How to plan fleet management for your operation

Each year brings new trends and strategies, making it necessary to revisit your operational plans and understand how to plan fleet management to meet market criteria without losing sight of the reality of the business.

However, new developments do not always apply to your reality. You therefore need to analyze each case calmly and use your operational data to support the adoption of new management methods, daily fleet processes, technologies and so on.

Instead of copying a trend just because it appeared in a large operation, see how some planning examples help you reflect on your fleet's priorities, such as:

• Some strategies adopted by large operations
• How to plan fleet management using these strategies?

Some strategies adopted by large operations

Amazon: electrofuel in the truck fleet

Sustainability is here to stay in transport. Many companies are adopting measures to reduce environmental impacts, such as using clean energy and reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

One prominent example is Amazon, the large US retailer.

The company has already announced measures related to climate commitments. The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change, and within this type of commitment, countries communicate actions to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The company therefore began investing in the use of electrofuel for transport operations, produced from a renewable energy source and recycling carbon waste. The reference for your management is not to copy the exact solution, but to understand whether there is room to reduce emissions within your fleet's budget, routes and structure.

Seara: adopting electric truck models

The leading food company planned to expand the use of refrigerated electric vehicles to distribute its products throughout Brazil.

Initially, because of this vehicle model's limited range and the small number of charging sources in the country, the focus was on having trucks operate more in metropolitan areas, where the brand's distribution centers are located.

In line with measures for sustainable transport, each electric vehicle was expected to produce about 30 metric tons less carbon dioxide, which is harmful to human health and the environment.

For a fleet considering this path, the main point is to include the decision in planning: understand where the vehicle operates, what range is needed, where it can recharge, what acquisition costs will be and whether the operation can accommodate gradual implementation.

Ilha Norte: adopting Euro 6 parameters

The bus company from Florianópolis, which provides the city's public transport, announced the adoption of Euro 6 standards to renew and modernize part of its operation.

“Euro 6” is a set of international-standard rules establishing parameters for pollutant emissions from diesel-powered vehicles.

The main measures provided for are reducing fuel consumption and using systems and products that contribute to “cleaner” transport, such as lubricants, catalytic converters and particulate filters. In Brazil, Proconve, the Vehicle Air Pollution Control Program, also organizes vehicle emission control phases and has gradually reduced pollutant emission limits for light and heavy vehicles.

By acquiring new vehicle models and/or specific tools to modernize the operation, Ilha Norte intended to comply with these rules and make diesel combustion in its buses more efficient. For other fleets, the lesson is to keep up with environmental rules, model availability and budget impacts before making replacement a priority.

Expresso Nordeste: renewing the bus fleet

Fleet renewal should happen periodically, a tip you can already note down to understand how to plan fleet management. Generally, the average interval for trucks is 5 to 8 years. For buses, this falls to 4 to 6 years per renewal.

Expresso Nordeste planned to renew its fleet and acquire modern vehicles, which would also likely be Euro 6-compliant models.

This plan also envisaged increased productivity in transport operations, greater safety for drivers and passengers, and long-term savings for the fleet.

Even when renewal does not happen all at once, it is worth recording each vehicle's age, condition, maintenance cost and criticality. This way, the company avoids replacing vehicles based solely on age and starts prioritizing what most affects availability, safety and operating costs.

Amaro: expanding the aircraft fleet

The greatest lesson from Amaro's plan is precisely this: planning. Month by month, the company set a goal to acquire a certain aircraft model for its operations, and the idea can also apply to a truck fleet.

During company planning and strategy meetings, it is worth considering: is fleet expansion necessary? Which models can be acquired within the company budget? How many vehicles can be bought?

Here is an important piece of advice for knowing how to plan fleet management and increasing the chance of executing the plan:

It is important to record everything so that it happens as planned.

How can fleet management be planned using these strategies?

Does the fleet currently meet the company's needs?

Along the same lines as our discussion of Amaro's fleet expansion, it is worth considering whether your current fleet adequately meets company demand or whether more vehicles are needed to handle it.

Or, even if all deliveries are completed, could acquiring more vehicles help reduce delivery time? These are questions you can consider when setting company goals.

For example, if one goal is faster deliveries, fleet expansion should be an action to consider. On the other hand, if the goal is reducing operating costs, you can focus more on adopting technologies and implementing new processes in the operational routine.

It is also worth analyzing historical operational data before deciding. Descriptive analysis helps explain what happened in the past, and predictive analysis uses historical data and previous patterns to project future results. In practice, this can support a more focused discussion about demand, maintenance, budget and fleet capacity.

What are the main issues faced in your daily routine?

Too many vehicles stopped in the workshop? Late deliveries? Little communication with drivers? Missing information? All these questions, and others you identify, are ideal for understanding how to plan highly efficient fleet management.

After all, following the steps of successful companies and believing they will work for your business too is not enough.

Each fleet has its own characteristics and works differently, so it is essential to use your own fleet as the basis for management decisions, whether acquiring technologies, processes or methodologies.

A good way to start is to separate issues by frequency, impact and probable cause. This lets the company see whether the bottleneck lies in vehicle availability, the maintenance process, route planning, team communication or the budget allocated to the operation.

Does the company support an important cause?

If sustainability is also being practiced in your operation, this is a cause the company supports. Buying electric vehicles and forming partnerships for proper tire disposal are measures supporting sustainable transport.

It is worth evaluating the causes and understanding how your fleet can support them through internal or even external actions.

The important thing is to turn the cause into a viable action plan. Before buying vehicles, changing fuel or forming partnerships, assess costs, supplier availability, necessary infrastructure, effects on the routine and indicators that will show whether the initiative actually progressed.

Is an annual fleet plan ready?

To understand how to plan fleet management, you need to centralize all details in a single place: the fleet plan.

Organize everything necessary in it by steps or chapters:

• Market and audience information;
• Monthly actions;
• Adopted technologies;
• Daily processes and schedules;
• Budget allocated to each company area.

It is a practical, easily accessible view for you to revisit every month and understand how plans are progressing. That means whether they are going as planned, producing results and needing a new direction.

Want to better understand how to put this document together? Read our full post: How to create a fleet plan for 2024.