Managing your fleet can be challenging. Between the drivers and their quirks, new safety regulations, maintenance needs, and all the paperwork, you probably feel like you’re drowning in things that never get done on time.
There are several things you can do to become a more effective fleet manager, diminish your stress levels, and help your drivers be more productive.
Know Your Budget
If you’re fleet is small, maybe this isn’t something you’ve thought of. For bigger fleets, maybe you think the budget is someone else’s problem. Once you have your budget defined, watch your spending and find places to cut costs. Consider going green. It isn’t just good for the environment; you’ll save money on fuel and possibly truck maintenance, too.
Make Compliance Your Top Priority
Create and maintain records for every truck in your fleet. Schedule reminders for vehicle maintenance and inspections. Double-check everything. Make sure drivers comply with hours of service and other regulations. Added compliance saves time, money, and hassles when federal regulators start looking for problems.
Be Proactive with Safety
Waiting until the accident happens to add additional safety features is too late. Preach safety to your drivers and give them – and yourself – the tools to stay safe while on the road. Require frequent safety checks and reward your safest drivers while you deal with your unsafe drivers.
Keep Current with the Industry
Join a professional organization, subscribe to newsletters, follow blogs, and keep up with what’s happening in the transportation industry. Instead of constantly reacting to new changes, you’ll have time to adjust, plan, and ask questions of your peers so you’re ready for whatever technology, the FMCSA, or the industry throws at you.
Get the Right Tool for the Job
If the idea of creating and maintaining a budget, staying on top of compliance, and taking care of safety issues before they start is overwhelming, you’re probably imagining doing all of this on paper with file folders and big filing cabinets. You’re thinking old school. What you need is the right tool to get the job done. The Gorilla Safety fleet management system will help you manage your fleet without all the paperwork or hassles.
- You can upload documents – like budgets and safety manuals – so that you have easy access to them.
- You can schedule notifications for maintenance.
- You can see, at a glance, what a truck needs for a service repair and what your maintenance crew thinks.
- If an accident happens, you can even have the information in near real-time.
- Watching the HOS for your drivers? Gorilla Safety functions as an ELD, too.
If you make no other change, at least start working with the right tools. You’ll quickly become more effective and less stressed.