What are the Qualities of a Great Fleet Manager?

by Diksha Bhandari | May 9, 2023

What’s the definition of a great fleet manager? Discover the qualities, skills, and qualifications that would make you a successful fleet manager.

Great Fleet Managers are not born great, they grow great! Sounds familiar?

Oh yes, you guessed it right! #TheGodfather

The fleet management industry is not easy to dwell in It requires an equal amount of mental, physical and psychological effort However, with time and technology, a lot of stress has been shared by fleet automation tools and vehicle tracking software. Yet, fleet managers have truckloads of roles and responsibilities to take care of.

This entire piece of article is dedicated to unsung heroes of the logistics and transport industry. It will be an interesting and useful read for any seasoned or novice fleet manager

What is a Fleet Manager? What does a Fleet Manager do?

A fleet manager is in charge of a fleet of vehicles in logistics, freight forwarding or transport sector He is responsible for managing and coordinating fleet operations including vehicle management, driver management, trip scheduling and a lot more The bigger the fleet of vehicles the greater the number of fleet managers get in an organisation

It may sound very simple but fleet operations on the floor get messier and more complicated than what it looks here on the screen It involves seamless balancing between various stakeholders involved in the business – including consignments, drivers, vehicles, rentals and trip managers.

What are the Primary Roles and Responsibilities of the Best Fleet Manager?

“With Great power comes great responsibility” Uncle Ben was so right!

The designation and the position of a fleet manager is not a small one, to be clear It does come with a lot of responsibilities towards the fleet, towards the organisation, towards drivers and the rest of the staff

Let’s touch upon them one by one!

Fleet Maintenance

Managing the entire fleet is one thing and maintaining each and every vehicle to ensure 100% uptime is another They are responsible for ensuring timely vehicle servicing, maintaining overall fleet health, and renewing permits/licenses before expiration

Driver Management

Managing drivers involves much more than preparing driver schedules and tallying their leaves Fleet managers must keenly do the KYC of each driver enrolled on the team. This includes verifying all the necessary licenses they must own in order to work as drivers Keep tabs on their performances and delegate work according to their abilities

Drawing Fleet Efficiency

Ensuring that the fleet is operating optimally, without having to pay unnecessary overheads is also a fleet manager’s job How does this happen? Keeping a close eye on various aspects such as fuel efficiency, driving behaviour monitoring and vehicle uptime allows for cutting inefficiencies Hence, saves extra costs

Vehicle Acquisition

Vehicles are the centrepiece of a fleet manager’s work. Vehicle acquisition, disposal and rental operations are some of the primary tasks when you are in charge of a fleet Some crucial decisions pertaining to vehicle acquisition include when to dispose of or buy a vehicle, which one to keep and which one to sell

Safety and Compliance

In your endeavours to become the best fleet manager, you must abide by safety and other necessary compliances Making sure that all the vehicles in the fleet are following safety regulations and complying with industry standards

Budgeting and Expense Management

Everything comes down to budget, profits, and money in the end, right? Preparing estimates and managing budgets is one of the major responsibilities of a fleet manager. Other financial chores include predicting costs, monitoring expenses and making ad-hoc tweaks in the allocations and generating financial reports

What are the Qualities of a Successful Fleet Manager?

When a professional starts climbing the career ladder, some manage to climb it a little faster than others The ladder is somewhat the same, each rung comes with a different challenge for everyone So what makes a good fleet manager more successful than an average one?

Following are some skills and qualities that a professional must possess or hone over the period to become the best fleet manager

Time Management Skills

Excellent time management skills do make a difference in every professional’s life However, in a fleet manager’s career, it plays a little more important role Trip execution, delivery management, in fact, logistics as a whole is a time-sensitive business, because if one step gets delayed it’ll have a domino effect on the entire supply chain.