How to Manage Your Fleet, and Your Time, Better

Fleet management. What a nightmare it can be! From making sure that your vehicles are in working order, to making sure that your employees have the correct vehicle, that your fleet is being used properly and to the best of its ability, can take a lot of time. I should know... I had to do it myself.

So, how do you easily manage your fleet and still have enough time for literally anything else?

Managing Your fleet

Routine

Humans love routine - It�s in our nature. That�s why it�s sometimes a very good idea to use routine to check your vehicles. If the vehicle is being used by the same person, getting a vehicle check (click the link to quickly view a vehicle check report template) calendared in every set period will help the vehicle users remember to do their inspection and also help you to ensure that the vehicle is always in a satisfactory condition.

However, doing a vehicle inspection means that the vehicle is not being used for its purpose whilst this is happening. Beware not to add too many inspections into your routine. For me, the shift change at 7 am and 7 pm were perfect points to fit this inspection in. This gave me the knowledge that if there were any problems with any vehicle, it would be highlighted that day, as well as making sure that the staff was not spending all of their days checking vehicles.

Streamlined documenting

�Everyone loves filling out paperwork, right?�, said no one ever. It�s not fun, or the most productive. So, why get your staff to fill out more paperwork than necessary?

That is the balance to contend with. You need to make sure you�re documenting everything you need to without wasting your staff�s time. The balance of this will entirely depend on context. Only keep in mind that the longer your documents are, the more time your staff will take on it and the more your staff are likely to try and cut corners. Make sure that the paperwork you have related to fleet management is streamlined and relevant.

Using a daily check at shift change as an example, in this scenario, you would want to make sure your team are checking the fuel levels, oil levels, and equipment in a quick, clean, uniform manner. For the fuel levels, a simple �1/2� or �full� is all the information you need. You�re checking that the vehicle will not run out of fuel. Likewise, with the oil, you�re checking that the oil is in working order so, in your checklist, a simple tick or �yes� will give you all the information you need.

Creating your checklists in this way will give you a simple and streamlined method for your team. This may seem like a very small gain, but the time saved quickly adds up saving you a lot of time in the long run.

Records

An obvious one, but the importance of this cannot be overstated. Keeping accurate records of your vehicle checks are essential, especially if you have important equipment related to the vehicle. But you already knew that, so what now? Well, make sure that your recording system is easily manageable and easy to understand. Split your filing system into regular intervals so that you�re not looking at one massive pile of documents, whether that be daily or monthly depending on how many documents you get a day.

This is where a digital solution can come in very handy, but more on that later...

If you have more than one vehicle active at once, one thing you'll want to consider is whether you group your documents by vehicle or by date. In my opinion, it�s more important to sift your documents by date over what vehicle the document is for. The way to identify the vehicle is to have the registration of the vehicle filled in at the top of the document. Then, once you find the day you are looking for, you can easily tell which document is for the vehicle you are looking for.

A digital solution

So, is there any silver bullet to help with your fleet management? Absolutely! There exists a digital solution that could tackle all of the points I have just made...

Culverdocs comes with purpose-built forms for fleet management and makes it super easy to automate processes and visualise the data that were previously never possible with paper-based solutions. Whether on your own steam or with assistance from the UK-based support team, your company can have Culverdocs integrated into your daily routine in the easiest and most streamlined way.

Included in Culverdocs is an easy-to-use app form builder, that allows you to make the best form for your organisation. What's also awesome, the dedicated support team can build the form for you, working with you to make the best form for your operations.

You can customise nearly everything if you�d like to, from the content of the questions on the form, to the type of answer the user can give, to the colour of the end report... creating the best way for you to manage your fleet.

Once you're happy with everything, an app is installed on all of your team's smartphones which will enable them to complete the forms in a really simple and intuitive interface. It works offline and automatically syncs back up to Culverdocs' servers when the user comes back online - plus many more features!

What about filing your digital forms? This is where a digital solution can make the biggest difference. Instead of having stacks, upon stacks, of paperwork lying around, why not have Culvertech take care of that for you? With Culverdocs, the team will make a dashboard for you to access all of the documents that your staff submit in the best way for you.

For me, I had a dashboard made for me to filter my documents by day, and then by the user. I could find any document within seconds, saving me hours of time and money. That�s not an exaggeration. Culverdocs stores all of the documents submitted on secure servers so your data is in safe hands, and you always have access to your documents.

Contact Culverdocs

Wrapping it up, there are many ways you can manage your fleet but if I could give one piece of advice, it would be to find a digital solution that works for you. If you have a digital form system, you can save yourself hours of time. For my money, the solution that is the most flexible, and therefore the best, would be Culverdocs.

To learn more about going paperless at your workplace, contact Culverdocs today and speak with a mobile forms specialist who can create a custom-tailored solution designed to meet the needs of your business. And, be sure to not miss out on our 14-day free trial on Culverdocs.