Fleet Management Software

Are you looking for the best fleet management software for your business in the market? If you are, Goodfirms researches and curates some of the industry-leading fleet management software that can be engaged for your business. A business needs an agile and intuitive fleet management system so that it can provide top-notch service to its end customers. Some of the key features of fleet tracking software, researched by Goodfirms, are asset management, compliance management, dispatch management, driver safety & performance, fuel management, maintenance & issue management, mobile workforce management, open data integration, people management, reporting & alerts, route optimization, and vehicle tracking. Following is the list of best fleet management solutions, accompanied by fleet software details and client reviews:

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Buyer’s Guide

Introduction to buyer’s guide for Fleet Management Software

In the last few decades, management, planning, and monitoring have been playing a significant role in etching the organization’s success story. It ensures that the organization is performing business activities within scope, on time, and within budget. This trend is also observed in fleet management. The business owners that invest heavily to keep their business running, do not want to risk it due to poor fleet movement.

The unmanaged fleet can easily bring huge financial loss to the organization due to driver’s unaccountability, fluctuating fuel prices, and continuous fleet maintenance costs. Besides that, without proper Fleet Management, the company can deviate from its commitment to fulfill customer expectations and taint the organization's reputation. It is a painstaking task for managers or business owners to keep track of their fleet management activities without sophisticated fleet management software.

This buyer guide discusses the fleet management software in length to help big and small businesses to resolve their fleet management issues. The guide further gives a complete insight into fleet management software, which is essential for those who are interested in investing in fleet management software.

What Is Fleet Management?

Fleet management is the management of a group of commercial vehicles used by organizations. It enables the organization to coordinate and organize work vehicles in such a way that it optimizes the organization’s productivity and reduces operational costs. Fleet management allows companies to eliminate or minimize the risks associated with vehicle investment, improve efficiency, and reduce overall transportation costs while adhering to government compliances.

Examples of sectors that deal with fleet management include; couriers, sales, repair and service industries, utilities, public transport, oil and gas delivery, and emergency services.

What are the core Fleet Management activities?

Route planning
Fuel management
Setting schedules
Vehicle licensing and insurance
Cost control
Driver safety
Vehicle acquisition
Driver retention

What are the key challenges faced by Fleet Managers?

Strategic Challenges:

Monitoring driver’s behavior
Poor routing and scheduling
Managing compliance

Tactical Challenges:

An inadequate drivers training program
Optimizing daily route plan
Maximize vehicle utilization
Centralizing control
Data security

Operational Challenges:

Drivers shortages
Fluctuating fuel cost
Managing a geographically-dispersed team
Finding specific fleet information quickly
Controlling unauthorized use of company assets
Avoiding information overload

Is Fleet Management time consuming?

Fleet management can be productive when done properly; however, few activities make manual fleet management a time-consuming process.

1) Administrative work: Collection, recording, and validation of paperwork take substantial time and resources, especially when it is not centrally managed.

2) Converting information into valuable data: Some businesses need to collect information from various departments and based on that information, they schedule and move their fleet. However, manually collecting this information and churning out valuable data could be time-consuming.

3) Untimely maintenance: A miscalculation in a schedule of the maintenance work, can lead to an unexpected vehicle breakdown. The untimely breakdown and maintenance work can slow down the fleet movement and adversely affects the business.

4) Miscommunication: During fleet management, miscommunication with drivers can be catastrophic. Whether intentional or unintentional, any miscommunication with the fleet drivers can lead to unnecessary costs and delay in delivering the product.

5) Fuel tax calculations: In some countries, the government has implemented special fuel tax norms. As per the norms, the organization has to keep a record of the fuel consumed for the business every year, and based on the usage; the government deducts the tax amount. It is a challenging and time-consuming task for an organization to manually keep a record of the fuel consumption and calculate the tax amount.

The limitations of manual fleet management have forced managers to evaluate their strategy for its optimum use. In this age of technology and information, it has become easier to implement new methods and derive better results. A fleet management app is highly regarded as the best solution to address all fleet management-related issues.

What Is Fleet Management Software?

