Is Your Fleet Bringing You The Results You Deserve?
When you run your own business, you are the master of your own destiny. No longer must you labor under the yoke of wage slavery and corporate oppression.
No longer are you at the mercy of an economy that conspires to keep your wages low to insulate the profit margins of the corporation that employs you.
You’re free to walk your own path
Entrepreneurship is a gift, and it’s one that all business owners are keen not to squander. They invest heavily in maintaining the integrity of their brand.
They work tirelessly to ensure that their standards are upheld and that their clients can continue to enjoy the standard of service that they have come to expect.
Take control of your fleet
In a physical workplace like an office or a store, this is easy to manage. Not only can you see and hear your employees going about their duties, from your office you have access to the quantitative data that tells you whether or not their efforts are steering the ship in the right direction.
When you have a fleet, however, it’s a little harder to manage. It can be tricky to ensure that your fleet are out there, doing their job in the most effective and efficient way possible. What’s more, you can’t be completely sure that your drivers are behaving in a way that is properly representative of the brand you’ve worked so hard to create.
The good news is that there are a multitude of ways in which you can exert control over your fleet and ensure efficiency and quality while making their jobs easier and rewarding their hard work.
Use fuel cards to keep your overheads down and efficiency up!
If you’re sending your drivers out with company credit cards to pay for their fuel, this may be a perfectly adequate solution… But it’s neither the most efficient nor the most cost-effective option.
Instead, consider using a Nationwide fleet fuel gas card. With no annual card fees, no minimum purchase and a variety of credit terms it’s a highly cost effective option. What’s more, driver purchases are limited to fuel so you don’t have to trawl through receipts deducting the costs of their drinks and snacks.
Plus it allows your drivers to gas up at 98% of retail stations across the country so that they don’t need to waste time trying to find an appropriate station. Fuel cards are a great tool not just for keeping overhead costs manageable but for driving (pun intended) fleet efficiency.
Use the right telematics solutions
There was a time when fleet managers needed to stay in near constant radio contact with their fleet to manage their efficiency. Thank goodness we live in the digital age!
The right telematics solutions are an essential means of keeping a watchful eye on your fleet. It helps you to manage your schedule efficiently while also keeping your drivers up to date with the latest accident news so that they can pre-empt any disruptions to their schedule. This means that your drivers spend less time stuck in traffic and more time making you money!
If you’re a smaller operation, you may think that a telematics system is either beyond your budget or surplus to your needs. But don’t let your diminutive size fool you into thinking that you don’t deserve the great results that the right telematics can give you.
While many telematics systems on the market are geared towards larger fleet management companies with different logistical needs, there are downscaled solutions which can be extremely helpful to smaller outfits.
If you’re keen to keep overhead costs down you’ll be delighted to find that there are numerous inexpensive (and even free) mobile telematics apps which your fleet can install on their smartphones or devices.
In an era of widespread mobile data connectivity it may just be the perfect choice for the cost conscious fleet!
Harness the power of training and accountability
You’ve gone to great efforts to hire the right employees. But while you may have one of the most diligent and conscientious workforce in the business, a great entrepreneur never leaves anything to chance.
On the road, away from the boss watchful eye, even the most diligent driver can relax their standards… Perhaps not enough to bring your business into disrepute, but enough to leave some nagging doubt in your mind that you’ll be getting less than 100% from them on the road.
Whether in an office environment or on the road, training is the most effective way for business owners to assert and maintain their standards.
Where many fall down is in their failure to adopt training as an ongoing process rather than a one-and-done exercise carried out upon employee induction.
While it can be disruptive, taking the time to impart new skills and refresh old ones should be a priority. It is a perfect way of reminding your team of the standards that they are expected to uphold and to ensure ongoing operational excellence.
Holding your drivers accountable
Drivers must also be accountable while on the road. They should be aware of their professional duties whether it’s in the routine maintenance or care of their vehicle or their driving style on the road. Accountability can be baked into the crust of your operation in a number of ways from “how’s my driving” stickers on the bumpers of your vehicles to the installation of dash cams.
The latter is an extremely affordable and effective way of monitoring driver activity. It is also protecting them if their vehicle is involved in a collision. Especially if it’s caused by the negligence of another road user.
Likewise, implementing a driver excess scheme can protect the business from risk. This can also giving drivers a greater sense of accountability for their driving. Some businesses implement a system of scaled excess. This is where the employee contributes more the more times they are involved in a collision.
Rethink your incentives
Finally, if your incentives scheme rewards your fleet solely for their speed, you might get complaints from other drivers. Don’t be surprised if your drivers sacrifice their etiquette. If it means getting to their destination ahead of time it could mean worse driving.
Instead, opt for an incentives scheme that rewards careful driving. This will help observe proper protocols and give your brand the representation that it deserves on the road!
Celebrate what you want to duplicate. Don’t set obscure standards that place emphasis on the wrong priories.
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