The month of September rhymes with the start of the school year. Each school year is a new start, a good time to review your organization, review your priorities and adopt good practices. Fleet managers, start off on a good footing to strengthen the operational efficiency of your car fleet. In this article, here are 10 tips to optimize the management of your car fleet for a more efficient start to the school year.
1 — Conduct an audit of your car fleet
An accurate inventory of your fleet allows, before any corrective action, to know the current situation of your vehicle fleet. Auditing is the first step towards more strategic management. In particular, the following may be noted:
- The number of vehicles & their types (electric, thermal, VP..)
- The mileage achieved per vehicle and for the entire fleet
- The rate of use and immobilization of vehicles
- Fleet energy consumption...
This study will make it possible to take stock, detect differences and identify excessive spending items or to identify the various savings levers.
The OPTIMUM platform simplifies this first step offering, in real time, thanks to the centralization of data, a 360° vision of your car fleet!
2 - Optimize trips thanks to geolocation
OPTIMUM allows the geolocation and the monitoring of the vehicles in your car fleet in real time. This level of detail allows the analysis of vehicle routes, the identification of potential detours, stops, non-optimized routes...
This visibility contributes to optimizing vehicle routes in order to reduce the overall mileage of the vehicle fleet and thus reduce fuel expenses and vehicle wear and tear.
At the same time, geolocation also contributes to strengthening the safety of your car fleet: in the event of theft, breakdown or emergency, the vehicle is geolocated, which facilitates interventions.
3 — Improve the driving behavior of your drivers
Driving behavior has a direct impact on road safety, fuel consumption, vehicle wear and even the image of your business. This is why it is essential to be able to measure and analyze it in order to improve it.
Thanks to its embedded driving analysis modules, the Optimum platform provides accurate data on the practices of your drivers:
- Sudden braking
- Average speed and speed peaks
- Driving time without a break
- Eco-driving rate per driver
This information makes it possible to identify risky behaviors in order to take action and improve driving behaviors. Training and awareness-raising on eco-driving make it possible to influence behavior. Indeed, the OPTIMUM car fleet management solution offers the possibility of creating internal challenges/challenges that value an eco-driving score per driver. A stimulating way to challenge and train your teams through play.
4 — Automate technical, administrative and financial monitoring
Fleet management involves a multitude of time-consuming and complex tasks: compliance with maintenance deadlines, monitoring of traffic laws defined in rental contracts or LLDs, technical inspections, monitoring supplier invoices, tax payments, processing fines, etc. Manually managed via Excel files or Outlook reminders, these elements are often a source of oversights, errors and loss of time.
Switch to intelligent and automated management of your entire fleet with the OPTIMUM car fleet management solution:
The OPTIMUM platform allows you to anticipate events related to your car fleet: You will receive automatic alerts in the event of revisions, technical inspections of your vehicles, over-driving or under-driving... Your documents, contracts, car registration cards are thus centralized, accessible at any time.
Your financial monitoring is also facilitated: the centralization of billing data allows the platform to offer you an analysis of expenses by item (fuel, insurance, etc.) and to manage detailed management reports on request, or according to a frequency defined by you.
You thus have a clear vision of your budgets and dynamic monitoring of your TCO (total cost of ownership).
5 - Manage your energy transition
The decarbonization of mobility is a strategic priority for many companies, especially under the impetus of government measures (Mobility Orientation Law, CAFE Law, Low Emission Zones). OPTIMUM supports your transition by providing you with key elements:
- A rigorous analysis of uses including the frequency of trips, distances travelled, stopping times...
- An identification of vehicles whose uses are compatible with an electric motor
- Monitoring of CO2 emissions per vehicle and for the fleet
Reducing your carbon footprint and anticipating regulatory obligations is becoming possible. OPTIMUM is your partner in more sustainable mobility, towards an image of your committed company.
6 - Plan the renewals of your car fleet
Renewing your vehicles must take place at the “right time”: that is to say, not too early, not too late!
The Optimum platform is involved in your decision-making. It allows you to collect and analyze essential information in real time such as:
- The TCO (total cost of ownership) of your fleet
- The history of your fleet: breakdowns, repairs, kilometers...
- Compatibility with new objectives, environmental challenges (ZFE, greening the fleet...)
Strategically planning the renewal of your vehicles means maximizing profitability and aligning your fleet with your commitments and objectives. With Optimum, you have a reliable, agile and sustainable management tool.
7 — Save time on management of fines
Managing fines is often a tedious task and a source of errors: too long processing times, poor driver assignment, oversights... The result: wasting time for managers and complications for employees.
The platform Optimum makes you more efficient by automating this management thanks to the integration with ANTAI :
- Automatic detection of fines Received
- Fast assignment to the right driver, with alerts sent for immediate support
- Centralized tracking of violations, for optimal traceability and a reduction in the risk of increased fines
You simplify your processes, save time on a daily basis and improve the responsiveness of your teams.
8 - Encourage alternative mobility: carsharing and carpooling
Reducing the number of vehicles in your fleet while maintaining the mobility of your employees is possible. Carsharing and carpooling make it possible to optimize the use of available vehicles, to reduce the costs and carbon footprint of the car fleet. The OPTIMUM carsharing/carpooling service allows you to:
- Plan car sharing reservations, view vehicle availability in real time
- Manage the provision of keys via connected and secure key cabinets
- Follow the routes shared by the various collaborators
By adopting a softer mobility policy, you limit the number of unused vehicles and you are part of more responsible mobility.
9 - Follow the fuel consumption Of the car fleet
Fuel is one of the most important items of expenditure in the fleet. Monitoring consumption closely is essential to detect anomalies and identify potential savings to be made.
Our module Fuel Monitoring makes it possible to precisely monitor and analyze the real consumption per vehicle and to detect differences between refueling and fuel bills.
10- Optimize taxation on your fleet: benefits in kind, taxes on CO2 emissions
Corporate vehicle taxation can be a significant burden for businesses, especially with recent reforms on benefits in kind (AEN), CO2 taxes... The OPTIMUM platform allows you to optimize the fiscal management of your car fleet:
- Automating the calculation of annual tax on CO emissions2 And the annual tax on pollutant emissions
- Tax simulation on the AEN regime: for real or for a fixed price? The automatic distinction between private/professional uses allows you to opt for the most favorable tax regime. As a result, significant savings for the company and preserved purchasing power for employees who own a company vehicle.
- What if this new school year was an opportunity to do better?
In conclusion
Optimizing the management of your car fleet means acting on all fronts: economic performance, regulatory compliance, employee safety, environmental responsibility... With a structured approach and the right tools such as the OPTIMUM platform, you are laying the foundations for more effective, more sustainable and more serene management.
So in this new school year, Cape on best practices and good reflexes!