Fleet Management Software is a set of tools that allows fleet managers to manage and optimize commercial vehicle usage in the best of the business interest. It acts as a central hub for recording and reporting the key attributes of fleet movement so that the overall cost of transportation can be brought down, and the business service can be improved.

The fleet management software enables users to manage the fleet’s daily activity, interpret a wealth of telematics data, and analyze results to make informed business decisions.

The fleet management tools can extract information that was not possible earlier. It also enables fleet operators to remotely track vehicles using realistic maps and views populated by GPS (Global Positioning System).

Since its introduction, fleet management software has grown and adapted to the needs of fleet managers. Reports indicate that the global smart fleet management market size is likely to touch USD 565.1 billion by 2025, with a growth rate of 7.6%.

How does a Fleet Management Software work?

Fleet Management involves many activities like vehicle tracking, fuel management, vehicle maintenance, monitoring driver’s behavior, etc. The fleet management software takes care of all these activities with the latest technology.

1) Fleet telematics system: The telematics refers to the systems and sensors on a vehicle. These sensors merge data from vehicles to a fleet management system for better fleet operations. Vehicle tracking systems port the telematics data with the GPS tracking data, which becomes available to fleet managers online. The g-force sensor linked with the vehicle can tap on the acceleration as well as abrupt movements, including over-steering, over speeding, harsh braking, idling time, and current speed. All these metrics help to enhance the driver’s safety and reduce idle time.

2) Plan appropriate routing: The onboard diagnostic gives detailed information about the fuel usage and performance of the connected vehicles. This information could be crucial for fleet managers to decide whether the route is appropriate for the delivery or taking longer than the expected time period. The fleet manager can find out whether the route is congested during a specific time of the day, or it is due to poor roads. Based on these data, the manager can change the route for the driver or change the delivery timing for that specific area. The manager can also find out the vehicle’s exact whereabouts, so if the driver is taking an unnecessary stoppage between the delivery, he can immediately send a text message to the driver.

3) Vehicle maintenance: The fleet maintenance program can be broken down into three primary categories; Preventive Maintenance (PM), Routine Maintenance, and Emergency Maintenance. The maintenance activities involved in these phases may include oil changes, cleaning, lubrication, overall inspections, parts replacement, and maintaining historical data. A good maintenance software allows users to create maintenance schedules, work orders, generate reports, access checklists, etc.

4) Insurance: More the number of vehicles, the more it becomes difficult for an organization to manage the insurance. Fleet insurance software helps organizations to protect all of their assets in a single place. It is critical to keep track of all drivers on the policy and notify the insurance company of any new hires or staff changes. It notifies the fleet manager about the insurance that needs to be renewed annually, quarterly, or monthly.

5) Electronic Compliance: Electronic compliance eliminates tedious paperwork out of the equation. Fleet managers can reliably meet compliance requirements, driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIR), and fuel tax requirements all in one portal.

The fleet management software systems are available in various forms, and it gives flexibility to users for selecting the fleet management system as per their budget.

What are the different types of Fleet Management Software?

Different types of Fleet Management System available are;

