DEFINITION:

Fleet Management is a function which allows companies which rely on transportation in business to remove or minimize the risks associated with vehicle investment, improving efficiency, productivity and reducing their overall transportation and staff costs, providing 100% compliance with government legislation (duty of care) and many more.

In today’s modern world, fleets can come in many different shapes and sizes. Technically speaking, both a large, nationally-operating trucking company and a small, locally-operating delivery company are considered fleets.

So if you fall into either of these categories or anywhere in between, you’ve got a fleet to run.

At its core, fleet management covers the practices of overseeing, organizing, and recording all aspects of a company’s fleet.

It is the service function that oversees, coordinates and facilitates various transport and transport related activities.

These managerial duties might include, but aren’t limited to establishing regular vehicle maintenance schedules, establishing cost-saving measures, and implementing new driver training programs.

Fleet Management assets will typically cover heavy duty vehicles involved in the movement of goods; the management of light vehicle fleets used in the transportation of people and light cargo and possibly other equipment such as warehouse and terminal handling equipment.

Fleet management underpins and supports transport related activities either as a standalone business or ancillary unit in a company through the management of the assets that are used.

In Nigeria where road haulage remains the most vibrant and prominent transportation system, accounting for over 90% of the movement of goods and materials and arguably ranking as the 3rd highest employer of labour after agriculture and manufacturing, we MUST indeed discuss Fleet Management.

EFFECTIVE FLEET MANAGEMENT

 

Effective fleet management aims at reducing and minimizing overall costs through maximum, cost effective utilization of resources such as manpower, vehicles, fuel, spare parts.

 

An interaction between two forces……

Asset Management Process                 =       Cost-Effective Fleet Performance

 

Enterprise Management Process        =      Cost-Effective Fleet Management

 

ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES THAT AFFECT FLEET MANAGEMENT PRACTICES:

• Budgeting
• Finance and Accounting
• Asset Management
• Procurement and Supplier Management
• Human Resources Management
• Information Technology Management
• Risk Management
• Facility Management

QUESTIONS THAT PAINTS VIVID PICTURES OF FLEET MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN YOUR ORGANIZATION

• Do we have a designated fleet manager?
• If not, who manages the fleet?
• Where did they acquire their fleet management expertise?
• What else do they manage (if anything)?
• Do we have a fleet capital and/or operating budget?
• Documented fleet management policies and procedures?
• A fleet management information system?
• Fleet cost and performance measures and reports?
• Do we have the right number of vehicles and pieces of equipment in our fleet?

More questions…….

• Is this number growing? Shrinking?
• Do we have the right types of vehicles?
• Is our fleet reliable?
• Is our fleet safe?
• Do our fleet management and operating activities comply with all applicable regulations?
• How much do we spend on our fleet?
• Are these expenditures increasing or decreasing?
• Are they reasonable?
• Who is accountable for them?
• Can we reduce them?
• Which ones? How?
• How would cost reductions affect fleet performance?
• Customer service?

WHAT ARE THOSE FUNCTIONS THAT CONSTITUTE THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF FLEET MANAGEMENT

• Vehicle Allocation
• Vehicle Acquisition and Disposal
• Vehicle Operation Management
• Vehicle Utilization Management
• Vehicle Maintenance and Repair
• Fleet Maintenance Services Supplier Management
• Fleet Maintenance Parts Provisioning
• Fleet Fuelling
• Fleet Replacement
• Fleet Management Personnel Management
• Fleet Facility and Equipment Management
• Fleet Information Management
• Fleet Customer Relationship Management
• Fleet Financial Management

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