company changes that could affect their work to know how to adjust accordingly.
9. Reviewing Staff Performance
In big fleets, the heads of organizations can’t monitor the performance of the drivers. Therefore, managers have a designation to keep an eye on driver behavior on the road and the amount of time and effort they put into their work. Such moves keep drivers in check to ensure that they deliver goods and services as per company policies to help with profit growth.
10. Employee Retention
Some employees outdo themselves in every organization and do their work with the highest level of determination. Fleeting companies often look into retaining such employees since they contribute significantly to profit growth in the company. Managers are often on the lookout for drivers with such qualities and make changes in their departments to ensure that they are comfortable enough to continue performing.
Tools that Will Help Every Fleet Manager
At GPSTechnologies, they recognize that fleet managers have a lot of work in their hands that requires detailing and attention. They have programs and gadgets such as trackers to help them keep up with the ongoings in their departments’ companies, and they work in line with the size of your fleet to make recommendations.
