11 fleet management mistakes, from refueling to tires

With the number of tasks and areas of attention a fleet manager must handle, making fleet management mistakes may have become common in many companies.

However, this is a warning sign to update processes and your management model. Mistakes can be costly not only for the company, but also for the safety of your operation.

Learn about the most common fleet management mistakes and how to avoid them below:

• Lack of preventive maintenance;
• Not keeping track of operating costs;
• Not monitoring the fleet;
• Not training drivers properly;
• Lack of route planning;
• Not controlling tires;
• Not managing the fleet sustainably;
• Not managing risks;
• Lack of documentation control;
• Not using suitable technology;
• Not controlling refueling.

Lack of preventive maintenance

Failing to maintain vehicles regularly can lead to unexpected mechanical failures, increase repair costs and even put driver safety at risk.

That is why establishing a preventive maintenance routine is fundamental to ensuring fleet vehicles are always in good working condition.

This means including daily vehicle inspections, both at departure and return from operations, and scheduling services in advance.

In addition, if you have the necessary resources, consider implementing predictive maintenance technologies as well. Predictive maintenance will optimize your routine and prevent vehicle damage well in advance.

All this can take place in an organized way through vehicle fleet maintenance management.

Not having control over operating costs

Many managers have ways to keep track of these costs but cannot control them and keep them within a defined budget for the area.

A complete understanding of fleet operating expenses, including fuel, maintenance, insurance and other associated costs, is essential.

Without this detailed oversight, identifying areas where you can save and improve efficiency becomes difficult. And you may end up making another major fleet management mistake: cutting costs where you should not!

Find and implement a management system that can meet this need in your management, and make sure costs from every fleet area are entered and identified correctly.

Not monitoring the fleet

Fleet monitoring is fundamental to effective management. Not keeping track of vehicle location, speed and performance can result in a lack of visibility and control over operations.

Investing in tracking and telemetry systems is essential to maintain efficient monitoring and make informed decisions.

These systems also identify data about driver behavior on the road, which is fundamental to resolving the next fleet management mistake as well:

Not training drivers properly

A lack of suitable driver training (in Portuguese) is a mistake that can affect fleet safety and efficiency.

Ignoring training can lead to performance and safety issues, just as providing training that is not relevant to the fleet's current situation can increase costs without resolving the issues that need attention.

That is why using route monitoring technologies and understanding the main driving behavior issues is fundamental to providing training that is truly relevant and effective.

Lack of route planning

Poor route planning is one of the fleet management mistakes that can waste time and fuel.

Planning correctly ensures deliveries are on time and saves resources. To do this, you need to consider the different factors influencing a route: completion time, distance traveled, traffic at that time, curves, traffic lights and so on.

Using intelligent route planning technologies can help optimize routes and avoid this mistake.

Not performing tire control

When tires are worn or have incorrect pressure, they can increase fuel consumption and accident risk.

You should include tire inspection in the fleet routine, checking both internal air pressure and tread depth in each vehicle tire.

This can already be done semiautomatically through the electronic tread probe, which sends data directly to your control system and automates its interpretation, indicating which tires need inflating or replacing.

The tire management system plays a fundamental role: storing all this information and generating reports for managers' analysis and decision-making. This way, you start avoiding fleet management mistakes in tire care.

Not managing the fleet sustainably

Ignoring sustainable practices is one of the fleet management mistakes as sustainability becomes increasingly important across all industry and market sectors.

Measures to reduce carbon emissions, save fuel and minimize environmental impact are essential.

Once these are implemented, you can also look for other areas to invest in sustainability and ESG practices, which cover social and governance aspects as well as environmental ones.

Not having a risk management plan

Fleet risks can vary widely, from road safety to theft of the company's digital data. Starting and creating a complete plan can therefore be difficult, leading many managers to set this task aside. And guess what? Yes, it is one of the major fleet management mistakes.

You need to identify the different areas with associated risks and organize the best solutions for each situation. This makes it possible to provide prevention and precaution training for situations in which risks materialize.

Understanding risks and their solutions can also help you invest better in more modern vehicles and transport safety technologies, whether to monitor a vehicle and assist in a possible cargo theft or to prevent drivers from driving irresponsibly and causing accidents.

Lack of documentation control

Documentation management (in Portuguese) is often neglected, but is crucial to prevent drivers from traveling routes with expired documents or without carrying important documents for transporting certain loads and goods.

Furthermore, failing to control documentation properly can result in fines, delays and operational complications.

Using systems that support this management stage is also fundamental, improving how documentation is organized and making information checks faster and more accurate.

Not using suitable technology

Technology plays a fundamental role in modern fleet management, and this is one of the more straightforward fleet management mistakes to resolve. You only need to identify suitable solutions for your operation's needs.

Failing to take advantage of available technological solutions can leave your company behind the competition, limiting operational efficiency and visibility.

Not controlling refueling

Not controlling refueling can lead to waste and even fuel theft. That is why establishing refueling control measures, such as fleet cards and monitoring systems, is fundamental to avoiding this mistake.

In addition, with the challenge of constantly fluctuating prices, controlling refueling and even fuel consumption per vehicle is fundamental to keeping your accounts straight and starting to reduce expenses in this area too.

How about continuing to learn how to make your fleet management more efficient and economical? Download our free resource on the subject by clicking here (in Portuguese).