{"id":2816,"date":"2021-03-17T13:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T13:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tyt.webpagefxstage.com\/?p=2816"},"modified":"2024-02-07T10:27:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T10:27:38","slug":"mobile-applications-increase-fleet-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trackyourtruck.com\/blog\/mobile-applications-increase-fleet-efficiency\/","title":{"rendered":"Mobile Applications to Increase Fleet Efficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Smartphones and other mobile devices have changed the way people go about their daily lives. Likewise, mobile apps<\/a> have made it easier for businesses to operate. Companies can track orders, shipments and deliveries with the help of mobile apps. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Whether they are delivery companies, HVAC businesses or landscaping companies, businesses that operate a fleet can use mobile apps to manage their fleet. If you want to know where your drivers are, how they are getting from point A to point B, and whether they are driving safely, a fleet tracking app will help.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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The Importance of Fleet Management<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Fleet management lets you know where your company’s vehicles are at all times. It also allows you to see how your driving team handles your trucks and other vehicles. Fleet management has two components. One component lets you examine and evaluate the performance of your vehicles on the road. The other lets you develop a maintenance plan for your vehicles to keep costs as low as possible and extend the lives of the trucks, vans or cars your company operates.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Aspects of fleet management include the following elements.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Monitoring Fuel Usage<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Your vehicles need fuel to get where they are going. How efficiently those vehicles use fuel depends on various factors. The length of a trip and the driver’s habits can reduce fuel economy, for example. Aggressive driving, including hard braking, quick acceleration and speeding, can reduce fuel economy by up to 30% on the highway<\/a> and up to 40% in stop-and-go traffic. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Idling for extended periods, carrying overly heavy loads and making short trips also reduce fuel economy. Fleet management allows you to plan ways to reduce idling and make the most of your driver’s trips. A fleet management software program can also alert you to habits that increase your company’s fuel costs.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Evaluating Driver Safety<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Fleet management allows you to monitor your driver’s habits, letting you intervene when you notice unsafe habits, including speeding. Unsafe driving can affect your business’s bottom line in several ways. First, it increases wear-and-tear on your fleet, meaning you need to schedule more frequent maintenance and repairs. Second, it increases fuel costs. Additionally, unsafe driving can affect your company’s insurance coverage. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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If your drivers have many accidents, your insurance provider might pull coverage or increase your premiums dramatically. Screening your drivers before hiring them and conducting regular identity and driving record checks can help protect your fleet and keep your insurance bills reasonable. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Tracking Vehicle Location<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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When you operate a fleet, you must know where your vehicles are at all times. You need to know your trucks’ or vans’ locations so you can send them where they need to go when necessary. Without a fleet management system that tracks your vehicles, your company can be at greater risk of theft or misplaced trucks. An employee might take a truck out for an unauthorized trip on the weekend or after business hours, potentially leaving you scrambling for a replacement. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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If your fleet management program includes tracking, you can see where your vehicles are on the road, which ones aren’t where they should be and which ones are potentially delayed. You can use the location information to make decisions and adjust your business schedule as needed. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Vehicle Scheduling<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Another part of fleet management is scheduling the vehicles. Before the advent of fleet management software, scheduling relied on paper and pen and many phone calls. A dispatcher would need to phone drivers to schedule their next trips, noting their current location on paper. An app streamlines the process, letting you send drivers to their next assignments quickly, based on their vehicles’ location and the location of the next job. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Planning Trips<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Trip planning is an essential part of fleet management, too. The goal is to schedule trips to maximize fuel economy and minimize delays. Trip planning can also include mapping out and scheduling deliveries to reduce fuel spend and ensure packages get to their destinations in the most timely way. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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How Fleet Management Has Evolved Due to Mobile Technology<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Mobile technology makes an internet connection possible in even remote locations. Using a mobile app<\/a>, you can keep tabs on your fleet no matter where you are, as long as you can get online. Mobile technology has also streamlined the process of managing a fleet. What you once had to do by hand, such as mapping out drivers’ routes or figuring out which packages to load onto which vehicle, an app can now manage for you.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Tracking fleets with mobile apps has also cleaned up the office. Your business will likely use less paper when it handles scheduling, planning and vehicle tracking digitally. That means there are fewer documents to misplace and less time spent shuffling through paperwork. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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What the Best Mobile Fleet Management Software Can Do<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Hundreds of different mobile fleet management software programs are available. They aren’t all created equally, though. Some are feature-rich, and some offer the bare bones. The best programs usually provide the following:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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