As a small business your vans can be the lifeblood of your organisation and a major asset you have to manage diligently, but the bigger your business is, the bigger your van fleet can be, and so it still requires the same levels of planning, attention and analysis. Van fleet managementis a specialist skill, because vans have to be treated differently to other vehicles in many respects, but there are some characteristics they share with regular cars, which means a core element of van fleet management is based on the same key principles.
Van fleet management should still include regular functions such as:
- Maintenance – scheduled planned maintenance and regular driver self-maintenance
- Vehicle tracking – for monitoring fuel usage and journey efficiency
- Compliance – managing MOTs, insurance, taxation and licensing
- Training – are your drivers demonstrating the right behavioural traits?
- Lease deals – do your lease deals have the right flexibility and are they cost-effective?
- Technology – are you making the best use of available technology to help you monitor fuel efficiency, job tracking and driver behaviour?
Specialist van fleet management tasks
All of these elements are core fleet management functions regardless of which type of vehicles you are using in your fleet, but vans do carry specific characteristics which means that managing them requires a shift in thinking and different policies and procedures.
The types of vans used by a business can differ greatly. Many businesses have light commercial vehicles (LCVs) for transporting people, materials and equipment, while other businesses may have larger vans for deliveries, or they may use minibuses or public service vehicles(PCVs). So what are the key elements you need to consider when planning your van fleet management?
- Choosing the right vehicles – because vans differ so much in size and style it can be difficult to choose the right vehicle for exactly what you need. It is no good having a large, spacious van that is great for long journeys, if you only need a small van for a few materials and are only doing short, local runs. You need to balance practicality and efficiency in order to make your vans cost-effective, but there is sufficient choice and variety on the market to enable you to do that.
- Van wear and tear – the nature of how a van is used – lots of people, materials and equipment coming and going, things being loaded/unloaded frequently, transporting heavy loads – means that they are often subject to more wear and tear than a regular fleet car. So you need to monitor this with internal inspections and service and maintenance but also be wary about how this might affect van leasing agreements. Sometimes there are additional charges for wear and tear that is considered excessive.
- Load efficiency – part of your job planning should involve scheduling jobs so that vans are travelling empty as little as possible. It is wasteful management to have a van travelling back from a job empty when it could be picking up people or materials nearby, particularly if you then have to send out a separate vehicle to do that job and which is then travelling the first leg empty itself. You should also be careful that vans don’t become mobile storerooms because this can effect capacity, fuel efficiency and demonstrates poor job planning.
- Van leasing deals – be careful that your lease terms are not too long or too short. If you need to downsize your van, this can work out fine if you only have a short lease, otherwise you might be stuck with a large van that is running inefficiently for an extended period. The market is awash with vans of niche sizes and requirements and you should always be able to find a type of van and a lease deal that suits you.
- Monitor usage – if you have a fleet of more than one van you need to monitor usage to ensure you are getting effective and efficient use from them. So if you have a large van that you only use once a month or something, might it be cheaper to hire one when needed rather than have one on lease but under-used?
- Refuelling/charging network – you need to plan journeys around refuelling or recharging stops to make it cost-effective. Many fleet managers have fuel cards which allow them savings at particular services, and vans have specialist demands in this sense, but it is no good having these fuel cards if journeys are planned where these services can’t be accessed and fuelling/charging needs to be done elsewhere.
Get help with your van fleet management from Total Motion
We have years of experience in providing innovative and ground-breaking solutions for fleet managers across the UK, and that includes assisting with van fleet management and bringing new ideas to the table, so if you want to outsource your van fleet management or need any advice on compliance, cost savings or van leasing, then contact our team at Total Motion today.
