How to Monitor Personal Use of Fleet Vehicles

Fleet operations spend a lot of money fueling, maintaining and insuring fleet vehicles. Therefore, it can be frustrating to learn that employees are using the vehicles for their own personal use.

How employees use the vehicles can vary. It can be a driver going out of his or her way on a route to grab lunch or run an errand before returning the vehicle back to the fleet.

Fleets that allow employees to take vehicles home at the end of the day can face more problems. While letting employees take vehicles can save time as drivers can be dispatched directly from their home to their route, it can also pose the risk of a driver running errands, going to dinner or going to other locations or events in the vehicle.

To monitor the amount of personal use of each vehicle, follow these tips.

Monitor Fuel Usage

One way to determine if employees are using fleet vehicles for their personal use is to monitor their fuel usage.

• Check the Odometer Readings: Require employees to enter an odometer reading when filling up their tank. This will allow the fleet operation to look for unusual spikes in mileage. If the mileage on the odometer doesn’t match the routes the driver was assigned, it can alert the operation to possible personal use of the vehicle.

• Track Fuel Usage: Monitor the amount of fuel used by each vehicle. If a vehicle is getting refueled more than it should be, it can raise flags for the fleet operation to check the odometer and monitor the driver’s routes.

Use GPS Tracking

Another way to monitor drivers for personal use of vehicles is to implement GPS tracking into assets. According to GPS Insight, the technology can be used to determine the location of the fleet vehicles to help track if an employee is using the vehicle to take a long lunch off the route, if he or she is using the vehicle to run personal errands, or even if he or she is using it to take on side jobs outside of their job with the fleet operation.

To learn how RTA Fleet Management Software can help your fleet operation track its vehicles and fuel usage, contact us to schedule a demo.