Fleet Management

What fleet management covers

Vehicle tracking answers the question of where a vehicle is. Fleet management answers the question of how much that fleet costs you and whether the same work can be done for less. That means looking at maintenance, fuel consumption, utilization and trip costs alongside the movement data.

Cost control

The efficiency module shows how much each vehicle actually works relative to what it costs, while the dashboard brings the key indicators together in one place, instead of piecing the data together from several reports.

Maintenance and roadworthiness

Fleet maintenance and the digital service logbook keep track of service intervals and deadlines based on actual mileage. A planned service is always cheaper than a breakdown on the road, and a missed registration deadline stops a vehicle just as surely as a breakdown.

Planning and deliveries

Transport optimization and distribution solutions reduce idle running and the number of kilometers that generate no revenue, while the HU-GO toll automates part of the cost in international transport.

Real-time fleet tracking

The foundation of any fleet management system is accurate data on where vehicles are and what they are doing. GPS fleet control gives you the current position of every vehicle on a single map, with no need to call the driver and no guessing from memory.

Along with the position, the movement history is also logged, so every trip can be reconstructed afterward: when the vehicle set off, where it stopped, how long it idled with the engine running and which route it took. This data is the basis for calculating trip orders, for checking customer complaints and for the conversation about why a delivery was late.

Zones and automatic alerts

A zone is set up around a warehouse, construction site or customer location, and the system automatically reports entry and exit. Alarms and notifications for speeding, driving outside working hours or a sudden drop in fuel level work the same way. Nobody has to watch the map all day, because the system only reports deviations.

Vehicles, machinery and trailers in one view

A fleet is usually not just trucks. Passenger vehicles, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery are managed in the same system, except that machinery is tracked by working hours instead of mileage, since service is also planned around those hours.

Fleet cost management

A vehicle rarely has just one cost. There are several, and each is tracked in a different place: fuel at the pump, service at the mechanic, registration once a year, tolls abroad, and depreciation most often nowhere at all. Managing fleet costs means adding these items up per vehicle, so you get the real cost per kilometer.

Fuel

The largest variable cost and also the easiest to measure. Fuel consumption tracking compares refueling with the distance covered, and the tank probe also shows sudden drops in level that cannot be explained by driving.

Service, parts and downtime

A breakdown on the road does not only cost the repair. It also costs the vehicle that is out of service, the driver who is waiting and the delivery that is late. That is why service intervals are tied to actual mileage or working hours, not to a date on the calendar.

Deadlines that stop a vehicle

Registration, technical inspection, insurance, tachograph calibration and driver cards all have deadlines that are easy to miss once you have more than a few vehicles. A missed deadline stops a vehicle just like a breakdown, only without warning.

Utilization

A vehicle that is standing still still generates cost. Once you see how much each vehicle actually worked, it often turns out that the fleet can do the same job with fewer vehicles, or that a planned purchase can wait.

Where money and time are most often lost

• Unplanned downtime - a breakdown on the road costs many times more than a service done on time.
• Idle running and excess kilometers - only visible once routes are viewed in aggregate, not one at a time.
• Fuel consumption - the largest variable cost, and the easiest to measure (fuel consumption control).
• Underused vehicles - a vehicle that is standing still still generates cost.
• Administration - time spent on paperwork instead of on the job (trip orders).

What all these items have in common is that they cannot be reduced until they are measured. That is why fleet management starts with data, not with decisions.

Which indicators are tracked

There is no point measuring everything. In practice, a handful of indicators that are reviewed regularly and actually used to make decisions is enough.

• Cost per kilometer - the sum of all a vehicle's costs divided by the distance covered. The only figure that lets you compare different vehicles.
• Consumption per 100 km - per vehicle and per driver, since the same route is driven differently by different people.
• Engine idling - time with the engine running but the vehicle not moving, which burns fuel and shortens the service interval.
• Vehicle utilization - how much a vehicle actually worked relative to the time it had available.
• Idle running - kilometers with no cargo or no revenue.
• Downtime - days when a vehicle was out of service due to a breakdown or an expired deadline.

These indicators come together automatically in reports, and the most important ones are visible on the dashboard without having to dig through reports.

Fleet management by industry

How a fleet is run depends on the business. A construction company cares about machine working hours, a distribution company about delivery sequence, and a rent-a-car agency about vehicle condition at handover. That is why there are solutions by industry:

• Construction - machine working hours, fuel control on the construction site and work outside business hours.
• Distribution - delivery sequence, proof of delivery and time spent at the customer.
• Municipal services - field coverage and proof that the job was done.
• Car rental - mileage, movement zones and vehicle condition at return.
• Bus transport - schedule compliance and driving style.
• Oil industry - transfer control and safety zones.
• Field teams - task scheduling and visit records.

What implementing the system looks like

Implementation does not require downtime and does not have to happen all at once across the whole fleet.

1. A conversation about what to measure. It is not the same whether the goal is lower fuel consumption, tidy trip orders or control over machine working hours.
2. Device installation on the vehicles, by arrangement and usually while the vehicle is idle anyway.
3. A 15-day trial period. The system runs on your vehicles and with your data, with no obligation.
4. Setting up the zones, alarms and reports that you actually need, instead of the defaults.
5. Connecting to your existing software through API integrations, if needed.

The first usable conclusions are usually visible after two to three weeks, once enough data has been gathered to tell a pattern from an exception.

Frequently asked questions about fleet management

From how many vehicles does it make sense to introduce fleet management?

There is no lower limit - the difference is in what gets measured. For smaller fleets, fuel control and maintenance usually have the biggest effect, while for larger fleets, planning and vehicle utilization become more important.

Does the system connect with existing software?

Yes, through API integrations. Data is most often forwarded to payroll software, ERP systems or transport planning systems, so the same data does not have to be entered twice.

Does fleet management work for a mixed fleet?

Yes. Passenger vehicles, trucks and heavy machinery can all be managed in the same system, except that machinery is tracked by working hours instead of mileage.

How much does fleet management cost?

The price starts at 8 € per vehicle per month and depends on the number of vehicles and the modules chosen. You can test the system free for 15 days - see the pricing details.

What is the difference between vehicle tracking and fleet management?

Vehicle tracking answers the question of where a vehicle is and which route it took. Fleet management uses that same data, but combines it with costs, servicing and utilization, so it answers the question of how much your fleet costs you and where that cost can be reduced.

Can you see the cost for each vehicle separately?

Yes. Fuel, servicing, deadlines and kilometers driven are all tracked per vehicle, giving you the cost per kilometer for each vehicle and for the fleet as a whole. That is also the basis for deciding whether it is worth keeping a particular vehicle.