Fleet management tasks - and why a fleet management software is more efficient than Excel

What makes fleet management simple and efficient? Which tasks and topics are most important for a fleet manager? Here is a brief overview of the most important topics and why fleet management software can help you with these tasks better than paper and Excel spreadsheets.

Procurement and retirement of vehicles

Forms of financing
One of the fundamental decisions when procuring vehicles is the financing form, i.e. whether the vehicles should be leased, purchased or rented. It is necessary to set the budget and then analyze the existing vehicles and usage profiles to select the contract terms such as mileage and duration, as well as the most appropriate form of financing in each case. For these analyses, the traditional Excel spreadsheet is cumbersome because many data points for many vehicles must be combined and considered.

Comparing offers
In addition, it is worthwhile to obtain a quote from more than just one car dealership or dealer. To create more transparency and comparability, invitations to tender and comparing multiple offers are important - but a nightmare on paper.

When returning a vehicle, special equipment and vehicle features play a role in whether resale value or return is made more difficult or more favorable. For leased vehicles, it is advisable to work with vendors to prepare for return in the most cost-efficient way possible and avoid high extra costs from the leasing company.

Maintenance and operation with fleet management software

Damage management
Damage management is a constant companion in everyday fleet operations - whether it's parking damage, scratches, or major accidents - breakdowns and downtime occur and repairs in the workshop have to be organized. Obtaining various offers for more transparency and savings often goes by the wayside due to time constraints and one relies on the contract workshop around the corner. Communication with drivers, insurance companies, and workshops is time-consuming and cumbersome. With Avrios you have all data and pictures about the damage in one digital file, request cost estimates with one click, and communicates directly from the system. No more countless phone calls, emails, and Outlook reminders!

In addition, comprehensive damage files and data ensure that you can quickly identify patterns and take countermeasures. Does a lot of damage occur while parking? Make the parking assistant mandatory in the car policy and enable your drivers to undergo driver training - the number of damages will go down significantly and with it your claims ratio and, in the medium term, insurance premiums.

Fine management
This is a tiresome topic that unfortunately cannot be avoided. Whether parked incorrectly or speeding, parking tickets land on your desk and have to be forwarded to the appropriate drivers, payment secured and, depending on the offense, the authorities informed. In addition to the pile of paper on your desk, digitization is also worthwhile here for better follow-up and overview.

Tasks and appointments
These accumulate as the number of drivers and vehicles increases - in addition to the driver's license check and driver instruction in accordance with UVV (see also under "Compliance"), there are certain regular appointments for each vehicle: TÜV, customer service, tire change, to name just a few. Automatic reminders and recurring appointments help you keep track of these - no matter how many vehicles are in your fleet.

Mileage monitoring
Monitoring the mileage of each vehicle is particularly important for leased vehicles, in order to always have an overview of which vehicles have run the expected excess or shortfall in mileage by the end of the contract. Everyone knows it - weeks of phone calls to get the current mileage for the vehicle from the driver. With a connection of the fuel card to the database, the entered kilometers are automatically transmitted when refueling and thus the data is up-to-date and directly stored with the vehicle.

Fuel cards and other services
Outsourcing services and products, as in the case of fuel cards or tire management, often offers not only administrative but also price advantages. In addition to predictable costs and discounts, external service providers take over certain tasks. With fuel card providers, the invoices come directly and it is not individual fuel receipts that have to be reimbursed to the driver. You can find out more about fuel cards here. With tire management, a provider handles storage, tire changes, and procurement of new tires - read more here.

Cost allocation and control

With each vehicle, a whole series of invoices roll in at the fleet manager's office - from procurement and initial investment to ongoing bills for fuel, repairs, insurance, or tires. Each of these invoices must be recorded, typed, checked, paid, and assigned to the corresponding vehicle. This takes up a lot of time and nerves. With fleet management software like Avrios, incoming invoices are automatically read, categorized, and assigned directly to the vehicle, so the total cost overview on vehicle and cost level is always up-to-date, without typing! With regard to more transparency in the fleet, it is very important to know and optimize the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for each vehicle. Only when you know the costs per kilometer per vehicle can you identify ideal forms of financing, vehicle models, or outliers, for example, and take appropriate action.

Compliance
With a focus on the vehicle fleet, the topics on compliance are very important. As the owner, the company, or the fleet manager is liable if driving licenses are not checked, the driver is not properly instructed in accordance with accident prevention regulations, and accidents or similar occur as a result. occurs.

Driver's license check
In Germany, driver's license checks are required by law and should generally be carried out twice a year, or more frequently in special cases such as pool vehicles or drivers with increased risk. The fleet manager or the company must ensure that the drivers are in possession of a valid driver's license appropriate to the vehicle, and this check must be documented accordingly.

Driver instruction according to UVV
In order to prevent accidents, it is also necessary to instruct the drivers; this is normally done once a year. The content of the training includes topics such as what to do in the event of an accident, proper loading and securing of the load, the influence of alcohol and drugs at the wheel, and much more. Proof of this must be provided - for example in the form of a test. This instruction must also be documented.

Both the driver's license check and the driver instruction according to UVV are often still carried out on site and in person. This is very time-consuming and, especially in the case of decentralized fleet management, different company locations or the home office, it is very tedious for the fleet manager and also for the drivers. For both keeper duties, there are therefore online solutions such as Avrios, which send automatic reminders, store the data safely and securely, and document the checks and training. The paper or Excel list is thus history.

Read more about compliance here.

Fleet Strategy and planning

Once you've managed to automate some of the manual tasks and time-consuming processes involved in day-to-day fleet operations, you'll have more time to address strategic issues.

One important topic is the company policy or car policy. Here you regulate questions such as "Who gets a company vehicle?" or "Which models and equipment features are permitted."

Does your company have a green strategy to reduce CO2 emissions? So how can you contribute to it as a fleet manager? Are you looking to integrate e-mobility into your fleet? You can read more about this in our blog post on e-mobility.

Beyond that, are there other trends and mobility solutions you plan to integrate in the coming years, such as public transport subsidies, job bikes or car sharing solutions?

How Avrios fleet management software can support you

The more visibility and control you have over your fleet and the data on each vehicle, the more informed decisions you can make and the more targeted time and cost savings you can make in managing them. The duties and responsibilities of the fleet manager are many and varied, and even smaller fleets of 20 vehicles accumulate a lot of paper and a lot of data points. To get this flood of data under control, over 1,000 customers now rely on Avrios as their fleet management software - goodbye Excel and paper folders and hello digitalization in the fleet!

Start today with the free Avrios account and use all basic functions to manage your vehicles - for more control and room to maneuver!