An Asset Register is not a Fleet Register.
Can I please see you fleet register? That’s how most fleet consultancy projects start. The answer is I’ll ask finance, and we end up with a financial document that lacks the required information to properly manage a fleet.
Finance and Fleet have different objectives. Finance wants to feed asset information into financial statements, working capital management, budgeting, financial planning and long-term investment and borrowing decisions.
Fleet wants to manage the usage and operating costs of its fleet. This requires a different set of information that enables fleet managers to measure utilisation, schedule activity, record and analyse operating costs, perform fleet administration, plan replacements and identify a vehicles total cost of operation (TCO).
No doubt there is an interface between the two and there is the imperative that financial information is identical in each system.
The most basic needs of a fleet register are as follows;
- Vehicle description – registration number, make, model, accessories, category, date of 1st registration and delivery date
- Warranties, Service & Maintenance plan – time and Kms limits
- Users – assigned user department
- Utilisation – Age, last known Kms, monthly usage
This is of limited scope and a demanding fleet manager will require significantly more information to fully manage the fleet. This is where a Fleet Management Information System (FMIS) comes into play.
An FMIS is specialist software for a fleet operation that integrates operating and cost information from both internal and external sources such as fuel systems, telematics and outsourced suppliers.
The scope of information requirements is extensive and the list below should be seen as a broad outline of requirements only
- Vehicle details – make , model, Fuel type, engine No, VIN, colour, accessories, delivery date, date 1st reg, supplier, PO Number, cost, , Service & Maint plan.
- Finance – Finance method, Finance type, Financier, Period time & KMs
- Fuel expenditure – Transactional information, consumption benchmarks, reporting and analysis
- Maintenance expenditure – dealer, invoice no, cost, scope of work using 2 codes of description
- Accident details – vehicle, Driver, date, time, description using codes
- Tracking & Telematics – supplier, unit no, usage / utilisation information
- License – renewal details and costs
- Fines – details and dates , driver details
- Disposal – date, buyer and details, age & Kms
- Driver Details – name address, licence details in compliance with AARTO
- Reports – utilisation, expenditure, service, relicensing and COF scheduling
TIPs for a fleet register
- Create a list from all available information and do a fleet audit to verify you data.
- Mark vehicles as active, inactive, sold
- Utilize a specialised FMIS system
- Populate with all available data for 2 or 3 years only
- Accurately and consistently capture info e.g. ABC123GP not ABC 123 GP it provides better data integrity and makes searching easier
This is the just beginning. We now need to use the information to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Have a question?
Contact Nigel Webb - Latitude Fleet Services - nigelw@latitudefleet.co.za