No matter what kind of business you run, productivity is essential. If time is being wasted, so is money—so in order for a business to grow, improving productivity must be a priority. This is especially true when it comes to tasks like managing the fleet in your business. Transporting goods involves a variety of factors and there is always room for improvement. So how can you boost fleet productivity?
Keep Up With Vehicle Maintenance
Regular maintenance is important if you want your trucks to stay in good working condition. And while it may take time out of the day to perform a maintenance checkup, preventative maintenance is going to save you time, money, and resources down the road. If you fail to maintain your fleet properly, your trucks are going to experience more problems and breakdowns—which ultimately results in more downtime and less productivity.
So to avoid this, make sure you’re scheduling monthly maintenance checkups. These checkups should look at key parts of the vehicle and check for signs of wear and tear or other issues. If a problem is found, it should be fixed promptly.
Additionally, drivers should do a quick check of their vehicle before they hit the road. This way, they can ensure there aren’t any noticeable problems and avoid breaking down on their route. All in all, regular maintenance will keep your vehicles in good condition so you can avoid downtime and spending money on problems that could have been prevented.
Utilize GPS Tracking
GPS vehicle tracking is something all fleet managers should be using. Utilizing GPS tracking can be beneficial in a number of ways. First, managers can ensure all of their drivers are taking the predetermined routes and staying on schedule. This can also help managers determine if there is a better, more efficient route that could be taken.
Second, GPS tracking can come in handy if cargo ever goes missing or doesn’t arrive at the right location because the truck’s path can be looked back on to see where things went wrong. And lastly, managers can spend less time managing their drivers—with a streamlined tracking system in place, managers can worry less about tracking and focus more on growing the business. All in all, GPS tracking can boost productivity in many different ways.
Simplify Administrative Tasks
While many fleet managers tend to focus on the bigger picture, it’s also important to look at the productivity levels of daily tasks. Administrative tasks like invoicing, quoting, dispatching, expense management, and customer service are all tasks that need to be completed—but are they being completed as efficiently as possible?
If companies are still using paper-based organization systems, the first step they should take is to go digital. Moving to an online system will help paperwork be found more quickly, data stay organized, and will keep everything more secure. A lot of simple tasks can be automated and scheduled ahead of time, which can cut down on time spent on these tasks.
Furthermore, there are endless online tools to help with administrative tasks. From payment systems to customer service chat options, companies can find different ways to make their employees’ jobs easier. For example, if you’re looking to improve your website, you can use an online javascript beautifier to help optimize and tidy your code—this convenient tool will make this task go more quickly and be less of a hassle. This can be done without wasting time so you can update your website as needed and move on to the next tasks that need to be completed.
Improving fleet productivity isn’t always an easy task, but it’s certainly possible. With these tips and tricks up your sleeve, you can boost productivity and ensure your fleet, and your whole business is working as efficiently as possible.
