If you own a business, you know that maintaining your fleet is one of the biggest expenses you can have. These costs can be reduced if you adopt the right strategies for your fleet. While there are many strategies for effective fleet maintenance, the following five represent some of the key benefits of using telematics systems in combination with other tools:
1. Get Accurate Vehicle Data
Accurate vehicle data is essential for maintenance planning. If you do not know how many kilometres or hours your vehicle has been driven, it’s difficult to estimate when maintenance is needed, which can lead to unexpected breakdowns. Telematics systems provide real-time data on every aspect of vehicle performance. Fleet managers can use this information to keep vehicles running efficiently while monitoring idling and engine diagnostics to predict when maintenance is needed.
2. Monitor Idling and Aggressive Driving
No one likes a driver who speeds, especially not fleet maintenance managers. Idling and aggressive driving consume valuable fuel and can also lead to accidents. You can set specific speed and idling limits so your drivers know what is expected of them. You can also give them incentives for good driving behaviour and safe driving habits. With real-time tracking GPS and motion sensors that detect unsafe braking, cornering and acceleration, telematics systems can help identify drivers who are behaving riskily or inefficiently.
Additionally, safety devices such as commercial dash cameras from CameraMatics can help reduce risks by utilizing connected cameras, AI & telematics to prevent accidents and identify potential safety and performance issues. Managers can use this information to reward safe drivers and correct unsafe drivers.
3. Analyse Your Fleet’s Driver Behaviour
Are your drivers following best practices? Are they taking care of their vehicles? And are they operating them in a fuel-efficient manner? The answers to these questions can help minimise maintenance costs. Behavioural analysis will help you identify risky driving habits such as heavy acceleration and hard braking, which should be avoided at all costs as they waste fuel and cause excessive wear and tear on various components such as tyres and brakes. Drivers who adhere to safe driving practices help to significantly reduce repair costs by keeping wear and tear to a minimum.
4. Set the Standard for Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance allows you to schedule repairs and other maintenance in advance so you do not have problems with your vehicles when they are needed most. You should set benchmarks for each vehicle in your fleet based on how many kilometres or how much time has passed since the last oil change, tyre rotation or other maintenance. Once these benchmarks are reached, you should take the vehicles to the workshop for the required maintenance so that they do not have to be taken out of service at peak times.
5. Incentivise Better Driving Habits
Driving habits can have a significant impact on fuel efficiency and the overall condition of a vehicle. Drivers who regularly idle or drive aggressively use more fuel and wear out their vehicles faster than others, but you can create incentives to encourage better habits. For example, you could set up a points system that rewards drivers who use less fuel or avoid aggressive driving manoeuvres such as heavy acceleration and braking.
Fleet maintenance is surprisingly complex given the many variables involved. Keeping an eye on your fleet’s performance can save your company a lot of money in the long run, especially if you collect your data over time. Make sure you keep track of all your fleet’s important data and plan accordingly. Depending on the size of your company’s fleet and its maintenance needs, this can be a big investment. But it’s an investment that will pay off.
With these strategies, you can get a comprehensive view of your vehicles’ performance, identify worn parts before they fail, spot drivers who are affecting the performance of your lorry or bus, incentivise safer driving behaviour and measure the impact of maintenance on fuel consumption.
Want to learn how this technology can increase the efficiency of your fleet maintenance? Discover how Transpoco helps its customers track vehicles, manage fuel consumption, ensure vehicle roadworthiness and much more. Visit our website for more information: https://www.transpoco.com/.
