{"id":5300,"date":"2024-03-12T16:03:25","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T21:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.satrack.com\/?p=5300"},"modified":"2024-05-01T11:17:36","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T16:17:36","slug":"small-fleets-management-in-a-big-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/satrack.com\/us\/blog\/small-fleets-management-in-a-big-way\/","title":{"rendered":"How small fleets can leverage data in a big way"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Business owners with small fleets using staff drivers wear many hats and face unique challenges. Adding a fleet management platform frees busy business owners to focus on daily operations while improving fleet efficiency.<\/em><\/p><\/div>

Operating a small business that performs services at a home or jobsite comes with challenges. Company owners and operators have a business to run, customers to service, employees to supervise, and a fleet of vehicles to manage.<\/p>

They juggle countless tasks and manage many moving parts, including monitoring and scheduling vehicle maintenance, improving driving behaviors and safety, and keeping accurate records.<\/p>

Whether you operate a landscaping operation with one truck or an HVAC company with 20 service vans, your fleet can benefit from\u00a0fleet management tools<\/a>. The right platform helps businesses leverage their data to make informed decisions about drivers and vehicles that directly affect their success and bottom lines<\/p><\/div>

What is Fleet Management?<\/h2><\/div>

Before adding a fleet management platform to your operation, it\u2019s important to define fleet management.<\/p>

Fleet management refers to actions that help a fleet operate efficiently, on time, and within budget. These actions can include tracking fleet activities, driver dispatch and routing, route management, vehicle record keeping, monitoring driver behaviors, and service and repairs. The actions converge to help companies ensure compliance, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Benefits of Fleet Management for Small Service Fleets<\/h2><\/div>

Even fleets driving passengers to the airport, operating food trucks selling food downtown, or dispatching technicians to repair household plumbing can benefit from fleet management tools. There are numerous advantages to improving fleet management through improved data management and GPS tracking.
There\u2019s a misconception, though, that fleet management platforms only work for large fleets. While many companies design tools for maximum-sized fleets, platforms, such as Satrack\u2019s fleet management platform, pair well with field service fleets too. These tools deliver a host of benefits for service fleets of one or more vehicles. The advantages include:<\/p>

Access to Real-Time Information:<\/strong><\/p>

Fleet management keeps you informed. Without a platform to manage your fleet, you may not know where drivers are or how they are doing unless you contact them directly.
Fleet management platforms let you see driver and vehicle location in real time. They also provide data on speed, routes, time spent at each location, and fuel usage. These tools pinpoint driver locations when service requests come in so you can dispatch the closest driver to the customer\u2019s location. The success of your business is tied to on-time arrivals and exemplary service. You can\u2019t have one without the other. Fleet management software lets small businesses track on-time arrivals along scheduled routes or stops. Business managers know when vehicles arrive late, linger too long, or show up at unapproved locations.<\/p>

Improved Safety:<\/strong><\/p>

Fleet management also improves safety, a top concern when employees, rather than professional drivers, use company cars to drive to customers\u2019 homes or job
sites. When you monitor driver behavior, you can use data on excessive speeds or hard braking to correct and improve employee actions on the road. Improving safety can reduce accidents and save lives. U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2019 (BLS\u2019) data cites motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of work-related deaths in the United States. Driver\/sales workers and truck drivers incurred 1,005 fatal occupational injuries in 2019, the highest since BLS began tracking these stats in 2003. And work-related crashes represent 18.8% of work-related deaths.<\/p>

Now consider that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 94-96% of all motor vehicle crashes involve human error. And, that as early as 2015, research revealed when fleets combine data on how drivers behave on the road with training designed to correct unsafe behaviors, they can reduce accidents by up to 50%.<\/p><\/div>

Benefits of Fleet Management for Small Service Fleets<\/h2><\/div>

Financial Protection:<\/strong><\/p>

Improving driver behavior also protects the bottom line. Crashes cost employers millions a year. The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety finds on-the-job highway crashes cost employers:<\/p>