When it comes to reducing fleet costs, many business owners are faced with a contradiction of sorts: invest to improve efficiency or spend on expansion.

According to Dr David Molapo, Head of Standard Bank Fleet Management, an important step towards enhanced fleet efficiency means handing fleet management tasks over to a senior executive.

“It is important that clear efficiency targets are given so as to make sure that the senior manager’s time spent on fleet management is actually paid for by the productivity gains,” he says. “Systems need to be in place to allow managers to reduce fleet costs by pinpointing bad driving, eliminating unnecessary trips and providing early warnings of machine failure.”

He adds that keeping to timely maintenance and vehicle replacement schedules is paramount, which can be taken care of through maintenance management. For a small monthly fee, per vehicle, management of vehicle maintenance can be outsourced to a specialist call centre, which ensures mechanical workshops don’t overcharge and don’t carry out unnecessary work.

Transaction authorisation can be implemented, which provides fleet managers with information about fuel transactions in real time. Suspect transactions can then be automatically blocked and the head-office alerted.

“The most important factor remains senior management focus. It is only through dedicated attention and involvement that SMEs are able to develop a working fleet policy and monitor fuel consumption, which results in competitive advantage,” he concludes.