Author: zenduworkpower

Fleet Management: A Quick Way to Improve It

Fleet Management | 2 min read

Fleet Management: A Quick Way to Improve It

Today, a big part of effective fleet management is fleet dispatching. Modern fleet dispatching is a little more complex than just having a big white board in a meeting room, and then sending your driver’s out with a simple manifest.

What is Fleet Dispatching?

Today organizing a fleet takes more effort and organization than simply assigning a driver a manifest full of stops for pickups. So what is the best way to perform fleet management correctly? Well, if you ask most successful fleet managers, you’ll find they are using some sort of fleet management or dispatching solution. At the very heart of a good management system lies a good fleet management dispatching and routing solution that helps solve problems, even when there are emergencies.

Why is Routing so Important?

Modern fleet management routing takes more than just going from point A to point B. But again, it varies based on the specific transportation industry requirements. For a successful fleet based company, routing is about getting each driver on the road picking up and delivering as fast as possible, with the right requirements and in the right time frame. It means getting each driver out on the road as fast as possible, in the right vehicle, with the right qualifications and eligibility, to complete each stop based on set time frames or customer expectations. The goal is to drive fewer miles, use fewer vehicles, and save more money.

Good managers have found that simply giving drivers a manifest and expecting things to get done is not efficient because unexpected things can happen on the road, and this can delay pre-planned operations. Being able to effectively manage and change root systems in real time becomes absolutely necessary.

The Benefits of Real Time Applications

Real-time dispatching solutions offer better ways to pick up loads and make deliveries. Real-time applications are an integral part of successful fleet management to increase productivity. The best part? Many of these applications are now easily accessible anywhere, anytime, from a computer or a smartphone making everything the driver and dispatcher need to do their job available at their fingertips.

What Does Fleet Management Software Offer?

All fleet management software is different, but the overall goal of the software is the same. Fleet management software offer extensive features to gain cost-savings and experience true efficiency when it comes to managing a fleet.

The right system will create routes that are optimized with driver directions, dispatch them to the driver through his smartphone or tablet and track drivers actions in real-time. This increases productivity and efficiency while at the same time improving customer service.


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How Dispatching Software Makes for Better Dispatchers

Dispatching | 2 min read

How Dispatching Software Makes for Better Dispatchers

The success of every organization relies heavily on the people who work behind the scenes. In the transportation industry a key role is the dispatcher. This is the person who is the important link between the driver, management, and the customer.  

Certainly, the drivers in your organization are important, but it is the dispatcher that keeps your drivers, their workload and the delivery of your services on-time and in order.

The dispatcher’s job is one of the most important in the company, but he/she can only succeed if given the tools needed. The dispatcher needs to be constantly aware of driver locations, traffic in the areas, the weather, and any other factors that could potentially get in the way of drivers being on time. Dispatchers organize the best arrival routes, communicate with customers on time of delivery, and even invoices when needed – the super employee who does it all. But unfortunately the job cannot get done effectively and efficiently if everything is done manually. There are only so many hours in a day.

This is where the right dispatching software with features such as traffic reporting, driver location, route organization and cost saving reports come into play. It is when your dispatcher has access to this information that he or she can get the job done in the best way possible.

Dispatching software can assist dispatchers with the following:

  • Maintaining records of the driver’s daily routes
  • Finding the quickest route
  • Prioritizing cargo space for each of the drivers based on planned routes
  • Viewing live traffic that should be avoided
  • Recording miles driven
  • Automatic IFTA calculations
  • Offering customers up-to-date arrival times
  • Generate appropriate invoices
  • Planning the most efficient routes to meet delivery requirements

Overall, we can safely say the dispatcher is responsible for keeping drivers and customers happy by keeping everyone well-informed. However, this is virtually impossible to do manually. It requires dispatching software to visualize optimal routes, see traffic conditions, and help with last-minute customer needs.

When you improve the planning process by implementing appropriate software, you make sure that your dispatchers and drivers can do their job as effectively as possible.

 


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The Ease of Route Optimization

Fleet Management, Route Optimization | 3 min read

The Ease of Route Optimization

Fuel prices often fluctuate but there is still no question that these costs are generally rising, making fuel costs a constant concern for those involved in running a fleet. It’s best to develop a fuel management plan to keep these costs down. This can be done with tools such as route optimization software, fuel cards, driver safety training, and much more.

What is Route Optimization Software?

Route optimization software functions much like the GPS app you use on your phone, or even those old paper maps we used to use. However, this technology solution is often more robust offering in-depth route analysis and reports that give managers real-time solutions.

It wasn’t too long ago that drivers and managers were struggling to use paper maps with hand-written directions. Managers relied on their memory to come up with the best possible route solution and thereby improve overall fleet efficiency. This took time and resulted in extra costs, fuel mismanagement, driver time loss, and other fuel wasting factors such as never knowing if the drivers even stuck to the defined route.

The use of route management software solves all of these old problems, but still, managers fear new technology and cloud based software because of its technological innovation. The truth is this type of software is now totally intuitive, simple to use, and much more efficient than pulling out the old coffee stained map.

The Right SaaS Based Routing App Makes Life Simpler

Routing has become a crucial element for efficient fleet management practices. It is one aspect that can significantly increase profits and efficiency of the entire fleet. Sure, this part of managing a fleet has always been important, but never more so than now.

Using route optimization software, a manager is able to observe the performance of employees, fleet vehicles and the efficiency of their planned routes.

Today managers can create routes with multiple drop-off or pick-up stops that they can change and optimize at a moment’s notice. Fleet managers simply add a new stop location and the driver can see it immediately from his or her smartphone.

This type of real-time software can also help manager’s compare planned routes versus actual routes, and compare and analyze real-time data such as:

  • Actual arrival times compared to expected arrival times
  • Planned and unplanned stops the driver might make
  • Time the driver spent idling
  • + much more

Besides being able to plan routes out more efficiently, managers can also access other reports with information such as the number of routes followed, a better route system, gasoline costs for certain routes, vehicle stops along the route, etc. It is this type of information that gives a manager an entire summary of each drivers activities while on the job.

The types of information available in these reports include:

  • Routes
  • Departures
  • Arrival times
  • Time spent at home
  • Time spent at the office
  • Time spent at customer locations
  • Driving distance

In a typical case, with the help of route optimization software, managers can view vehicles on routes, driver zones, and then use this information to dispatch last minute changes and updates to routes.

The availability of this real time information gives managers the ability to better manage drivers, reduce excessive costs, increase revenue, and many other benefits – all at your fingertips!


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