If you operate a fleet, chances are your truck fleet management has been impacted by the recent shortage of UK lorry drivers. This shortage is causing major business interruptions across the UK. And in these tough economic conditions, few companies can overhaul their fleets.
What if there were a way to increase your fleet’s productivity, without adding any new drivers? It’s true: Telematics fleet management can help you optimise the fleet you already have.
Let’s take a deeper look at how fleet telematics can help your company thrive, even without a full roster of drivers.
Why Is There A Driver Shortage?
The last two years brought unprecedented business challenges. The Covid pandemic and Brexit meant many European drivers returned to their home countries. Plus, Covid led to a large backlog in HGV driver tests preventing new drivers from hitting the road. Many older drivers are retiring, and fewer young drivers are breaking into the industry than ever before.
These issues are compounded by tax increases making it more expensive for international drivers to work in the UK. There is a current shortage of about 100,000 drivers, with companies taking 8 weeks or longer to fulfill vacancies. Companies everywhere are struggling to carry out their essential business functions.
So what can you do when buying new vehicles and hiring new drivers isn’t viable? That’s where telematics fleet management comes in!
How Can Telematics Fleet Management Help?
Fleet telematics optimise your truck fleet management in three key ways:
Driving Style Analysis
As a temporary solution to the driver shortage, the government has relaxed the HGV driver’s hours rules. Drivers can increase their daily driving limit from 9 hours to 11 hours twice a week. It’s up to each company to ensure drivers are properly tracking and sticking to their hours.
However, many companies lack proper oversight of their drivers’ movements, and few can afford steep fines from incompliance. Plus, when you don’t monitor drivers, resources inevitably get wasted. And during a driver shortage, efficiency is essential!
→ Driver Monitoring Allows You To Fully Oversee Your Fleet And Better Allocate Your Staff Resources.
Driver monitoring software like Vimcar’s Driving Style Analysis lets you track driver movement even if they switch vehicles. With comprehensive driver oversight, complying with HGV rules is a breeze.
Driving Style Analysis also makes your fleet safer by incentivising safe driving. You can view your drivers’ speed, acceleration, idling, and cell phone use at your fingertips. And each driver is given a score, so you can easily share the data with your team and identify where training is needed.
- Monitoring drivers saves you money: maximise staff coverage, improve fuel efficiency, prevent accidents, and reduce insurance rates.
Fleet Administrative Software
Many companies are still using outdated truck fleet management systems. These companies are missing out on the major perks of modern fleet administrative software!
→ Inefficient Fleet Administration Is A Major Drain On Company Resources
Software like Fleet Admin allows you to fully utilise your driver roster.
Here’s how:
1. Get a handle on your mileage with automated mileage estimates. Secure your mileage records in one, easy to manage place.
2. Analyse your fleet expenses, identify cost outliers, and see where further streamlining can be made.
3. Be notified of upcoming deadlines, so you never miss an insurance renewal or let a record expire.
4. Automate your workflow with electronic reminders, data organisation, cost calculation, and fleet reporting.
Having one program containing all of your fleet administration data means you can have a better overall sense of where your driver resources are being spent.
Read more: How Good Fleet Driver Management is Done & What are Telematics?
Live Fleet Tracking
Fleet tracking is one of the most powerful ways to optimise your fleet’s productivity.
- Telematics fleet management allows you to analyse your fleet’s routes and identify where improvements can be made.
→ GPS Trackers Help You Cut Through Waste, And Get More Productivity Out Of Each Driver’s Shift!
Vimcar’s Fleet Geo gives you full fleet oversight, so you know exactly how your vans are being used. With this data, you can then make informed dispatch decisions. Plus, its geofencing and timefencing features help you drastically lower your risk of vehicle theft.
- Telematics fleet management also helps you reduce vehicle misuse. During a driver shortage, vehicle misuse is a critical waste of resources.
If that weren’t enough, Fleet Geo helps you reduce van costs by 15% on average and fleet-related time by up to 60%!
Improve Driver Coverage and Streamline Truck Fleet Management
There’s no denying that truck fleet management during a driver shortage is a challenge. However, telematics fleet management can help you with many of your pain points. No matter your company size, any fleet will benefit from digitising and automating administration.
- Through driver monitoring, efficient fleet administration, and live vehicle tracking, telematics fleet management helps you make the most of your existing fleet.
Read more: how good fleet driver management is done
