There are so many things to consider when starting a new fleet operation for your business. Along with the thrill of having vehicles to help mobilise the service and goods your company offers, it is a huge responsibility, with new tasks to monitor on a continual basis. Read our beginner’s guide below:
Leasing vs buying
Once you’ve selected the right model for your cars, the next step is thinking about how you are going to pay for them and whether these are additional assets you wish to add to your company’s books.
The benefit of buying cars outright is that you have the flexibility to sell them should the occasion arise – in a sense you’re investing in assets that you can use further down the line, and this is something useful if your business is brand new.
The downside of purchasing vehicles outright is that they may decrease in value over time, and you will also have to consider taking on additional costs, such as maintenance.
Fleet management software and tracking
One thing that will become second nature as you become accustomed to running your fleet is logging data, and lots of it. You’ll need to run reports on everything from driver downtime to health and safety checks for each car, as well as garage details and driver incidents. Having an efficient, centralised system will really help.
Software packages to invest in include Fleet Outlook, which works in tandem with Microsoft Outlook, RAC Software Solutions, Drive Software Solutions and Bynx.
Fuel efficiency
Running fuel for multiple vehicles can prove expensive, so it’s worth putting measures in place as early as possible to ensure that you can reduce costs.
When selecting your car, think about opting for greener vehicles – low in CO2 emissions and preferably petrol or electric hybrids – as these engines switch off when not in use. In addition to model selection, it’s worth incentivising and coaching your team to recognise patterns of behaviour that can add to costs – for example, fast starts and the wrong tyre pressure have an impact on the amount of fuel your cars will use.
Fleet managers can play their part by keeping accurate records for areas such as mileage patterns and monitoring individual drivers – this way you can keep an eye on efficiencies over a period of time and spot where fuel can be saved. Another measure you can take is to set a miles per gallon policy so drivers take responsibility for their fuel usage.
Insuring your fleet
Insuring multiple cars can seem like a frightening prospect, but it needn’t be if you find the right package for your business. Fleet insurance gives you room to cover all your vehicles under one policy, even if you have a few different models. The upside of this is that you don’t have to spend time pulling together figures for every vehicle you look after.
You can also reduce the amount of insurance you have to pay by using tracking technology. This technology uses tracking devices to alert the police if one of your fleet cars is stolen. These devices are also invaluable for the day-to-day running of your business as you can keep an eye on the location, direction and speed of your vehicles too.
Maintenance
As with so many aspects of running a small business, it’s easy to wind up in a space where you wear multiple hats – and with fleet it’s no different. When it comes to maintenance, you’ll be manager, repair expert and much more.
Part of running a fleet is making sure that the vehicles your drivers use are fit for purpose and safe to operate. It’s important to schedule regular inspections and train your drivers to stay vigilant so they can recognise damage risks such as tyre pressure and fluid levels.
Needless to say, alongside these routine spot checks you should also ensure that your vehicles are booked in for regular servicing. And it’s worth bearing in mind the time and cost attached to any repair work that may need to be done. Using fleet software to keep up-to-date records of details such as driver journeys and downtime can be a huge help.
Another option you might want to consider – once you have weighed up the cost – is whether or not to outsource servicing and maintenance to a third party company with specialist expertise. However, it’s worth remembering that external teams won’t have the depth of knowledge or insight that you will have on each driver and the nature of the journeys being made.
People management and planning
A huge part of managing a fleet is managing the people who get behind the wheel. As part of this, you’ll need to think about implementing frequent training, even if it’s online. Training your employees can reduce costs – including maintenance and repair – as well as the amount of insurance your company has to pay. Beyond finance, having an up-to-speed workforce helps to foster a more responsible working culture and to weed out bad habits that can put companies and drivers at risk.
Planning your team’s journeys won’t always be possible if your business receives daily requests that see your fleet cars driving out to different areas, but there are plenty of tools available to help you organise your trips and keep costs down.
Running a fleet can take up more time than you may have first anticipated. But if you plan enough of the above in advance – and think about how much of a commitment each area will require in terms of time, resource and finance – then you should have an efficient fleet up and running in no time.
Content on this page is paid for and provided by Kia Fleet sponsor of the Guardian Small Business Network Accessing Expertise hub.
