Are Your Fleet Managers Making Any Of These 10 Common Mistakes?

1. Using wrong fuel card– Fleet fuel cards are designed obviously for fleets. If your fleet manager is using a credit card, direct bill, or some other form of payment, they could be forfeiting savings.
2. Delegation– Fleet managers wear a lot of different hats. Typically hard working employees who don’t always admit to their overwhelming job, but it’s their job to push some responsibilities to other co-workers. Communication is key to running a successful fleet.
3. Multiple vendors- Are you in bed with just one vendor? As bad as it sounds get in bed with a few! Of course consolidation is always good, but you don’t want to rely on just one provider. All it takes is something to go bad and you could be in high water.
4. Supervising- Those different hats we discussed above, well we weren’t kidding. Fuel, drivers, maintenance, units, CSA, etc. These are all things the fleet manager has to be aware of. He might not handle every one of them directly, but he needs to be aware of the latest details otherwise he could fall out of the loop.
5. Break- Nobody can work 168 hours a week; it’s not physically possible. Ensure that you have time away from the job to recharge your battery. Otherwise your work time will become less productive and more strenuous.
6. Team meetings- Whether your business is small or large; an unhappy worker is an unproductive worker. Work with your drivers to solve any internal issues that could be causing disgruntled employees. Meetings at least once a month can help identify and work out any problems.
7. Pleasing everyone- It’s quite difficult to make everyone happy as you probably know from experiences in life. The same goes for fleet managers and their coworkers. You are the leader of the pack, and your decisions aren’t always going to be favorable to the entire crew. Keep that in mind, but also keep in mind what’s best for the group.
8. Don’t lose the big picture- It’s easy to hone in on your industry, but by doing this you may be overlooking important details. Things happening across the country and world will affect your industry directly and indirectly. Try to broaden your horizon.
9. Show your work- Reminds me of being in math class. If you didn’t show your work of how you solved the problem, then how does the teacher know you understood the outcome and didn’t possibly cheat? Well this isn’t necessarily cheating in this case, but you need to show your successes and the effort you put into your job to the “higher ups”.
10. Be creative– Creative solutions are key to running your fleet. Adapting to change is a part of the job. Just think about all of the changes since you first entered the field. If you’re not thinking outside the box, you’ll be left behind while the rest of the industry moves forward.

10 Mistakes Fleet Managers Make (2011). Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.fleetcardusa.com/FleetFacts/mistakes_managers.aspx