Fleet operations managers play an important role as people prepare to spend the holidays with their families and loved ones. Whether you work as an operations manager for a city or other local municipality or for a commercial fleet of any size, you have a chance to be a hero to someone this holiday season by using an effective fleet management system.
Municipal operations managers work to ensure that services are performed on schedule, that roadways remain clear of ice, snow, or other impediments so people can travel safely. Emergency workers make sure that law enforcement and other first responders can get to the scene of an emergency as quickly as possible to save lives. And commercial fleet managers ensure that their deliveries are delivered on time to stores in time for the holidays.
Operations managers have an opportunity to become heroes for their bosses, colleagues, drivers, customers, and the communities they serve in a variety of ways.
Enhance Customer Service and Product Deliverability
For many, the winter holiday season represents time being spent with loved ones, enjoying homemade meals, and opening gifts. These activities are possible, in part, because of fleet drivers and operators who work to ensure that food items and other products are available on store shelves in time for the holidays.
With increased traffic on the roads and impactful weather conditions like rain, sleet, and snow, drivers may find themselves delayed or spending more time in traffic, decreasing productivity and potentially making shipments to customers arrive late. However, with fleet management software, operations managers can actively track their drivers’ locations and optimize their routes by redirecting them around obstructed roadways. They also can provide enhanced customer service by having up-to-date information about the status of their deliveries.
Deal Better with Inclement Weather
During the winter, snowy and icy road conditions are no stranger to fleet drivers around the U.S. This changing weather presents a number of challenges for drivers and the general public alike, creating hazardous travel conditions that can place your organization’s productivity or level of responsiveness at risk.
When coupled with tracking devices, fleet management softwares enable operations managers to monitor a number of factors and conditions, including:
- Engine and vehicle performance
- Vehicle maintenance
- Driver performance and behaviors
- Asset and vehicle location
These benefits are key to helping you optimize your organization’s operational excellence and efficiency. By using reliable technology, you can help your organization or company save money, enhance communication capabilities, and improve processes, and more.
Improve Public Safety and First Responder Responsiveness
When the snow begins to fall and roads ice over, accidents tend to increase. More than 116,000 people are injured — and more than 1,300 are killed — in the United States each winter on icy, slushy, or snowy pavement, according to the Safe Winter Roads initiative. This means that emergency personnel are responding to increasing vehicle accidents and slip-and-fall events. Additionally, the weather results in increasingly dangerous conditions for first responders.
As more vehicles travel the roads during the holidays and accidents clog these travel avenues, it makes it more difficult for emergency personnel to navigate the roadways to get to where they’re needed most quickly and efficiently. Fleet management software often can be used by dispatchers to effectively police, fire, and medical first responders through obstructed roadways to respond to calls for help.
Operations Managers, Employees Can Spend More Time with Families
By virtually using effective fleet management software, operations managers can spend less time in the office and more time remotely monitoring vehicles and equipment for performance, location, and safety from home. Using this actionable data, fleet managers can know whether equipment is performing properly or malfunctioning, helping to reduce the number of unnecessary service calls by addressing the issues remotely with customers.
Not all heroes wear capes and tight spandex. If you’re interested in becoming a hero to people throughout the year, learn more about Rastrac’s award-winning fleet management and asset management systems.
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