The fleet management industry is evolving rapidly, with new technology and electrification enabling a continuous stream of fleet vehicle data and communication. Fleet managers must adapt to this changing landscape and make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency, safety, and fleet performance. In this blog, we will discuss the journey from reactive to proactive fleet management and how understanding fleet information is the key to predicting the future of your fleet.
The Four States of Fleet Management Understanding: As a fleet business transitions from legacy technology and outdated methodologies, it typically moves through four discrete states that define how it understands its fleet:
- Past State: Organisations start by understanding their vehicles from a historical perspective, relying on reports from multiple ad hoc systems.
- Present State: As organisations digitise and capture more data in real-time, they move to an active state, but the overwhelming data can cause decision-making to become reactive. This state often results in too much information and communication noise, making it difficult for continuous improvement and questioning the way things are done. Automating mundane tasks is crucial to giving the team time to reflect on important issues.
- Proactive State: As systems become data-rich, integrated, and automated, managers can predict what is likely to happen, allowing organisations to improve and anticipate future problems continuously. However, it is essential only to digitise past processes that benefit procedures and outcomes.
- Future State: The fully operationalised fleet focuses on achieving specific outcomes, using data-driven workflows to drive results without being burdened by legacy practices. With automation handling mundane tasks, managers can focus on making informed decisions, and the team can fully understand the road ahead.
Moving from Reactive to Proactive Fleet Management: Transitioning from a reactive to a proactive fleet management approach requires automating mundane tasks and effectively utilising fleet information. By integrating data into an organisation’s business processes and leveraging predictive analytics, fleet managers can anticipate issues before they manifest and make informed decisions.
Transforming Information into Communication: An effective fleet management solution transforms information into communication. Modern fleet management software enables the analysis of vast amounts of data to uncover insights on improving fuel efficiency, productivity, safety, cost per kilometre, engine hour, and overall operational efficiency. This helps fleet managers identify behaviour patterns, prioritise critical faults, and predict potential issues before they materialise.
Predictive Fleet Management in Action: Predictive fleet management processes can prevent life-threatening situations and costly unscheduled repairs. For instance, one council we worked with had a paper-based system for end-of-day safety checks prone to human error. The council improved accountability and safety awareness by implementing Formbird FLEET, saving time and improving accuracy with GPS and real-time data entry.
The Importance of Great Fleet Information Management Solutions: Fleet information management solutions should be invisible and seamlessly integrated into an organisation’s everyday operations. Such software automates mundane back-office processes, allowing managers to focus on data-supported decision-making and communication. Additionally, excellent fleet software becomes a team’s single source of truth, informing everyone about what has happened, what is happening, and what might happen.
Embracing fleet information as the key to predicting the future of your fleet is essential for proactive fleet management. By integrating data-driven processes, leveraging predictive analytics, and implementing an excellent fleet information management solution, organisations can
