What Is A Fleet Manager? Everything You Need To Know And More

Whether you’re looking to hire a fleet management position or have accepted a role as a fleet manager, it’s good to get an idea of what exactly a fleet manager is.

So what is a fleet manager?

To give a short definition, a fleet manager is an individual that manages everything that involves company vehicles and drivers, but let’s break down the position more to understand everything about a fleet manager.

Depending on how many vehicles and drivers your company has, your fleet related expenses could be the largest part of your operating expenses. Putting someone in charge of operating your fleet in the most efficient manner could save your company a huge amount of money in fuel, insurance, maintenance, and driver labor time.

It really depends on the size of your company’s fleet. Companies with lots of vehicles such as large trucking companies may have an individual or even a team who are completely focused on managing the fleet. Smaller companies with less vehicles such as plumbing companies may have an owner or operations manager who manages the fleet along with their regular position.

Finding the right type of drivers for the job is super important because ultimately your drivers are the face of your company because they are the ones that are in direct contact with the customer. Fleet managers have to decide whether to hire drivers with class A, B, or C licenses depending on what type of vehicles they need to drive. With the shortage of class A drivers in the U.S., being a fleet manager means you’ll probably be constantly recruiting drivers.

Fleet managers have to choose which types of vehicles to use depending on what goods and services your company delivers. Are your deliveries small enough to make in a utility van or box truck, or do you need a full size semi-truck? Should you buy vehicles that run on diesel, gas, natural gas, or electricity. These are all factors that you need to consider so you are operating the most efficient vehicles for your company.

Once you have decided which type of vehicles to get for your company, you have to decide whether to rent, buy, or lease your fleet. If your deliveries always vary by size, you may want to rent vehicles depending on the job. On the other hand if you deliver the same product or service day after day, leasing or owning is probably the best option.

Once you have vehicles, you have to decide what’s the best way to fuel your vehicles. There are 3 basic options, fuel cards, bulk tank, or onsite mobile fueling. Larger fleets that only have local routes will often use mobile fueling or install a bulk tank, while any company can use a fuel card program to control their fuel purchases at the pump.

Unfortunately with entropy (second law of thermodynamics) everything falls apart at some point, including your vehicles. If you don’t have maintenance through your truck dealership, there’s three main options; mobile fleet maintenance mechanics, an in house mechanic, or just the good old mechanic shop.

DMV registrations, driver logs, IFTA reports, DOT registrations, vehicle safety inspections, are just a few rules and safety regulations you have to stay on top of.

On the day to day basis you’ll probably spend majority of your time scheduling routes, handling problems drivers encounter, and making sure everyone is on time.

Hope that answers most of your questions on what is a fleet manager. If you need any additional resources on fleet management, please browse our blog or contact us.