Companies that own vehicles and use them in order to carry out their daily tasks might have different fleet management strategies in order to save money and wisely distribute budgets without compromising the profitability of their business. But surely an important element of the fleet management process is being able to rely on a smart professional in the role of the fleet director.
Given the daily needs of a fleet, whether large or small, a fleet manager is typically expected to organise a team to cope with the fast-pace economy we are currently experiencing—there are many, many tasks a fleet manager needs to deal with. Considering all this, there is surely a range of qualities a fleet manager must have, together with a particular set of technical skills.
In this blog post we are going to describe the technical skills and expertise a fleet director must have in order to ensure success for his business—what are they exactly?
1 - Knowledge of vehicle maintenance
While a fleet director doesn’t necessarily have a background in mechanics, he must be aware of fleet maintenance. And in order to do so he has to be familiar with different types of vehicles and their (evolving) technology. These skills are critical when the time comes to purchase new vehicles or when considering whether to replace the current ones, as factors such as vehicle consumption and features like cruise control or ABS might have an impact on fleet costs.
2 - Knowledge of fleet management software
Telematics is no longer a technical upgrade that some directors might wish to have for vague reasons, but actually something they need to actively engage with. Understanding the fundamental principles, establishing the metrics that need to be measured, being able to monitor KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are some of the skills fleet managers need to acquire when using fleet management software. There might even be different tools and software that are connected through an API (Application Program Interface) together with your fleet management solution, or you could have access via a different platform or software installed in your computer. Dispatching orders, field service, tachograph control: these days a fleet director must be fluent enough with the technology in order to control all of them. The days of pen and paper are long gone…
3 - Legal, HR, compliance
Part of fleet manager’s responsibilities include knowing what is needed in order to maintain legal compliance and how to operate without the prospect of unpleasant surprises, such as sanctions cropping up, because the correct rules and legislation have not been applied.
Not only should health and safety at work be guaranteed, but also compliance with working times, adequate logbooks maintained, vehicles MOT’d, drivers checked to ensure they are in possession of the adequate licences and certifications and so on.
To learn more, see our blog post: 3 more things that fleet directors need to look at to be fleet rock stars.
