The responsibility of reducing fleet costs

Fleet vehicles can vital to successful business operations. However, fleet managers are under growing pressure from rising fuel costs, congestion and the need to reduce environmental impact. One of the biggest problems infleet management is cost control. If you’re not disciplined, costs can quickly spiral out of control .

The challenge is to maintain momentum. Since we spend a lot of time speaking with fleet managers and company directors we are aware of the struggles fleet managers face on a day to day basis. This blog post will outline our best advice on reducing fleet costs and how to maintain cost reduction throughout your fleet.

Metrics is more than a buzzword

“What you can’t measure, you can’t manage.”

Tight budgets and high expectations make metrics a crucial part of maintaining a cost-efficient fleet. Some of you might be unaware of what metrics are, yet you subconsciously use them everyday. To be truly effective, the metrics you develop and track need to be part of the everyday management of the fleet. First and foremost, a good metric is measurable.

Consider the following questions:

• What are you doing?
• How well are you doing it?
• How do you know how well you are doing it?
• How can you demonstrate to others how well you are doing it?

Answering the four questions listed above is an excellent starting point when devising metrics, and judging whether they are useful in measuring and achieving optimum efficiency in the way you are running your fleet cars.

You may think you manage a well-run fleet, but how do you really know unless you have objective data to prove it? Metrics allow you to measure how your fleet is doing relative to goals.

Develop powerful metrics

The most powerful metrics are those that directly measure desired business goals such as cost reduction, performance improvement, supplier service consistency, or anything that has numbers associated with it or that can be quantified. When determining the metrics to use,  ask yourself: Could you make your fleet operation cost less? Are your systems and software providing you with useful information? 

We hope you found today’s blog post useful and that it helps you on your way to reducing fleet costs. If you liked today’s blog we’re sure you’ll like our other blogs which are based around fleet management software, fleet management savings, and fleet management advice. If you have any blog ideas, we’d be delighted to hear them. Just leave your suggestions in the comments below.