10 Fleet Management KPIs in Maintenance to Improve Your ROI

10 Fleet Management KPIs in Maintenance to Improve Your ROI

05 May 2023

Read time: 5 min

Use fleet reports to evaluate your KPIs

As a fleet manager, you can access a wealth of information on your drivers and assets. Tracking fleet management key performance indicators (KPI) is the first step in making the best decisions for your fleet operations. Of course, the success of your fleet ultimately depends on how you use that data, but figuring out which data to pay close attention to can be difficult, especially when managing a large fleet with many moving parts.

That’s why we’ve gathered ten of the most crucial KPIs in fleet management you need to monitor to help improve your company’s ROI while quickening your decision-making abilities.

1. Asset Utilization

Every vehicle in your fleet is an expensive investment; therefore, getting the most out of your assets is crucial. Monitoring your fleet assets will help you get the most out of your investment and extend its lifespan. Tracking average daily miles driven is an excellent start to determining if underutilized vehicles are in your fleet. Fleet preventative maintenance (PM) schedules may also need to be adjusted if you notice certain vehicles are over/under scheduling based on the utilization levels.

Another component that can be helpful to monitor is battery levels. For example, a fleet maintenance platform such as Pitstop will notify fleet managers with a parked battery alert when a vehicle has not been driven for five days. It could be time to consider whether the vehicle can be productively utilized or sold for profit if you’ve been identifying underused vehicles for a while. Also, you may discover that your current fleet size is overestimating its demand.

2. Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC)

You can get real-time diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) from your assets by connecting a telematics device to your fleet maintenance software. Fleet maintenance software can notify you with alerts of critical DTCs that need to be repaired quickly, but it’s crucial to monitor historical fault code data.

You can view a list of the vehicles with the most fault occurrences and highly critical DTCs across your fleet to determine which vehicles need to be brought to your mechanic immediately.

Monitoring these DTCs will enable you to develop more effective maintenance schedules for your assets. In addition, it will notify you of any recurrently problematic vehicles so that you can build replacement plans.

3. Vehicle Replacement

A fleet manager’s most disheartening responsibility is undoubtedly replacing a vehicle. Nevertheless, a vehicle replacement can be made simple if done so strategically. Vehicles may operate longer than expected, resulting in decreased asset performance and increased maintenance expenses. Even though it is costly to replace assets, having old vehicles repaired frequently will hurt your company’s ROI.

Monitoring maintenance metrics such as service history, fault code frequency, and total cost of ownership using maintenance software can help you determine which vehicles should be replaced within your fleet.

4. Parts Availability

If you can manage it, contract out your components’ inventory management procedures. In-house inventory is expensive to maintain, and unused parts may need to be updated. Outsourcing can increase your parts availability rate. In addition, by using third-party businesses, you can avoid paying for storage and distribution.

If you have in-house technicians, predictive fleet maintenance can predict repairs weeks in advance, making it simpler to order parts ahead of downtime.

5. Fleet Preventative Maintenance

Fleet preventative maintenance is a method to extend your assets’ life and avoid expensive, last-minute repairs through preventive maintenance (PM). By putting in place a PM calendar, you can monitor and evaluate all routine maintenance.

The timing of scheduled maintenance for services like oil changes, inspections, brakes, and tire replacements can be made more evident with the help of formal maintenance policies and safety rules.

A static PM is solely scheduled maintenance based on miles, time, or a combination of the two. However, smart PM depends on the regular routine schedule and considers predictive fleet maintenance insights to create the optimal schedule, which changes depending on changing vehicle health needs. A smart PM program that uses predictive insights can drastically reduce the gap between unexpected and planned downtime, allowing your fleet to run more efficiently.

6. Idling Time

According to a U.S. Department of Energy research, while heavy-duty trucks are sitting idle for 60 minutes, they typically use around half a gallon of fuel. While that may not seem like much, every time a motorist leaves the engine running to complete paperwork, make a quick phone call, or take any form of stop, gas is being burned.

With the help of fleet maintenance software, you can keep an eye on excessive levels of idling, which result in higher fuel expenses, a larger carbon footprint, and more work hours required to maintain the fleet. You can dive into the causes of idling by looking at sensor data and driver behavior.

7. Safety & Breakdowns

Every fleet must pay strict attention to safety, which is equally as crucial as upkeep and repairs. Taking a proactive approach to fleet safety safeguards the safety of your drivers and assets while cutting down on avoidable costs.

The fleet maintenance system you use can enable your fleet to maintain strict compliance by incorporating safety practices. Monitoring fleet data like critical subcomponents and driver behavior reduces liability and aids in preventing expensive penalties and accidents.

Software for fleet management will also notify you of any vehicle recalls. You can act immediately by closely monitoring these possible issues.

8. Odometer Readings

Tracking fleet metrics like the odometers of your vehicles can provide insightful data about your fleet. Gathering each vehicle’s information might help you keep on track with scheduled maintenance checks since most PM duties are based on mileage per hour. This information can also monitor your drivers’ performance and ensure they stick to the planned routes.

Make sure to schedule routine odometer updates for the best outcomes. Instead of manually gathering this data, automate it using fleet maintenance software; it takes far less time and lowers the possibility of human error.

9. Shop Efficiency

Considering the financial implications of asset downtime when estimating maintenance expenses is crucial. Technician productivity is essential to keep costs under control and get vehicles back on the road. Fleet maintenance software can track work orders, and maintenance guarantees that you are always aware of how long vehicles are being worked on and what work is being done.

Work order automation can allow you to quickly approve or reject any service tasks if you outsource maintenance, assisting you in managing expenses and shop efficiency.

10. Predictive Fleet Maintenance

Predictive fleet maintenance detects underlying patterns in fleet vehicle data sources (such as telematics and service history) to predict and avoid on-the-road breakdowns.

Consider the ability to predict failures for critical components at the individual vehicle level. You could avoid expensive, one-size-fits-all fleet preventative maintenance routines by servicing vehicles only as needed. With predictive insights, you can take a more holistic, data-driven approach to your maintenance strategy, allowing you to meet the KPIs that matter most to your fleet management.

You can create fleet reports track fleet management KPIs automatically with an integrated fleet maintenance solution like Pitstop! Request a demo and begin your field test today.