What is fleet management software?

What is fleet management software?

Fleet management software supports various processes and offers different important functionalities to help companies effectively manage their vehicle fleets.

One primary aim of using Fleet Management software is ensuring the optimum availability of vehicles. There can be many reasons/factors behind (unwanted) downtime:

• Required maintenance;

• Mandatory inspections;

• Damages/faults;

• Failures;

• Etc.

These are all matters that you, as a fleet owner, can influence. At the end of the day, it is your job to manage these issues as efficiently as possible. The use of Fleet Management software gives you an insight into these aspects for each vehicle and, as a result, you can streamline your tasks.

Which measures could you take to expand the availability of your fleet? Fleet Management software can help you with:

• Carrying out multiple tasks simultaneously, e.g. conducting maintenance, inspections and resolving faults.

• Ensuring maintenance is carried out on time, to minimize the risk of downtime.

• Carrying out predictive maintenance, i.e. maintaining your fleet based on the number of miles driven.

Total Cost of Ownership with fleet management software

Using Fleet Management software will give you an insight into the costs incurred and potential savings for your fleet. An important measure in this respect is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This information enables you to make well-founded decisions.

An example of this might be the replacement of vehicles. A few questions that may arise in this context are:

•        When is it best to purchase new vehicles?

•        Is it with choosing to lease?

•        What are the (financial) consequences of delaying the purchase?

These are all questions for you, as fleet owner, and areas where Fleet Management software can provide you with the appropriate information. Also, in Ultimo you can compare the TCO per brand or object type. With fleet management, you are able to make better decisions based on up-to-date information.

How does fleet management software work?

A fleet management software solution comprises various modules which work together to more efficiently manage the maintenance of vehicles and provide a clear overview of the corresponding administration. Here are a few of the most important modules and details of how they work in practice:

Asset management (vehicle registration)

This module holds detailed information about each vehicle in the fleet, e.g. make, model, serial number, purchase date and maintenance history. This helps to maintain the status of vehicles and plan maintenance and servicing.

Periodic maintenance

The maintenance planning module sets up maintenance schedules based on vehicle usage, number of miles and historical data. It automatically generates reminders for planned servicing, thus preventing unexpected downtime due to breakdowns. Regular maintenance reduces the number of unexpected events and breakdowns that affect your vehicles.

Work order management

This module manages work orders for maintenance and repairs. It allows technicians to create, amend and close work orders and tracks the progress and cost of each task. This ensures a structured and efficient work flow.

Inventory management and procurement

Keep a grip on stock and spare parts and set up automatic ordering rules when critical stock levels are reached.

The software also offers support with respect to safety (e.g. incidents). It also takes care of the administrative management of contracts and insurance.

Comprehensive solutions in the context of Business Intelligence help with the drafting of reports and monitoring important KPI's.

Smart integrations to even work more effectively

A Fleet Management system delivers even greater benefits if you integrate it with:

• On-board computers

• Warehouse software

• Accounting software

• ERP systems

• Transport management systems (TMS)

• Journey planning systems