A fleet management system is a combination of software and hardware that allows fleet managers to track and control all vehicles and drivers in their fleet. The best fleet management services will handle all major aspects of fleet operation, including routing and dispatch, fuel use, safety, and maintenance needs.
Key features of a fleet management system include route optimization, real-time alerts, and data analytics.These tools all add up to a host of benefits that boost efficiency, reduce costs, and keep your fleet in compliance with federal law in a variety of different ways.
If you own or operate any type of vehicle fleet in the US, you likely need a fleet management system. They help commercial delivery fleets like UPS find the optimal last-mile delivery routes, they help service and utility fleets like plumbing or HVAC track their routes and equipment, and they help logistics and freight companies monitor vehicle conditions and driver hours across long-haul schedules.
In this guide:
- What Is Fleet Management?
- How Do Managers Use Fleet Management Systems?
- How Do Drivers Use Fleet Management Systems?
- Fleet Management Features
- Fleet Management Costs
- Conclusion: Your Fleet Can Benefit From an FMS
What Is Fleet Management?
Fleet management is the process of tracking and guiding a fleet of commercial vehicles so that they are all operating at their best across their entire life cycle. Core duties for fleet managers include dispatching drivers and vehicles on routes, tracking maintenance needs, and responding quickly to emergencies.
The basic function of fleet management system (or FMS) is to dispatch vehicles and drivers along their assigned routes and to optimize their routes in real time as they progress – for example, by adjusting the route to account for changing weather and traffic conditions. A good FMS will handle all other core fleet needs as well, such as vehicle diagnostics, fuel tracking, compliance monitoring, and data analytics. This requires GPS tracking and telematics devices to be installed in all vehicles, each of which then sends data to a central software application.
Most fleets rely on an FMS to streamline all their typical tasks, so the overall benefits to productivity, cost efficiency, and legal compliance are huge: It’s the most important system a fleet can adopt.
How Do Managers Use Fleet Management Systems?
While managers can use the mobile app for simple tasks, they’ll likely spend most of their time in front of the main desktop dashboard of their fleet management software, since it offers full functionality.
Much of a fleet manager’s time is spent dispatching vehicles on their routes and monitoring their GPS locations. This can be done through a map view that displays all vehicles in real time (or near real time), whenever they are in their route, or through a list of active vehicles that displays similar information in a text-based format.
A sidebar menu typically includes categories for tracking safety events, watching fuel use, logging upcoming maintenance needs, generating reports, or other managerial chores. Some systems also include or integrate with related functions like asset tracking for heavy equipment such as tractor trailers, or dash cam systems, which offer views of the road ahead of each vehicle.
Generally, the fleet system features used by managers fall in two two buckets: they either speed up core fleet functions like dispatching, or they gather data analytics that can guide future decisions. In both cases, the end goal is to boost overall productivity.
How Do Drivers Use Fleet Management Systems?
Most fleet management systems offer a driver-centric mobile app, which drivers can use to streamline many of their duties while on the go.
The biggest benefit for drivers is clear, up-to-date marching orders. Drivers can see their routes and current location in the app, along with traffic and weather updates. Their app can function like a GPS map to keep them on track at all times.
A second major benefit is compliance. The reporting categories in any good FMS driver app will include Hours of Service (HOS) compliance, which relies on electronic logging devices (ELDs) to collect data to keep the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) happy and ensure each driver can pass their vehicle inspections. That’s a lot of acronyms to follow, which is why you want an FMS that can handle it all for you.
A driver app might also log fuel tax data, alert drivers to safety events like harsh breaking or speeding, and offer two-way messaging so that drivers and managers can text each other if they run into emergencies or setbacks.
Fleet Management Features
What functions should all fleet management systems offer, and which ones are just nice-to-have bonuses? Here’s the context you’ll need to know when combing through the top brands to ensure that they’ll meet your needs.
Routing and dispatch
The core purpose of a fleet vehicle is to drive to locations to deliver products or services, so it makes sense that the core function a fleet management system offers is routing and dispatch. This requires more than one feature, however. Routing, as you’d expect, takes into account things like traffic conditions, vehicle capacity and driver schedules to determine the most specific route. The dispatch element can assign trips to available drivers and / or vehicles based on location, capacity and other factors, including multiple locations per trip. The process can be sped up with pre-set custom locations.
Learn about how AI can streamline your fleet’s route management.
