If You’re Going To Be Managing A Fleet, What Do You Need To Remember?

If you are going to be managing a fleet, then there are certain things that you need to do and need to remember. It is quite a big role to take on, and as such you have got to be someone who thinks that they can manage multiple things at the same time. It can get pretty hectic, so you need to be able to remain calm in the face of a lot of stress. If this sounds like you, then we’re going to be taking a look at some of the things you are going to need to remember when you’re managing a fleet.

Keep reading if you would like to find out more.

Communicate With The Drivers

The first thing that you must always remember to do is communicate with the drivers. When someone is driving a car that belongs to the fleet, you need to know where they are going at all times, and then you need to communicate with them when they get back. You need to know how many miles were covered, if there was any fuel put into the car and a number of other things. Of course, it’s their job to give you all of this information anyway, but you need to be asking for it if they aren’t coming to you when they get back.

If a job is taking longer than it was supposed to, you can call the driver to find out where they are up to and what is going on. See if they can give you an estimated completion time of the job they are on at the moment, so that you can start planning around this.

Get The Fleet Vehicles Regularly Checked

You also need to ensure that you are getting the fleet vehicles regularly checked out and serviced. The last thing that you want is for any of the vehicles in your fleet to be out of action for longer than a few hours without any kind of prior notice. For example, if you book a vehicle in for a service then you know that this might end up taking most of the day, and you can then plan that day around the fact that you don’t have that vehicle available to you. However, if it just breaks down randomly and it needs fixing, this can cause you a lot more issues. You minimize the risk of this happening if you ensure that all vehicles in your fleet are regularly checked.

If your vehicle does break down though and you need to get it sorted, you can look at a company like M&L Truck Service. Choosing experts is always the best way forward, as you will be able to let the vehicle go, knowing that it is going to come back fixed after having been looked at by some of the best.

Keep Everything Organized

If you are going to successfully manage a fleet, you need to make sure that everything is organized at all times. You need to know where the vehicles are, you need to know what job they are completing, you need to know who is driving, you need to know when they are due back and so much more. The more information that you have, the more you can stay organized,  and the less stress you are going to have to experience completing this job.

Being organized allows things to keep working efficiently. If driving is the main part of the business, then this is even more important than it was before. You can’t provide a stellar service if you don’t even know where half of the vehicles in the fleet are, or what they are doing. Colour code things if you need to, but you have got to keep everything about the fleet organized as much as possible.

Be Authoritative

Any time you are managing something, you have got to be authoritative. It is essential that people realize that you are the one in charge, and if you say that something has got to be done, or something is getting done, then that is what is going to happen. You can’t have people questioning what you are saying all the time, and you can’t have employees thinking that they can just go off and do whatever they want because you’re not going to say anything.

Make sure that when it’s needed, you are able to put your foot down and say no. Reprimand people if this is necessary, because you need to do whatever you can to show them that you are not messing around.

Check The Money Constantly

The final thing that you are going to need to think about is checking that the money is adding up.

It might be the case that the business pays for the fuel that goes into the vehicles, and you need to make sure that the drivers are handing you receipts for these.

If they are using their own vehicle, ensure that they know that without the receipt, you are not paying. It’s essential that you have these for records.

You also need to make sure that the cost of running the fleet is in line with the budget that you have. If it’s not, then you are going to need to find ways to try and bring the money you are spending down.

Of course, it might not always be possible and the budget might just need to stretch that little bit further, but if there are cuts that you can make, give it a try.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you are going to need to remember if you are going to be managing a fleet. It’s not the most difficult job in the world, but it can get complicated if you fall behind and don’t stay organized like we have said to. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope that you find all of this helpful to managing your fleet.