Recently, I attended the keynote address at our very own users’ conference, RTA Connect 2021. One of the questions RTA CEO Josh Turley asked the fleet professionals in the audience was: “What does success look like in your fleet?”
Hands went up and answers ensued.
“Up time,” “cost efficiency,” and several other responses.
These metrics, and many others, are key to the successful operations in the care of our customers, the fleet managers.
There is a quote by Seth Godin that says, “If you measure it, it will improve.”
If that’s true, then the contrary is true: If you don’t measure it, it won’t improve.
The data captured in an FMIS (Fleet Management Information System) gives fleet professionals the information they need to make adjustments and consistently improve fleet operations.
Without the ability to run a report showing the percentage of PMs vs. unplanned maintenance, how will you measure if you are a proactive or a reactive fleet?
What financials are you providing upper management for vehicle replacement in the next 1-5 years? Chances are you aren’t standing confidently with your fists on your hips looking out over your fleet from the 7th floor of your office building making these decisions. You’re looking at what you purchased the vehicles for, factoring in depreciation, and the cost of maintaining these vehicles. Not just that, but by department, class code, and size. This scoring is done in the background for you with an FMIS.
What parts are failing? When your FMIS is tracking every purchase and usage of every part that is ever put on a work order, you can see at a glance if there is a part notorious for failing. Now you have the information you need to switch brands or find out why.
What do you know about your current fuel transactions? Are there ones that have funky milage highlighted for your review? What about the transactions that show a sedan with a 15-gallon tank posting a 28-gallon read? Your FMIS knows your vehicle, the type, the capacities, and any parts or fuel associated with it, and will flag these variances automatically.
Are you getting your money back from failed parts? What is the process for warranties and who is tallying up those dollars received back to the shop? In a fleet maintenance information system that failed, a part under warranty is flagged the moment a new one goes on the work order. No more going to the file cabinet to check dates. Not only that, but it will trigger a claim form with the vendor and all other information so you can email it or print it out and hand it back with the failed part.
Fleet management is crucial to the safety of your community and the financials of your operation. The stakeholders that depend on your shop being successful count on you to use your best resources, to measure the daily metrics, and to modify processes.
What does success look like in your fleet? What are you measuring in efforts to improve? How will the modifications you make this year impact the years to come?
What are you waiting for?
To learn how RTA’s fleet management software can improve your fleet operation, contact me to chat, or to set up a demo.
Shauna Barker is an Account Representative on our Sales team. She specifically works with government fleets but loves to help fleets of all types of sizes succeed.