Paid
Trial based or Freemium
Open Source
Free
Free and Open Source
Cloud-based

Benefits of using Fleet Management Software

Improves good dispatching: The fleet management software facilitates the activities like automatic job scheduling, intelligent routing, and monitoring fuel usage, which eventually helps fleet managers to reduce the goods delivery time and improves the organization’s reputation.
Control excess fuel consumption: The fleet management app sends alerts and updates when a particular vehicle exceeds the daily mileage limit. It may be due to bad route planning, dangerous driving, or some changes in customer orders processing. By having a clear picture of the cause of excess fuel consumption, managers can take appropriate steps to prevent it. In many ways, fleet management software can put brakes on activities leading to excess costs to the company. It can cut costs significantly by simply notifying the drivers to stop the engine while idle for dispatch or loading.
Centralized system: With a centralized system, it is easy to communicate with the drivers. For example, the drivers can receive the job schedule on the mobile app or inform drivers about the last moment changes. The centralized system also allows users to tap on information like fleet expenses, fleet operation reports, driver’s contact management, fleet vehicle management, etc. It also allows users to view orders and analytics from a single dashboard.
Automated reports and insights: The ability of the fleet management system to automate fleet-related activities and collect those insights for better fleet movement makes the tool very useful. It can automate tasks like checking engine status, odometer, battery status, etc.
Real-time fleet data: The fleet managers can track their fleet in real-time with the fleet monitoring system. It gives complete details about the driver’s location, delivery status, monitors the driver’s route, delivery estimate time, drivers exchanging shifts, etc
Real-time insurance tracking: Managing a manual record of insurance is a tedious task; with fleet management software, the users can automatically receive alerts whenever the policy is likely to expire.
Drivers and vehicle safety: The fleet tracking software can record the driver’s unsafe driving incidents like harsh braking, speeding, cornering, and stop sign violations. By identifying reckless drivers, the fleet managers can put them for a training session that improves their driving skills and reduces the risk of accidents.
Fleet fraud prevention: The fleet management software helps automate the reporting and analysis of fuel purchasing, at the same time identifying the discrepancies associated with it.

Features to look for in a Fleet Management Software

Asset Profiles & VIN Lookup
Track driver hours and licensing details
Support mobile device
Essential maintenance management
Inspections & issues
Fuel management
Driver & vendor management
Dashboards & real-time reporting
Fleet vehicle lifecycle management
Tracking fleet expenses
Fleet operation reports
Issue management
GPS integration
Secure data transfer protocol
Parts and inventory management
Telematics integration
Contact management
Integration with a third-party maintenance provider
Warranty tracking
Maintenance monitoring
Manage vehicle insurance
Meet compliance regulations
Geofencing
Alerts and notifications
Tracking assets
Operate in an online and offline mode

Factors you can consider while selecting a Fleet Management Software

Ease of use: The fleet management system should have an easy-to-use interface.
Compatibility: It should support the existing organizational software and hardware setup to avail of the new software.
Integration: Fleet systems should easily integrate with third-party software.
Flexibility: The fleet tracking software should be flexible enough to configure the system features according to management operations.
Scalable: Small businesses may even use a fleet management system to transport goods; some software can scale up as operation expands, while few are designed only for small businesses. So it is advisable to check the software's scalability before buying it.
Value for money: Check the price and see whether it falls into the budget. Before boarding the software, go through the case studies that resemble your business and see how the software has helped them.
High data processing speed: The fleet management system should be able to process data rapidly and sync across many devices.
Security and privacy: Check the level of security and privacy for the fleet software solution before finalizing it.

Latest trends in Fleet Management Software

Mobility-as-a-service: Mobility as-a-service can change the traditional approach to commercial transportation. The fleet owners and managers may use the company’s vehicle to rent or share with other organizations. It can help to reduce carbon footprint and unburden financial budgets.
Autonomous Vehicle: Automobile engineers and data scientists are optimists about replacing manual driving with autonomous vehicles. However, complete automation may take some more years to make real. If autonomous vehicles hit the mainstream, they may help fleet management overcome issues like driver shortages, drivers’ working hour limitations, and shift management
Voice assistant: Fleet management software is all set to integrate mainstream with voice assistants, and include more robust data analytics. It is also predicted that in the future, the voice assistant with powerful sensors will be used to control fuel usage. The sensor linked with the voice assistant will get activated whenever there is a sudden change in the vehicle’s fuel consumption rate and sends voice command alerts to the driver and manager.
Predictive Maintenance System through IoT: IoT is a disruptive technology that will see its presence in almost all sectors. Its ability to pick critical data on any level makes IoT a powerful technology. In fleet maintenance, IoT data allows users to build the best possible predictive algorithm that is faster to detect equipment issues.

What is the average price of Fleet Management Software?

The average cost of fleet management software could fall anywhere around $25- $35/ month per vehicle. The cost of these software varies depending on the features, software licensing fees, additional hardware devices, fleet size, etc. The software, like fleetio charges as low as $5/month/vehicle, whereas KeepTruckin, with a medium price range of $20/month/vehicle, is a popular tool among fleet managers. The business with a large fleet size and admires features like heatmap of the routes and in-depth vehicle diagnostics can choose Samsara, with a price range of $45/month/vehicle. The Fleetio and Samsara software provide a free trial, while KeepTruckin offers a free version.

