Fleet Management Lifecycle and Replacement

Opportune replacement of a company vehicle and its equipment requires some work. A company must be able to foresee the asset lifecycle based on its cost information, use, and age of asset. Company standards for the asset lifecycle are created on a yearly schedule.

These fleet management programs enable companies to handle many tasks while curbing expenses. Some of the benefits of these management tools are noted in the United Kingdom experience. April 2008, an Act called the Corporate Manslaughter was put into place to strengthen or target directors in a company and their drivers in the event that road death occurs during business operations.

UK police claim that every road death is treated like an “unlawful killing”. This gives them the authority to seize the company records as well as the comp9uters during investigation. The police can prosecute company directors who fail to supply any clear policy or guidance for their drivers during work hours.

Business owners and directors should be aware that if one of their drivers uses their own vehicle for business purpose, this law applies. The company and directors are demanded to ensure that all company vehicles are roadworthy. The vehicles must be insured properly.

All companies must have a “Driving at Work policy” written that covers all elements of their company vehicle operations. This applies to all vehicles and owners. Each employee who drives a company vehicle for a business is expected to sign up for this policy. This reduces the risk of the director’s responsibility placed upon him or her if something goes wrong.

Because of these laws, most fleet companies install GPS devices in their vehicles. With the devices in place the fleet managers can stop or start the vehicles anytime, they suspect unauthorized activities occurring. The fleet manager can lock up the engine or brakes as well, which poses the question - is this really safe.

GPS devices enable fleet managers to lock the doors of their vehicles, slow the vehicle down, or profile the driver and vehicle anytime they choose. With the GPS or Global Positioning System, a fleet manager has full control over his drivers and vehicles.

Drivers now are under full control of a company fleet. The fleet manager can monitor the driver’s activities, including his stop and start location. The fleet manager can monitor the history of the driver’s patterns and behaviors while he or she is working. These cuts back on drivers who goof off on company time, i.e. the drivers can no longer get away with visiting unauthorized locations while driving the company vehicle.

GPS has many great purposes, but some people question whether the devices are violating the privacy of the drivers. Of course, a company cares less about driver’s privacy and more about the responsibility of the driver. Thus, fleet managers with total control over their drivers and vehicles empower them to put an end to unauthorized activities.