The ongoing chip shortage is a global concern that is creating headaches for managers as they look to maintain their fleet. With these ongoing issues and the delay of new vehicle deliveries, maintaining a fleet is more critical than ever.
To ease concerns, fleet managers should consider the myriad of benefits fleet management technology can provide. Preventative maintenance solutions coupled with developing safe driving habits can be a solution to help improve the longevity of vehicles, reduce unplanned downtime and help cut costs associated with equipment failure and labor.
Driver safety
First, it’s important to consider the correlation between driver safety and vehicle wear and tear. Utilizing data provided by fleet management technology such as GPS tracking or driver-facing dash cameras, fleet managers can gain insights into harsh driving incidents to leverage as a coaching opportunity for drivers. Additionally, video data gleaned from dash cameras can provide users context behind accidents to avoid finger pointing and dual blame.
Driver behavior data can help fleet managers individualize driver training and can help curb distracted driving accidents or harsh driving incidents, which can have adverse effects on vehicle health and overall vehicle condition. In summation, fleet managers can protect their bottom line and cut down costly wear and tear that can render vehicles inoperable.
Preventative maintenance
For fleet managers, preventative maintenance is a routine process that keeps track of vehicle condition, including regularly scheduled repairs such as oil changes or equipment in need of replacement. Preventative maintenance is a vital operations strategy to maintain the performance and longevity of vehicles. In order for this strategy to be successful, it must be carried out on a regular basis, which can create an opportunity for disorganization.
Fleet management technology is a helpful solution that can help to organize and track maintenance schedules by efficiently compiling a fleet’s maintenance reports. It can inform a preventative maintenance strategy that arms managers with the tools to help prevent, detect, and repair small problems early.
Predictive maintenance
Increasingly, fleet managers can improve longevity of vehicles, save on spending and prepare for unexpected challenges through predictive maintenance. Predictive maintenance uses near-real-time sensor data and condition monitoring to predict when a vehicle requires maintenance and, in some cases, predict when it needs to be pulled from operation. Predictive maintenance is an advanced approach that requires data technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor vehicle diagnostics and identify issues.
In short, identify your assets, invest in a technology partner, create a data culture, start tracking failures and measure the results.
Looking ahead
In light of the current challenges caused by the chip shortage, it’s important for fleet managers to embrace fleet management solutions. This helpful tool provides a near-real time look at vehicle maintenance needs and as vehicles become increasingly connected and advanced data strategies evolve, predictive maintenance can be the answer to unexpected or ongoing challenges that continually surface in the future.
