Fleet management is one of those parts of a business that can’t be left to chance. A dozen vehicles is already a pretty complex system to track and manage efficiently. With each new truck, the number of variables in this equation increases exponentially. You have to be sure that each vehicle has been checked and fueled, routes are optimized, and drivers are well familiar with delivery details.
Specialized software can automate a lion’s share of tasks related to fleet management, free employees from the need to perform routine tasks manually, and optimize the workflow. The question is, thanks to what features such an effect can be achieved and how much it’ll cost for a company to adopt such a software system. Let’s find out!
How Fleet Management Apps Can Help to Boost Your Business
Properly designed fleet management software has one major purpose: to help you gain full control over your motor vehicles. Whether your company deals with large cargo ships that cross the Atlantic or a bunch of pizza delivery scooters, there’s always room for improvement. Fleet management software can show you where to put your efforts to fill the gap between your current state and the company of your dreams.
This goal can be achieved by different means. For example, Fleet management apps can become irreplaceable when you want to optimize your costs. Expenses on fuel, spare parts, and regular vehicle diagnostics are increasing constantly. Without a close attention to this part of the fleet management process, you risk losing control over the financial side of your business. If you have to manage a large fleet, fuel costs can eat up to a third of your budget. Therefore, optimization of this one expense item can become quite important.
Such a familiar technology as GPS tracking can be a source of pretty valuable data when it comes to fleet management. Analyzing drivers’ behavior, you can determine the most optimal ways of increasing their performance. There are many ways of achieving it, from routing optimization to truck idling minimization.
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Fleet management is not only about efficiency. Your drivers face potential health risks every day, so guaranteeing your employees’ safety must not be underestimated. Fleet management software can become a solid basis for developing efficient training programs and ensuring the safety of your assets and cargo.
A custom-made fleet management app designed under your specific needs can help you avoid data overload. Access to real-time data is irreplaceable if you want to detect potential growth points and eliminate bottlenecks. However, too much data may become an unbearable burden. Records that have zero practical value can distract staff members whose responsibility is to find useful patterns in information that your company generates. Fleet management apps can enable different users with data relevant to their department. Automated reports and interactive dashboards allow representing data in an easy-to-read way and help to focus on important KPIs.
Features You Need and Price You Have to Pay
The list of benefits that a fleet management can provide looks pretty promising. The question is how much such a solution will cost you. Whether you plan to build a dating app or a project management solution, there’s one major rule regarding the overall development cost: the more features you need, the higher the price will be. Software with a rich feature set requires more time from the development team, has more code to test, and more bugs to fix. That’s why you must clearly understand what functionality your company needs and address these requirements to business analysts. If you don’t want to start with something complex, MVP development can become an excellent alternative.
Now, let’s consider some fleet management software features that can help you deal with challenges you face every day. Real-time fleet tracking, for example, enables more efficient mechanisms for optimizing delivery and keeping your trucks up and running. Sensors installed in trucks can deliver actual info related to the engine temperature, for example. Regular overheating could be a sign that it’s time to worry and schedule maintenance as soon as possible.
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Built-in GPS tracking is one of the primary features without which your fleet management app won’t reach its full potential. Besides being aware of the current location of your trucks, you can also use it for building optimized delivery routes. This not only includes finding the shortest path from your warehouses to clients but also helps to avoid traffic jams. Fleet management apps can inform drivers about potentially dangerous sections of the road.
Regular vehicle maintenance is important even if the fleet tracking software gives no reason to worry. All your vehicles might work like clockwork today, which doesn’t mean that tomorrow one of your drivers won’t find himself stuck in the middle of nowhere with the engine not starting. Fleet management apps can automatically create a maintenance schedule and ensure that it won’t interfere with your delivery schedule. It also can inform your mechanics about the availability of specific spare parts in the warehouse and notify them in case of upcoming shortages.
Increased fuel consumption harms your business twice. First, you have to pay for petrol. Second, it signals that some of your vehicles have problems that require urgent attention. If fuel consumption increases with no sane reason, fleet management software will inform you timely, so you’ll be able to act before facing unpleasant consequences.
Besides regular training, fleet management apps enable you to use real-time data to ensure your drivers’ safety. HD cameras installed in your vehicles can provide data which analysis will help to prevent car accidents. For example, the system can notify you if a specific driver is constantly distracted or looks drowsy. Unfortunately, even the most sophisticated software can prevent you from accidental cargo damages. In this scenario, the customer can demand compensation from your company. In such a scenario, the claim management system can help you avoid tons of paperwork and save time.
Any company with enough expertise in providing fleet management software development services will effortlessly implement these and many other features following your needs and expectations. Also, it’s important to note that the overall cost of your fleet management app will depend on the outsourcing region you’ll choose. For instance, minimum hourly rates are usually lower in Asia and are highest in the US. If you decide to prefer the golden mean in terms of value for money and start with something relatively simple, the MVP development will cost you approximately $19,000 – $25,000. Creating a comprehensive system that includes every possible feature you might need in the future will require hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Conclusions
Fleet management is tricky. You have to take care of both vehicles and living people. Trucks require regular monitoring and maintenance if you want to continue fulfilling your obligations to customers. Your drivers rely on directions based on the real-time data in order to deliver cargo on time and keep it undamaged. Additionally, you have to monitor their state and behavior to reduce the chance of human error. The number of options for what could go wrong is pretty high. Fleet management software allows you to build all these factors into a coherent system which simplifies their analysis and control.
If your company’s fleet requires improvements but you don’t know where to start from, please contact us.