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December 8th, 2023
Regardless of the size of your fleet, it’s imperative that it is managed in terms of maintenance, legal compliance, and driver safety. Effectively managing a fleet of vans is no small feat, so organisation is key. Fleet management helps achieve increased efficiency by streamlining your operations – it can even save you money!
In this blog post, we will explore the various considerations for effective fleet management of leased vans and provide some useful tips for making sure that your business keeps running smoothly.
Fleet Management is the process of taking responsibility for a collection of commercial vehicles and managing everything from the lease agreements to legal compliance. It therefore requires a lot of planning and a complete understanding of how to ensure fleet efficiency.
The considerations for commercial van fleet management include:
The main aim of van fleet management is to increase efficiency and make sure that your fleet is safe to be operating on the road. Professional fleet management therefore ensures legal compliance and effective maintenance of your vans so that you can rest assured that your vans and their drivers are ready to help you achieve your business objectives.
Here are some of the advantages of effective van fleet management:
Save time – Fleet solutions from an expert fleet management company can help you to significantly speed up the process of sourcing a fleet of vans. Here at Global Vans, we pride ourselves on having great relationships with manufacturers and dealers which allow us to source your fleet of vans without the need for factory orders.
Save Money – in addition to saving time, fleet management can also help you save money through sourcing the best van leasing deals and special offers on vans. Effective fleet management can also help you with other financial benefits such as reduced fuel consumption.
Vehicle Maintenance – fleet management allows you to implement a maintenance schedule that ensures maximum efficiency. Fleet management software that has GPS tracking can help to further optimise maintenance by collecting data on van downtime and breakdowns. This allows you to identify and analyse any patterns and address any issues.
Driver safety – proper fleet management will ensure that all of your drivers are licensed, and their vans are in the best condition possible, so you can be sure they’re safe on the road.
For more information on the advantages of effective fleet management, please read our blog post on the benefits of fleet management.
We’ve outlined various useful tips and recommendations below to guide you through how to develop an effective fleet management approach for your commercial vehicle fleet.
Depending on the size of your fleet, you will need someone with a lot of experience and knowledge about managing a fleet of vans. You can either hire a part-time fleet manager or outsource your fleet management to a professional fleet management company.
When you invest in fleet management solutions, you will be able to assess the right vehicles and lease type for your business needs and take charge of your fleet management with tracking software. So, you can be sure your fleet is safe, efficient, and compliant. Many fleet management companies also provide dedicated support to ensure everything is running smoothly.
What qualifies as ‘fair wear and tear’ is an important consideration for the maintenance of leased vans. If you’ve chosen a Contract Hire lease agreement, making sure drivers are not violating any of the fair wear and tear guidelines for vans is vital for avoiding unnecessary costs at the end of a van lease.
In addition to this, scheduled van maintenance is key for avoiding any unexpected breakdowns or issues that could impact efficiency. That’s why ensuring you have taken out a maintenance agreement alongside your lease agreements is so important. Saving you time, and money!
Vehicle compliance and making sure all of your drivers are aware of safe driving practices is essential for fleet management. Some important things to check include:
The official government guidance on van fleet management states that vans with a design gross weight of up to 3,500kg require an MOT every year once they are 3 years old. Many companies opt for 3 year van leases, meaning they don’t need to worry about MOTs. With the additional benefit of most Manufacturer Warranties lasting a minimum of 3 years.
Driver compliance is equally as important, making sure they are fully licensed and qualified to drive the van is paramount. In addition to this, ensuring drivers are well-trained and operate within their set hours is really beneficial for safety; avoiding accidents and breakdowns.
As an employer or fleet manager you must be aware of the total driving time of each worker through real time monitoring. DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) advises that drivers should have at least a 45 minute break for every 4.5 hours of driving.
Ultimately, the drivers of each van in your fleet are the most capable of maintaining and managing the vans that they drive. This makes it is essential to educate and train drivers or employees who come in contact with your fleet. Providing an operator’s checklist that they can go through each day is a great way to ensure that maintenance and safety are a daily consideration.
Some ideas of things to include in an operator’s checklist include:
It’s important to check when each van lease expires and keep note of this to ensure the van lease can be renewed or returned in an appropriate condition. Preparing for an expiring van lease will depend on the type of lease and conditions set out in your lease agreement so, if you have a variety of different types of agreements then it’s useful to make sure your records reflect this.
In most cases, vehicles leased at the same time will have been set out on the same terms – meaning they will expire at the same time. If you have expanded your fleet since your initial lease, you may find you are juggling multiple renewals dates. So, it is important to keep track – allowing you time to find the best renewals deal and avoid any downtime.
Hardware devices, fleet management software and GPS tracking make the fleet management process a lot more straightforward and can help you to streamline your operations. Nothing is more valuable than in-depth data on how your vans are performing as it can help you to protect your assets, ensure driver safety and maximise efficiency.
These technologies are always advancing so it’s important to implement them as early as possible so that you can help your business stay ahead.
Fleet management can be time-consuming and challenging, the services and solutions available are designed to take the stress out of fleet management.
Our expert fleet sourcing services provide you with a tailored solution that can help you save time and money, allowing you to focus on managing your business instead of sourcing your fleet of vans.
Please get in touch to find out how we can help you make the most of your commercial van fleet.
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