Fleet management should be one of the most important operational factors for companies, as fleet costs can account for as much as 30% of a company’s operational expenses, fleet management solutions provider FleetPro MD John Bell tells Engineering News.

He notes that the company’s fleet management system, FleetPro, provides complete real-time fleet and asset life- cycle management, including fleet finance and maintenance management; fuel, accident and fines management; as well as personnel and driver management.

The software program is based on a highly portable application development environment and is easily modified to a customer’s site and their choice of database across a range of hardware platforms, including a personal computer, Unix or Windows operating systems and large mainframes.

Bell explains that the FleetPro system comprises static data, transaction and event management, management information systems and fleet accounting.

“Static data defines all the nonvariable data required to run the FleetPro system. Transaction and event management is, in essence, the heart of a company’s daily operational system, while management information systems provide comprehensive management reporting and detailed analysis of fleet. Fleet accounting can be fully integrated into most accounting packages,” he states.

Further, he highlights that the import and export of data is a standard feature of the FleetPro system, which enables the clients to have flexibility in selecting their choice of customer relationship management.

Bell notes that FleetPro’s enterprise resource planning packages, combined with the ability to transfer fleet and asset data to and from various external sources, enable customers to assemble all infor- mation into one central point, thereby offering them “unparalleled access to all relevant information”.

Insourcing of Fleet Management
Bell says South African companies are increasingly insourcing their fleet management services, as “in the present circumstances, no amount of internal fiscal or external sales pressure justifies outsourcing fleet management functions when performance is critical to providing high-quality assets and services for fleet users at a reasonable cost.

“In local government departments, insourcing such services can potentially result in expenditure savings from between 30% and 50%, translating to billions of rands in savings a year across the board,” he states.

Bell believes that this could also result in the upgrading of services offered, for example, by municipalities and State-owned entities such as Eskom and Telkom.

Further, he notes that insourcing fleet management also encourages the retention of skilled personnel and the further upgrade of their skills.

“The stumbling block for most organisations in implementing efficient insourcing is the centralisation of external data into one combined data base. FleetPro can mitigate this by integrating all the functions into one user-friendly system.

However, Bell laments that the traditionally entrenched outsourcing structures, established by financial institutions, among others, are regarded by many as cash cows, resulting in these structures remaining an obstacle to visionary thinking and the practical implementation of innovative solutions.

Moreover, he states that, in the private sector, there is a critical need to provide affordable management for smaller fleets as they are being established by increasing numbers of small, medium- sized and microenterprises as a result of government tenders and private-sector empowerment deals.

History in SA

Bell notes that the FleetPro system was originally developed in South Africa in 1994 to cater to the local market.
“However, in the subsequent 20 years, the system has been upgraded numerous times and is currently widely used in other parts of Africa, including Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mauritius, as well as in the United Arab Emirates, in the Middle East,” he states.

The company also has an agency in the UK, which serves Europe.

“An innovative insourcing scheme not only provides for comprehensive and flexible solutions but also gives a company control over the actual use of its vehicles,” he concludes.