Do you dread having to put together reports about your fleet’s performance? If you’re having to allocate an afternoon—or even an entire day—to reporting on your fleet operations, then you should know there’s a better way to spend your time! With GPS tracking technology, fleet reports can include a multitude of details pertaining to your fleet and be generated in an instant, which saves you time and headache. Keep reading to learn how telematics solutions dovetail perfectly with performance reporting!
Quick Links:
- What Is Fleet Reporting?
- 3 Challenges with Fleet Reporting
- Make Fleet Reporting a Breeze with GPS Tracking
- Tips for Building Effective Fleet Reports
What Is Fleet Reporting?
Fleet reporting involves compiling information pulled from various aspects of your fleet operations into one unit so you and your team can evaluate overall performance and check on the status of individual vehicles within your fleet. Fleet reporting extends beyond the literal fleet vehicles, though, and can include driver behaviors, overall productivity, and so much more.
Depending on the sophistication of your fleet reporting abilities, you can track:
- Vehicle maintenance statuses
- Driver behaviors, such as harsh braking or sharp acceleration
- The exact location of your vehicles or assets
- How many miles your fleet vehicle traveled
- How long a certain vehicle or asset remained in one location
- And much more!
The purpose of fleet reports is to gain insight into patterns of performance within your fleet so you and your team can better track patterns over time, understand the current status of your fleet, and set goals for future metrics. Knowing how your fleet and drivers are operating over time is vital to making informed decisions about your budget, driver training opportunities, and other considerations for your fleet.
3 Challenges with Fleet Reporting
When it comes to fleet reporting, there are a few challenges that can stymie your efforts, including:
No Organized Manner for Collecting Fleet Data
If you’re relying on your driver’s memory for gathering information relating to their fleet vehicle’s status or maintenance history, then you’re putting yourself at risk for inaccurate reporting—which, of course, can lead to a variety of consequences. Without an organized manner for collecting data pertaining to your fleet’s performance, it’s likely that key information can slip through the cracks or be miscommunicated. A scattered approach to gathering fleet information will lead to scattered fleet reporting and a headache from trying to sort through it all.
Trying to Track Too Much Fleet Information Can Feel Overwhelming
Whether you’re managing a fleet of 7 vehicles or 70, trying to keep track of multiple points of data for each vehicle can feel overwhelming. As your manual spreadsheets grow in size and history, so too the amount of time it takes to enter in key points of data. This can have a tremendous impact on your day and take several hours to complete, not to mention that working on fleet reports will quickly feel more like a burden than a tool to leverage for your fleet operations.
Some Components of Your Fleet are Impossible to Manually Track
Unless you’re able to sit in the passenger seat of each vehicle as your fleet drivers go about their day, you simply won’t be able to monitor certain aspects of your fleet’s performance. There are numerous factors that significantly impact your fleet yet are impossible to manually track, such as driver behavior, exact vehicle location, or if a vehicle or asset went beyond established boundaries. These factors can affect your company’s reputation, driver accountability, contract enforcement, and more, but with manual reporting, you’ll be left in the dark about exactly how your operations are impacted.
Make Fleet Reporting a Breeze with GPS Tracking
With GPS tracking solutions that facilitate easy-breezy fleet reporting, you can enjoy the following advantages:
Automatic Collection of Fleet Metrics
When you integrate GPS tracking capabilities into your fleet vehicles, you won’t need to worry about collecting data at the start or end of a shift. This information will perpetually be available to you in real-time and with access to historical data, too! Forget about asking your drivers to self-report on their fleet vehicle or shift—with GPS tracking, you’re guaranteed accurate figures and don’t have to follow up on your employees.
Easily Organize and Customize Reports Per Your Needs
Spreadsheets have their purpose in the workplace, but when it comes to fleet reporting, there’s a better way. With GPS tracking technology and inherent fleet reporting abilities, you won’t have to search through dozens or hundreds of cells to find the exact figure you’re looking for; instead, you can easily organize reports in a manner that best suits your needs. Plus, you can customize which information is tracked so your fleet reports are as dynamic as your fleet operations.
Track Even the Seemingly Un-Trackable
Want to ensure your fleet drivers are courteous and follow best defensive driving practices? GPS tracking has you covered! With a telematics system, you’re able to monitor driving behaviors like sharp braking or harsh acceleration, plus dozens of other metrics so that the un-trackable is, in fact, trackable. This gives you unprecedented insight into your fleet operations from perspectives otherwise impossible solely with manual tracking.
Tips for Building Effective Fleet Reports
Building effective fleet reports will depend on your fleet’s needs and goals—and that’s the beauty of fleet reporting with GPS tracking technology. You don’t have to fit one standard system of metrics, you get to determine what your fleet’s priorities are and how fleet reporting can help you monitor performance to achieve operational goals.
When setting up your fleet’s reports for various goals, consider these metrics:
Fuel Efficiency
- Idling time
- Speed
- Mileage traveled
Driver Safety and Risk Management
- Harsh braking and sharp acceleration
- Fast corner turns
Contract Enforcement
- Exact location
- Geofencing
- Time of activity
With a comprehensive GPS tracking system, you and your fleet are empowered to optimize performance and streamline your operations to maximize productivity without compromising the budget.
Let Rastrac’s GPS Tracking System Optimize Your Fleet Reporting
For almost 30 years, Rastrac has been a leading provider of GPS tracking solutions to help fleets streamline their operations and save time and money. With Rastrac’s fleet management software, you not only gain insight into your fleet’s overall performance and individual vehicles, but you can also generate reports pertaining to various components of your fleet’s operations.
Contact us to learn more about customized fleet reports and how we can help your fleet perform better than ever!
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