Fleet management basics for budding field service business legends

If you’re reading this, you have a field services business that needs to manage its vehicles more efficiently. But you’re also new to fleet management. So, you’re learning before you buy. Smart. Welcome to fleet management for field services businesses 101.

This article covers:

what fleet management is
why you’ll wonder how you ever functioned without it
different types of right tech to do it well

If you’re less new to fleet management, download this complimentary white paper on the differences between tethered and untethered telematics for a deeper look. Otherwise, read on.

Fleet management is smart vehicle management.

Fleet management is how you track, monitor, manage and maintain company’s fleet vehicles to use them most effectively. That includes knowing where they are, filling their tanks, making sure they’re in good condition, and protecting them from abuse and theft.

Doesn’t matter if you have 1 van or 1,000 trucks. The more effectively they’re managed, the better you’re able to save costs and manage your fleet.

Add fleet data to your secret field service hustle sauce.

Fleet management technology tells you about each vehicle, without disrupting crews with a phone call. Know what’s going on with your fleet to see problems and opportunities that would otherwise go unnoticed. Some technologies such as this all-in-one field services management combines essential fleet management with other aspects of running a business like yours for additional, automatic efficiencies.

Tracking	Always know exactly where each vehicle is located. Know who’s closest to a job without calling for an update. Enhance customer satisfaction through greater reliability and communication. Help law enforcement recover stolen vehicles faster. Reduce fuel use through more efficient routing and fewer stops. Identify and investigate unauthorized use and stops.
Activity	Reduce citations and accidents by addressing unsafe driving habits. Lower fuel expenses by reducing idling, speeding and other inefficient habits. Maintain steady insurance rates with safer driving.
Diagnostics (select tech)	Reduce major repair costs by preventing more major engine failures. Extend each vehicle’s lifespan by keeping it healthier, longer. Maintain a more reliable fleet by preventing more breakdowns. Make sure no vehicle’s maintenance is neglected, even if it’s rented or leased.
All-in-one field service management (select tech)	Digitize paperwork, scheduling, billing, invoicing and work orders. Automate and streamline essential workflows and operations. Enhance customer service, reliability, communication and retention.

Save money with location tracking alone. Tracking your fleet means tracking your entire fleet: owned, rented, leased and borrowed. Tracking your fleet over time shows trends in what you use more and less often, when. And helps inform purchasing and renting decisions so you avoid paying for what you don’t need.

Let’s pop the hood on how fleet management tech works.

In a nutshell, fleet management technology streams data from the vehicle to the cloud. You log on to the software’s online dashboard to track each vehicle.

Where it’s located
Where it’s been
How it’s being driven
When it idles
Who’s driving

Some fleet management tech also captures essential vehicle diagnostics, power take-off events, battery charge levels, vehicle inspections and driving behaviors. Not every field services fleet needs that level of detail. If yours does, put those features on the list of must-haves.

Actual technology differs from provider to provider. Some involve installing telematics devices in your vehicles. Others may involve mobile devices or cameras. See a side-by-side comparison.

A lot can change while you wait. Some fleet management technology takes up to several minutes to stream data from the vehicle to the cloud. Choose tech that streams data almost instantly (real time).

Turn fleet data into bigger, better budget wins.

Control more costs, across the board.

Know your fleet’s total cost of ownership (TCO), so you can better budget for fuel, insurance, and maintenance and repairs.
Use the fleet management diagnostics to keep your fleet running more smoothly, more often, and reduce major repair expenses.
If you have supplier contracts, use the fleet data to negotiate contracts for the best deals on fuel, repairs and anything else you can.
Ensure compliance with the California Air Resources Board’s Clean Truck Check program by remotely ensuring required scans (no downtime).

Manage fuel costs more effectively.

Monitor fuel usage, spending patterns and inefficient driving habits.
Choose routes that avoid reasons to idle, like traffic congestion.
Use smart scheduling to assign the closest qualified techs (if the software has this function).

Save more money with safer driving.

Reduce liability, risk and your fleet’s number of citations.
Protect insurance rates with fewer accidents and incidents.
Extend each vehicle’s working lifespan with less wear-and-tear.

Tell drivers the truth. Let drivers know their vehicle is being tracked, including speeding, harsh braking and other unsafe events. Maybe make sure the fleet management technology you choose also detects distracted driving, if you think they’d benefit from the additional safeguard.

Think outside the cab. Manage equipment, too.

Track more than vehicles alone. Some fleet management providers also offer a small, rugged, discreet tracking device to track equipment and non-powered assets such as trailers, portable generators, toolboxes, dumpsters and so on.

Consider this: How much did the tools inside each field service vehicle cost? Put a tracking device (that no one knows is a tracking device) on it, and you’ll be better able to retrieve them if they wander off. Put a device on some of the tools, too. Keeps them from getting lost and helps get them back faster if they’re stolen.

Monitor their locations online, next to your fleet vehicles.

Buy, rent and lease when you need to. Save money by not replacing, renting or leasing temporary equipment and vehicles you don’t actually need. Knowing what you have and at what times in the year helps inform planning replacements and purchases.

Pick the field services fleet tech that fits the best.

Fleet management tech isn’t just for the big fleets. One-van independents to 100-truck up-and-comers. If you deploy technicians to perform on-site jobs, tasks and services at a customer’s location, fleet management is for you.

Not all fleet tech is the same, even when it’s from the same fleet management provider. If you aren’t sure what that best fit is yet, the right provider will listen and help.

All-in-one for field services businesses

See brochure

Vehicle location tracking and map views.
Automations, billing, scheduling, and more for efficiency.
Fits almost any vehicle.
Turns paper-based processes into digital ones.

Does not include diagnostics.

Light-duty TCU

See brochure

Fast plug-and-play option for various vehicle types.
Captures diagnostics and driver behavior.
Ideal for leased and rented vehicles.

Does not include field services business automations or features.

OEM-grade TCUs

Learn more

Tamper-resistant with detailed diagnostics.
Installs directly to various vehicle types.
Ideal for long-term owned vehicles.

Does not include field services business automations or features.

Electrical, HVAC, lawn & landscape, pest control, plumbing, mobile pet grooming, handyman services, property maintenance, home healthcare services… Any field services business can use fleet management technology to more effectively manage its fleet and find ways to save.

Find the right fit, not the fanciest fit. Some fleet management companies will tell you what you want to hear and try selling you fleet tech you don’t need. The right company who provides it listens and walks you through the best options.

A well-managed field services fleet is an investment and advantage over competitors who don’t (or don’t do it as well). Know your fleet, know what’s most important to you, and match the solution to what you need.

The right fleet management shows what you need to know, when you need to know it. If you’re not sure, talk to one of our experts who’ll be happy to help—without trying to oversell you.