What does fleet management include?
- Tracking: where each vehicle is now and where it has been.
- Maintenance and servicing: services booked by date, odometer or engine hours, and faults repaired before they take a vehicle off the road.
- Drivers and safety: licences, pre-start checks, driving events and incident follow-up.
- Fuel and costs: fuel, repairs, registration, insurance and finance for every vehicle, known as its whole-of-life cost.
- Compliance: tax, heavy vehicle and safety duties, with the history to show they were met.
- Utilisation and replacement: how much each vehicle is used, and when to replace it.
- Shared vehicles: bookings and keys for pool vehicles.
What does a fleet manager do?
A fleet manager buys or leases the vehicles, keeps them serviced and registered, sets the rules for drivers, controls costs and reports to finance and safety. In a small business the job usually falls to the owner or office manager. Councils and large companies run a dedicated team.
What is fleet management software?
Fleet management software puts those jobs on one platform in place of spreadsheets, shared calendars and paper forms. GPS trackers send each vehicle's location, odometer and driving events to the software, which turns them into service reminders, cost reports and compliance history.
IntelliTrac's fleet management software covers GPS tracking, maintenance and servicing, dispatch, fuel and costs, FBT logbooks and pool bookings on one Australian-owned platform.
What is different about fleet management in Australia?
Four sets of rules shape the job here:
- Fringe benefits tax. A car available for an employee's private use is taxed, so days available, odometer readings and trip purposes all matter.
- Fuel tax credits. Heavy vehicles and off-road use can claim back part of the fuel excise, with a defensible on-road and off-road split.
- Chain of Responsibility. Anyone with influence over a heavy vehicle over 4.5 tonnes shares responsibility for its safety, under the law the NHVR administers.
- WHS. A work vehicle is a workplace, and that duty extends to the grey fleet of private cars used on work trips.
Tracking adds one more. New South Wales and the ACT require written notice at least 14 days before tracking starts, and NSW also requires a visible notice in the tracked vehicle. In other states, tell drivers clearly and ask them to sign a vehicle-use policy. Telling drivers about tracking sets out each state.
How do you start managing a fleet?
- List every vehicle with its registration, driver and next service date.
- Pick the three problems that cost you the most time or money, such as finding vehicles, missed services or fuel spend.
- Put tracking and servicing on one platform first, then add costs, FBT and bookings.
The buying guide on how to choose fleet management software has demo questions and a checklist.
How much does fleet management cost?
IntelliTrac fleet management software starts from $12 a vehicle a month, with a no-lock-in option. Your price depends on fleet size, the trackers you choose and the capabilities you add.
General information, not tax or legal advice.