There are so many ways that local governments can leverage fleet management software systems to connect with their constituents and share valuable information in real time.
You’re going to want to have a comprehensive fleet management strategy to ensure your communication with your constituents is transparent and ongoing.
Fleet management technology allows governments to track the status of assets and track financial data as it pertains to vehicles in every relevant local government department. You’ll have data points to justify budgetary allocations to various assets in your fleets.
You can also save LOTS of taxpayer dollars. Fleet management strategies help you to use the technology available to you to plan and schedule what you can ahead of time, saving money on fuel and maximizing drivers’ time. You can also use your fleet management tools to help drivers adjust their routes to avoid traffic congestion, construction, or accidents.
Generally, your local government fleet management strategy is going to help you improve efficiencies, and your constituents will thank you for it! You can even publish a public dashboard that allows community members to see where government assets are located at any given time (within reason of course – no showing where the undercover police vehicles are located!). But in terms of street cleaning or snow removal, it can be a great tool for the entire community.
So how are you going to come up with a comprehensive strategy? Here are some questions you’ll want to answer before deciding on the right solution to implement.
Which transportation assets are in your government’s possession?
How much money is being spent to purchase, maintain, and use government vehicles?
What is the current condition of vehicles across your fleet?
Which vehicles are in need of required maintenance/inspection?
Which assets need to be acquired or replaced?
Try to put together an overview of what assets you have, how much you’re spending, and what services you are contracting to third-party service providers. Audit your assets to understand what kind of shape they are in and whether they have schedules for maintenance in place. Finally, budget for any assets you plan to purchase in the next year.
Once you’ve audited what you have, and determined your needs, wants and even your wish list for municipal vehicles and other valuable assets like storage facilities or parking lots, put some numbers down. What is your budget realistically, and where do you want to focus? If you’re in a warm part of the country it may make sense to outsource snow removal in case of a freak snowstorm, which we know is possible! We’re looking at you, southern California! But you don’t need to invest in your own plow or fleet.
Taking the information you gathered from the audit you did while budgeting, you can then begin to plan your fleet maintenance and inspection schedules. This should be a calendar that outlines the specific maintenance tasks that need to be performed for each vehicle and when they need to be performed.
Prioritize critical maintenance and assign responsibilities. This may include assigning specific tasks to mechanics or other employees who are responsible for maintaining the fleet. Finally, use your fleet management software to monitor whether vehicles are being serviced as planned, and if not, understand why. It is important to monitor the effectiveness of the maintenance schedule and make adjustments as needed. This may involve adjusting the frequency of certain tasks or changing the tasks that are prioritized based on the needs of the fleet.
All of this work is worth it when you share it with your community. People will love to learn that their local representatives are working to enhance efficiency and save money while still maintaining high levels of service and safety. A good example of this is the City of Cleveland, Ohio’s recent implementation of a snow plow tracking system that is publicly available.
When you work with sophisticated GPS monitoring systems, the initial dashboard setup is best handled by a professional team with experience, but once it’s up and running, you’ll be good to go! We suggest deciding which assets are most important to your community (school buses? EMT vehicles? Garbage trucks?) and include their trackers in various dashboards so citizens can easily find the information they are looking for. It really depends on your local community. The good news is that dashboards are completely customizable to meet your needs.
Related Content: Watch the video to learn more about how Rastrac’s Street Complete works!
The last step once you’ve developed your strategy is to get people on board and using the tools at their disposal correctly. Training tends to be overlooked, but there is no use in investing in new fleet management technology and setting up systems if they aren’t going to be put to use. Be sure to set up a recurring training program for drivers and system administrators to help them stay up to date on the latest changes to your fleet management system.
You may also want to engage in a community outreach program explaining the changes you’re implementing to your fleet management strategy. Give the community the opportunity to ask questions and understand where their dollars are going, and how it will benefit them with increased knowledge, government accountability, and overall efficiencies.
Rastrac is here to help you develop your local government fleet management software and management strategy! We’ll walk you through from start to finish to help you get your software setup and share the data that you and your community need.