Related features
In addition to the core tools listed above, many of the best fleet management systems include traffic and weather alerts to allow adjustments in response to changing conditions during a trip. Not every system will include these. For instance, Geotab doesn’t offer traffic alerts at all.
Other helpful tools include two-way messaging, which allows managers and drivers to discuss any unique issues related to the route, and geofencing alerts, which can be triggered when a vehicle enters or exits a pre-set geographic area.
Fuel management
Fuel costs are one of the biggest expenditures for most fleets, so most management systems offer tools to track fuel use and purchases. This commonly includes integration with third-party fuel card programs, which monitor and control fuel purchases and may include discounts. The system might track and report on vehicle idling times to reduce fuel consumption, and generate fuel summary reports for each driver or vehicle that might include details as specific as that vehicle’s mile-per-gallon metrics.
Related features
Driver IDs are a helpful yet less common fleet management tool that allows drivers to be automatically tracked across multiple vehicles, so that poor driving habits (or even fuel misuse) can be connected to the person behind them, without the need for manual entry.
Many systems don’t include Driver ID cards or tokens at all, like Fleetio while some feature-rich systems like Verizon Connect or Samsara offer them as paid add-ons, and some systems, such as Azuga, bundle Driver IDs into their typical package.
Maintenance scheduling
Oil changes, tire checks, brake inspections:any vehicle is a ticking clock when it comes to its next maintenance need. Any fleet management system should track all recurring needs and alert managers when each vehicle is due for a checkup or replacement. These tools are simple to set up, but work to prevent costly breakdowns and extend vehicle lifespans.
Related features
Some fleet management systems offer more complex mileage tracking and maintenance reporting than others. For example, Lytx offers detailed reports that match engine hours against miles driven to help determine the optimal time to replace a vehicle, what the best maintenance schedules are, and how to limit the fleet’s total expenditure.
Safety and compliance
Any US fleet management system should use an ELD to log drivers’ hours of service and keep them in compliance with federal law. Many will also offer some form of habit-tracking tools to discourage poor safety habits from drivers. The most commonly tracked safety habits are speeding, harsh braking and excessive idling.
Data and analytics
A good fleet management system will offer templates and can autogenerate reports on a range of performance topics. Core report types include fuel usage, driver performance, vehicle utilization, and compliance, and may also include common business reports such as Profit and Loss statements, cashflow statements, and balance sheets.
Some systems may offer predictive analytics, which build off of existing data to predict future maintenance needs.
Specialized fleet management systems
The logistics companies that carry freight across the nation, along with delivery trucks like FedEx and UPS, are what most people think of when they think of vehicle fleets. However, plenty of other fleets have unique functionality needs and can benefit from the right system to manage them.
Fleet management is essential for each of these types of fleets.
- Public transportation: City buses and other public transit systems must maintain timely schedules.
- School bus fleets: Samsara offers a special K-12 system that even checks for sleeping children after a route is complete.
- Construction fleets: Crews must track machinery and vehicles across many job sites.
- Emergency services: Ambulance, fire, and police fleets must coordinate rapid responses, and frequently with multiple vehicles.
- Rental and leasing companies: These companies use fleet management to track vehicle usage and maintenance.
- Government and municipal groups: Local and federal government agencies must manage vehicles used for various public services.
Fleet Management Costs
Almost all of the best fleet management systems are available for a monthly subscription plan. One-time hardware costs and installation fees may also be included. These plans start at about $20-35 per month per vehicle, although costs can easily reach $50-$100, depending on the amount of features needed.
We’ve found that most major fleet management system providers do not make their prices public and instead offer tailored quotes. You’ll likely have to get in touch to learn the exact cost you’ll be charged.
In many cases, you can get a discount by committing to a long-term contract of two or three years. The two most feature-heavy fleet management systems, Verizon Connect and Samsara, require a three-year commitment. Some systems will also charge you for setup and installation or training sessions, and will offer paid add-ons like dash cams, fuel cards, or driver ID.
Check out our guide to fleet management costs for more information, or see the table below for a quick look at the price estimates that our research team found for the top providers.
Read our how to calculate TCO guide to learn more
Conclusion: Your Fleet Can Benefit From a FMS
From dispatching drivers to tracking fuel use and vehicle maintenance, a good fleet management system will handle every core aspect of operating a fleet.
Managers will have access to the vehicle locations and data at all times, while drivers will be able to use their mobile apps to help them stay in compliance with federal law. Ultimately, these systems provide the most essential tools for any business that needs to drive vehicles on trips, whether delivering goods or ferrying workers to a job site.