Sophisticated web-based fleet management software systems significantly reduce the amount of time company decision-makers spend on administration tasks relating to vehicles and their drivers.
Jaama, the UK’s leading fleet and asset management software supplier, says reducing company car, van and HGV-related administration as well as ensuring drivers’ records remain current alongside benefiting from financial savings and improved levels of legislative compliance were all delivered to organisations using its multi-award-winning Key2 software.
Jaama’s comments come in the light of a recent survey by leasing and fleet management company LeasePlan (UK) of 500 business decision-makers in companies of 51-1,000 employees in the UK, which suggested excessive fleet administration was slowing down growth for a large number of organisations. Martin Evans, managing director of Jaama, said: “We remain amazed at the number of public and private sector fleets – some of them operating extremely large fleets of vehicles – that continue to manage cars, vans and HGVs via spreadsheets or an antiquated software system or, in some cases, a combination of the two.”
For many years Jaama has advocated that organisations should adopt a ‘spend to save’ strategy in the software arena because savvy fleet decision-makers recognised that investment was critical to boosting vehicle operational efficiency and therefore business effectiveness.
What’s more, today data and information feeds from contract hire and leasing suppliers, daily rental companies, fuel management operators, fast-fit organisations and residual value suppliers, for example, could immediately update fleet management systems along with information supplied by drivers – mileages, expense claims and working hours – and information from other internal departments on, for example, new starters, employee promotions and changes in driver circumstances.
Additionally, Key2 links with government departments and agencies as they increasingly embrace digitalisation including the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and HM Revenue and Customs.
Mr Evans said: “Key2 has the capability of interfacing with other applications to achieve significant process improvements and efficiencies. Businesses still relying on an element of manual intervention remain in the dark ages and it is no surprise that they complain of an administration burden.”
He continued: “When selecting software it is vital to identify potential functions that could be run on a more self-service basis. For example, if drivers, including employees who drive their own cars on business, have to complete mileage returns/reclaims then they might as well key information straight into the system where in-built rule sets will ensure compliance with corporate policy.
“Overall, our customers benefit from implementing Jaama’s Key2 system by reducing administration, more effective management of their fleet including ‘grey’ fleet vehicles and providing confidence that they are addressing their duty of care responsibilities.
“The administration benefits mean that employees are becoming more productive and able to turn their attentions to other management areas as a consequence of the time savings generated by online fleet management.”
Cutting the fleet administration burden and utilising data to deliver financial savings were critical to Skanska when selecting Key2 as its new vehicle management software system.
Implemented last year, Skanska uses Key2 to manage a UK-wide fleet of some 2,500 vehicles comprising 1,600 company cars, 650 light commercial vehicles and 250 heavy commercial vehicles and plant equipment assets.
Head of fleet Julie Madoui said: “We wanted a system to not only manage our vehicle and equipment assets and hold all information in a single location, but also to interface with our HR system, feed data back to our finance department and link with our workshops and stores. Skanska recognised that investing in software would make running its fleet more efficient.”
Mr Evans concluded: “Fleet managers can justify their employers’ investment in sophisticated systems by the amount of administration time they save in addition to the ability to deliver huge operating cost savings through the increasingly efficient management of their fleet and ‘grey’ fleet vehicles and associated duty of care responsibility.”