Running a food delivery service comes with challenges, many of which involve managing your vehicle fleet. Even if you just have one catering van or two delivery passenger vehicles, your fleet is the foundation of your business, and you need to ensure a smooth operation.
Are you running software to keep track of everything? If not, it’s worth considering. Using a fleet management application can support your business in several ways.
- Fleet management software increases profitability
Whether you’re pursuing warranty reimbursements, optimizing labor, or managing parts inventory, fleet management software will streamline your efforts.
For example, when a vehicle needs a repair, you’ll know immediately if it’s under warranty before your technicians start the work. Depending on how many vehicles you operate, you could save hundreds to thousands of dollars each year just by pursuing all of your warrantable opportunities.
By optimizing labor, you can be sure tasks are assigned to the right people at the right time, minimizing the time spent waiting for something to work on. This increases your technicians’ productivity, which in turn makes your business more profitable.
When you manage parts inventory through a centralized application, you can automate ordering based on actual needs as opposed to keeping parts on hand that you don’t use that often. The less money you have tied up in inventory, the better.
- Software helps you track repairs and maintenance
When you run a food delivery service, you need to maintain your vehicles in top shape, especially if you operate fleets belonging to a catering company or high-end restaurant that delivers. It would be a disaster if someone ordered food for a wedding or corporate event and the delivery truck broke down on the way there.
Using fleet management software makes it easier to say on top of necessary repairs, maintenance, and routine inspections. It also simplifies the process of PM scheduling to prevent breakdowns and manage predictable issues.
You can use fleet management software for preventive maintenance as well, including managing maintenance schedules, work orders, and more.
- Improve fuel costs
Fuel is always going to be a major expense for businesses that operate vehicle fleets of any size. Whether you use gasoline or diesel, there’s always a way to reduce or offset your spending. For instance, you can fill up at a cheaper gas station or join loyalty rewards programs to get discounts on fuel.
Another way to reduce fuel costs is to plan delivery routes for optimal efficiency so that you deliver on time, especially during busy periods. It’s easier to optimize your routes when you use fleet management software to track fuel consumption. You’ll find out what mileage each vehicle is getting, and if there’s a significant discrepancy, you can have it checked out for issues that burn excessive fuel, like bad tires, a dirty fuel injector, or bad spark plugs.
With fleet management software, you’ll get fuel usage data for all your vehicles: current fuel level, how long each vehicle has idled, estimated fuel costs, plus an automated calculation of MPG.
- Track your vehicles
A big part of optimizing your business involves knowing where your vehicles are, what routes they take, and if they’re staying on course. If you find that a vehicle is using more gas than expected, it could be because they’re driving around too much. Tracking is also helpful if your driver doesn’t show up for a delivery and hasn’t communicated with you about the situation. In an emergency, this feature can be essential.
With GPS tracking, you can also share a vehicle’s location in real time with customers on a visual map, eliminating the need for back-and-forth communications.
When customers can track a vehicle’s location, they’ll know when to expect the driver, which ultimately improves the customer experience.
- Route optimization
Reducing fuel consumption is just one reason to optimize your routes. The most important reason is to provide outstanding service to customers by ensuring your deliveries arrive on time. You can use fleet management software to see when routes are on schedule or late, including estimated arrival times.
After routes are completed, you can view the data to see how it matches up with your planned route. From there, you can see what impacted the route and make changes where necessary.
Fleet management software supports success
There’s no better way to track, monitor, and manage your business than by using software. You’ll get real time data that can be used to optimize fuel efficiency, routes, delivery times, and more.
If your goal is to streamline business operations, increase sales, and boost customer satisfaction, consider using fleet management software.