Fleets should explore key areas of their operations to find areas where they can effectively control rising costs and minimise the worst impacts.

Fleet software specialist FleetCheck said it’s seeing pressure on costs among its user base in a wide range of areas – not just fuel pump prices but also service and maintenance, vehicle acquisition, insurance and more

Fleet software specialist FleetCheck said it’s seeing pressure on costs among its user base in a wide range of areas – not just fuel pump prices but also service and maintenance, vehicle acquisition, insurance and more.

Peter Golding, managing director, explained: “Rising costs are being seen right across the economy and this is certainly affecting fleets, with our customers asking us for advice on what they can do to minimise the impact.”

He added: “We are living through a period when cost reduction is probably not possible but cost control certainly is – and fleets should target minimising increases.”

Golding said that accurate data was essential to adopting effective management strategies on rising costs.

“Our response is always that job one is to establish that you are using accurate data, which potentially means everything from information on routing and driver behaviour drawn from telematics to where fuel is being bought and how much is being paid taken from fuel cards,” outlined Golding.

He added that while this may have slipped as priority for some fleets during the pandemic – as driver safety or frontline deliveries required all hands on deck – it remains essential.

“If you have the appropriate information, you can format it effectively using fleet software and identify areas where new strategies can be adopted that minimise cost increases – but that process is a wasted effort without the right data.”

Golding also said fleets should prioritise key areas to control costs and target data collection accordingly, adding: “Of course, in each area, it is crucial to ensure that you are gathering not just accurate but relevant data, and this is where expert advice can be especially useful. It is often that case that a few points of measurement are sufficient as long as they are the right ones.

“Tracking these metrics over time will tell you whether the measures you have adopted are having the desired impact.”

He added that FleetCheck was being asked about how fleets should rethink core strategies in light of rising costs, electrification and issues such as poor new vehicle supply.

“Replacement cycles are an area that is coming under scrutiny, for example, with fleets looking at whether they should be permanently extended. Again, this is very much an exercise that should be driven by data that can be drawn from a variety of sources and formatted appropriately using fleet software to simply the decision-making process.”