The fleet management software is continuously improving its efficiency with the latest technology like GPS tracking, telematics, and artificial intelligence. It has become the subject of curiosity for some business owners, and therefore, they prefer scanning the free and open-source fleet management software.

Why refer Goodfirms’ list of Fleet Management Software?

Goodfirms is a top review and rating site for software products. The platform accumulates a large pool of software providers ensuring that customers have more options to match and select the tools that fit their business.

Goodfirms list of best fleet management software encloses tools that eliminate the bottlenecks of fleet operations and can fuel the business growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Best Software for Fleet Management Available in the Market?

The right fleet management software for your business is easy-to-use, suits your industry, provides all tools to fulfill your fleet management needs, fits in your budget, and proves profitable with time. Thus, a perfect fleet management system for another business may not be the best fleet management software for yours. To select the best fleet management tools, you can leverage Goodfirms’ list of the top fleet tracking software that details the features, reviews, and pricing of different solutions. Most importantly, for the best search according to your business type and specific requirements, filter the list based on features, business size, pricing model, deployment type, and more.

Why Do Businesses Need Fleet Management Systems?

Businesses commonly face fleet management challenges related to driver allocation/shortage, fuel wastage, route planning, vehicle allocation/scheduling, vehicle maintenance, vehicle/driver safety, customer/vendor communication, regulatory compliance, and more. A reliable fleet management software offers extensive tools to control and automate different aspects of fleet management on a centralized platform. It helps with complete vehicle management (acquisition, tracking, scheduling, maintenance, insurance, licensing), driver management, driver safety, route optimization, time-saving, fraud prevention, and compliance/taxation management. Leveraging the top fleet tracking software results in reduced operational and fuel costs, increased productivity, and enhanced profits for your business.

How Much Does Fleet Management System Cost?

The pricing of fleet management software varies a lot based on numerous factors, including features it offers, the number of vehicles it covers, deployment type, integrations, and customization needed. Fleet management software vendors offer multiple packages to choose from, with less-priced, limited features Starter plans (for businesses that need only basic fleet management tools) and higher-priced packages offering comprehensive features.

It is possible to get fleet management systems for as low as $5 per month; for example, Fleetio costs $5 per vehicle per month. There are numerous fleet management software options available for less than $100 per month; for example, Voila Cabs costs $20 per vehicle, My Route Online costs $49 per month, Badger Maps costs $49 (per user) per month, and Ground Alliance costs $99 per month. Some higher-priced top fleet management software tools include Vehicle Fleet Manager 4.0 that costs $139.95 for upto 15 vehicles, and eLogii costs $159 per month. Please check the Goodfirms’ Buyer’s Guide for Fleet Management Software for more details on pricing.

What Are the Hidden Costs Associated With Fleet Management Systems?

The top fleet tracking software vendors are generally transparent about the software’s pricing. However, you must confirm with the vendor possible hidden costs for customization, installation charges, data migration, customer support, system upgrades, maintenance, and integrations.

Are There Any Free Fleet Management Systems Available?

Yes, there are many free fleet management software tools available in the market. Businesses can leverage these to streamline their fleet management operations, reduce costs, and enhance profits, for example, free and open source fleet management software, Fleetco. Apart from the multiple paid plans, many top fleet management systems also provide free versions or freemiums of their software with basic features and covering a limited number of vehicles; for example, FleetVIP offers a free version covering up to 2 vehicles. Please refer to our blog on the best free and open source fleet management software for more such options.

Are the Fleet Management Software Solutions Secure?

Yes, typically, the top fleet tracking software vendors ensure robust, multi-layer security tools to keep your business data safe and earn trust. Before finalizing a fleet management system for your business, it is still advisable to compare the customer reviews, ratings, and feedback of multiple fleet management tools. Also, discuss software’s security offerings with the vendor, including data backup, storage, data integrity, data sharing, encryption, access controls, vulnerability scanning, etc.

Fleet Management Software

Fleet Management Software

A Reviews List of Fleet Management Software

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