Vehicle entry and exit control: what to record

Controlling vehicles entering and leaving garages is a way to make fleet management more efficient.

Both because it gives more visibility into who is responsible for each vehicle, for example, and because it organizes routines and increases employee safety.

After all, when this control starts, vehicle inspection checklists are also expected to be carried out at both moments — departure and return to the operation. The check before the trip helps confirm whether the vehicle is in safe condition to drive.

This favors the efficiency of the operation's flow, allowing control of variables such as the natural wear of parts, scheduled maintenance services and pending items identified before they become a bigger problem.

If this procedure is carried out the wrong way, it affects the operation's productivity and costs. So you need to pay attention and understand in depth how each stage of the fleet's processes works and how it can contribute to making improvements.

But…

What is vehicle entry and exit control for?

Vehicle entry and exit control serves to record the operation's daily trips. However, it has a complementary role that is becoming increasingly important:

Keeping track of the health of the fleet's vehicles.

This area is responsible for the proper functioning of the trucks, ensuring they are in perfect condition to set out on a trip, whether short or long distance.

It is through vehicle control that those in charge of management can build a history of fleet operations, providing the company with a range of data, such as the number of accidents and fines while on the road.

In addition, it provides information on the inspection checklist items that recur most, which driver has the most incidents and repeatedly causes problems, among other information.

These matters are recorded so that the manager knows what is happening with the vehicle fleet, obtaining qualitative results. That is where spreadsheets or digital systems come in.

The fleet control process ensures:

• Effective management of vehicle entry and exit movement;
• Increased safety;
• Reduced costs and bureaucracy;
• Organized access to the recorded data on vehicle movement;
• A higher level of driver and customer satisfaction.

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How do you control fleet vehicle entry and exit?

Entry and exit control should be carried out daily by a fleet manager who will be responsible for collecting information. This includes:

• Sampling period: It serves to monitor the fleet's statistical data through spreadsheets. Everything depends on the number of vehicles your fleet has and the pace of entries and exits. If the flow is small, one spreadsheet for the month should be enough; if it is large, one spreadsheet for the week may be necessary.
• Vehicle information: Data such as the model, color, license plate or any other identification method the company uses to tell the fleet apart.
• Driver information: Data such as name, age and length of service with the company can be collected.
• Date and time of vehicle checkout and return: When the vehicle left the company and when it came back are fundamental pieces of information for keeping control of the fleet's vehicles, as well as of the time used for the trip in question.
• Starting and final mileage: Mileage entails various expenses, such as fuel and parts wear, helping make operating costs more predictable.

The report can be done manually. However, because it covers a large amount of data, it may end up with some errors.

To deal with this, automated fleet management software is a solution.

Is there a system for vehicle entry and exit control?

Not necessarily a technology specific to this function, but there are certainly systems that meet this need.

Maintenance management software, for example, needs to have this type of control to keep track of vehicles in operation or under repair. As we mentioned, the inspection checklist itself is a means for vehicle entry and exit to be kept track of more closely.

Besides these resources, there are vehicle monitoring and/or tracking systems on the market.

These systems belong to another category: with tracking, it is possible to know the truck's location and keep track of operational information such as idle time, average speed and route. This does not replace the control done by checklist; they are different data, with different purposes.

Some advantages of organizing the control with suitable systems are:

Reliable monitoring

With standardized records, it is possible to control the flow of vehicles more reliably and with fewer data entry errors.

With this data, it becomes easier to know the duration of the route and the waiting time, inspect entry and exit and check whether the information was recorded by whoever was responsible for the operation.

Efficient management

With vehicle entry and exit control, the management of maintenance, fuel spending and routes is done with considerable precision.

Even more so if you choose to include the checklist in your routine: you keep track of vehicles with open work orders and the severity of the item — moderate or critical. A comprehensive maintenance strategy also helps managers and drivers keep vehicles running efficiently.

Identifying operational failures

Through full fleet control, the system can identify failures in the operation's process, such as stops that can be optimized, incomplete records and incident patterns that indicate where the process needs to improve.

Cost reduction

Keeping a close eye on vehicle and driver expenses helps reduce costs.

By cross-referencing the vehicles in operation, the recorded mileage, the routes driven and the maintenance records, you can set average amounts for each trip.

This way, you identify when a cost becomes excessive and can more easily identify which problem caused the increase. Route planning can also contribute to efficiency by reducing miles driven, stops and time in transit.

How do you use the checklist in vehicle entry and exit control?

One of the benefits of using a checklist platform for fleet entry and exit control is the possibility of adding, replacing and changing any item on the list.

It is also possible to request marked-up photos.

If there is any damage to the truck, the manager can receive photos of the damage recorded by the person who did the inspection, indicating where it is located.

In fact, the digital checklist makes it possible to keep track of vehicle handover and return remotely, without requiring the manager to be at the company in person to check each record. At Prolog, the inspection is done on the phone and can automatically open a work order when there is a reported issue.

The vehicle checklist is a way to speed up tasks and automate information control, so we invite you to get to know the solution we at Prolog offer — click here to visit our page.