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You can benefit from fleet management apps

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24 September 2015

MANAGING a fleet of drivers who are constantly out on the road can be a hard task, but technology is ever advancing and more methods are becoming available to ease the subsequent issues and help to connect people no matter where they may be.

Using a fleet management and tracking app can help to ease business tasks such as vehicle checks, efficient mileage capture, finding fuel stations or parking, managing your grey fleet, says Mark Mckenna.

Mark is a commercial insurance specialist. Starting work in the insurance profession in 1985, he has over 30 years’ experience in all areas of commercial insurance. As national sales manager for Bluedrop Services, Mark currently specialises in Motor Fleet Insurance and offers advice and support to customers managing motor fleets.

The versatility of apps varies considerably, ranging from car maintenance reminders, through expense claims facilitators to vehicle tracking and traffic reporting.

As with any connected device there are always concerns regarding driver distraction and in a bid to limit this other apps such as Google’s Android Auto’ and Apple’s ‘CarPlay’ systems have recently been developed to enable your phone functions to be viewed and controlled through your vehicle’s dashboard and steering wheel controls for familiarity and ease of use.

With both apps voice commands are a popular feature that helps to ensure drivers keep their hands on the steering wheel and eyes safely on the road.

With HMRC putting business mileage records under increased scrutiny accurate mileage records is a must when managing your business fleet. With up to 60% of business drivers overestimating their business mileage, assistance in this area is not only much needed but will help to avoid up to six figure penalties issued from HMRC.

An app such as ‘WEBFLEET Logbook’ can be used on a smartphone or via tablet to help track business v private mileage. When your device is connected via Bluetooth, with the use of a fleet management app, mileage will automatically be recorded once the vehicle starts moving and likewise stop recording when you are stationary.

Some even allow you to take a photo of the fuel receipt and upload it to iCloud for your records. Such apps allow for quicker mileage reimbursement and often other expenses such as parking receipts can be dealt with in the same way. Access to the back-end Fleet Management System can be provided via the app to keep records up to date in real time.

Apps can provide the flexibility to monitor your drivers whether they are in the office, at home or on the road. Users can also track locations with GPS and record the route they have taken on a map. Especially important for those businesses with a large fleet of vehicles, a tracking app will show the exact location of each of your vehicles so you can see real-time driving routes, aiding with scheduling of the next assignment.

Other apps that record vehicle checks, such as ‘AllOnMobile’, can streamline and simplify the vehicle inspection process, reducing paperwork and allowing drivers to report on the condition of their vehicles and submit inspection reports.

In some cases apps will even only allow the daily work schedule to come through once inspections have been completed and submitted providing assurance that your drivers are always starting their journeys safely.

Fleet management apps will also ease the burden of managing repairs and maintenance of your fleet. By keeping records of scheduled maintenance you can ensure that regular checks are made resulting in reduced need for repairs and ultimately lower costs to the business. An app can also help you to track and compare costs over time.

You can even get help managing your grey fleet with an app for drivers to input details such as vehicle registration, MOT, insurance and servicing details. Apps such as ‘Grey Fleet App’ can help you to keep track of the necessary data which can otherwise be hard to obtain and keep up-to-date.

Reminders can therefore also be sent via the app to users for important dates to keep vehicles road worthy, however the overall duty of care responsibility still remains that of the company to keep their drivers safe.

Road hazards such as accidents and bad weather can be brought to your attention via apps to help keep drivers safe and journeys un-compromised. You can also track the speed of travel for your drivers and as safer drivers prevent accidents help to keep fleet insurance costs down and limit VOR time (when a vehicle is off the road).

You can even gain help locating a service station close to you with the cheapest fuel with the help of apps like ‘Motorway Services GB’. Not only that but many apps, such as ‘e-Route’, will also help to locate a fuel station that accepts your specific type of fuel card, rather than using directories which quickly become outdated.

Likewise a helping hand can be given from ‘Just Park’ to locate somewhere to park with information on opening hours, height restrictions, prices and spaces available.

With all this in mind it is clear to say that most fleets could benefit from fleet management apps. However, it is important to manage the amount and type of apps that your drivers use and to keep distraction to a minimum.

Ensuring that identical data is collected and recorded across the business, and that information from an app you chose can integrate to your back-end Fleet Management System is important and needs assessing.

 

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