Tag: manager skills

male and female fleet managers

10 Top Fleet Manager Job Skills

Posted on | by Jimmy Song

Bill Gates is one of the most successful business superstars. One of his management philosophies include: “We’ve got to put a lot of money into changing behaviour.” How does that quote relate to fleet manager job skills?

Successful fleet managers (or any jobs) need to invest money and time to hone their behaviour. Similar to Bill Gates, one of my mentors taught me that you can only master your craft if you spend time to understand your craft and have passion to consistently improve.

What are the most important fleet manager job skills?

I used a simple tool to collect and analyse top fleet manager job skills. I sampled several Fleet Manager job postings and then ran a top keywords report. And what were the results? According to a bit of fact-digging and statistics, here are the top fleet manager job skills:

fleet manager job skills statistics

Management

Not surprisingly, management leads all job skills. Fleet managers are expected to lead and motivate other people. In particular, fleet managers need to set policies, build relationships, and manage results.

Customer Service Skills

An underrated but important skill is customer service skills. Why? Well, if you think about it, fleets are in the business of customer service. Fleet managers that understand customer service usually have happier customers because these managers know how to create customer-friendly policies.

Transportation Knowledge

The next category is general vehicle knowledge. Even though I consider myself to be good with other people and customers, I’d probably fail at being a fleet manager because I am not as savvy with vehicles. Fleet managers need to know almost as much as a mechanic because they are always chatting with bosses, vendors, or drivers about vehicles.

Maintenance

fleet maintainance

Even though fleet managers do not directly work on maintenance, they should at least have a background in maintenance. Fleet managers are measured on their fleet’s uptime and efficiency. For that reason, some common tasks include creating preventative maintenance policy and overseeing work tasks.

Diversity & Inclusivity

According to a survey, many new drivers are ethnic and young. Successful fleet managers understand how to relate to different people and overcome challenges such as language barriers or age gaps.

Safety

“Safety is the number priority” – says a million different fleets! One way or another, fleet managers are responsible to creating policies, coaching drivers, and leveraging technology to reduce safety incidents.

Process-Oriented

process structure on magnetic board

Fleet managers need to be process oriented. Especially in today’s world of time saving software, fleet managers have to find ways to modernize and efficienize their processes. For instance, some companies completely replaced paperwork with automatic software processes.

Financials

Why is it important for fleet managers to know financials? Though you don’t need to be a math wiz, fleet managers should know enough financials to manage a budget and present financial performance. Nowadays, fleet managers are expected to keep track of their department’s spending and cost.

Vendors

Finally, fleet managers should be very familiar with vendors. Some fleet managers might work with dozens of different vendors such as repair shops, vehicle providers, or software solution providers.

Did you enjoy our list or have any other skills? Leave them below in the comments!

Summer Fleet Management

Posted on | by Jimmy Song

Summer is in full swing! How does Summer 2018 compare to previous years? So far, forecasters called for a normal to a hotter-than-average summer. What does this mean for fleets and for summer fleet management?

Obviously, summer fleet management can be challenging. For instance, fleet managers need to address engine maintenance concerns, driver health risks, and operational challenges. We’ll explore all three of these items in this post.

Engine Maintenance Concerns

The number 1 summer fleet management concern should be engines because hot weather affects engine performance and leads to downtime. In fact, overheating engines are the most common hot weather issue.

Tom Plippo, an AAA member and repair expert, explains that “summer is the biggest stressor to cars because belts, hoses, tires, and wipers have shorter lifespans when exposed to sunlight.”

Best practice: Summerization

In order to prepare for summer fleet management, many fleets go through “summerization” tasks. 72% of fleets have summerization tasks, which include things like inspecting vehicles, draining winter waste, and upgrading equipment.

How do managers keep up with tasks? A lot of fleets use software to schedule reminders. For instance, on Geotab, fleet managers can create summerization reminders every few months or on specific dates.

Driver Health Risks

Another big concern is driver health risks. Unfortunately, a lot of people underestimate the dangers of hot summer weather. For example, just this summer, dozens of people died after a heat wave in Quebec.

In turn, fleets need to take care of their driver’s health. It’s necessary because of legal obligations and because it creates happy employees.

Best Practice: Cooling your Drivers

Never forget to cool your drivers! Believe it or not, businesses lost good employees because of summer heat. For example, in one business, a top-performing driver quit during the summer. The manager then called the driver to ask why, and was surprised to hear the reason: “my work car’s AC was @#@#”,

In addition to engine maintenance, fleet managers should add air condition on the summerization list. Some common AC tasks include cleaning the car’s filter or upgrading equipment.

Also, another good idea is taking care of driver by providing a free summer kit. Some companies give water, coolers, and sunglasses to their drivers every summer. Although it’s a small gesture, it goes a long way for creating happy employees!

Operational Challenges

Finally, summer fleet management involves fighting against summer traffic. Summer traffic is actually worse than other times of the year because of construction projects and people off work or school.

Best Practice: Traffic Planning

A lot of dispatchers use mapping tools to plan their summer. One of the biggest benefits of using mapping tools is they help drivers avoid congestion by giving live traffic updates.

For example, on the Geotab portal, dispatchers can create a route. The map then takes Google traffic updates and re-routes the driver based on traffic.

Links
Software Advice: Use Fleet Maintenance Software to Prevent Summer Heat Damage