Page 31 - U4SSC Simple ways to be smart

• Maintenance records for each vehicle that can be used to assess the best preventative
maintenance procedures.
• Tracking of vehicle expenses and budget controls.

• Automatic notification of planned maintenance and replacement, according to policy.

• The allocation of vehicles to departments and drivers.
• Route planning and optimisation.

• Sensors and geo-location for real-time tracking of vehicles, recording parameters such as fuel
consumption, speed, acceleration and deceleration, location and routes, and time in use.
• Event or incident management for responses that involve multiple vehicles.

• Monitoring of vehicle location to identify theft or misuse.

• Data analysis to evaluate vehicle and supplier reliability over time, as well as service effectiveness
and efficiency.

• Dashboard to monitor progress against fleet management goals.

Such systems can be implemented in stages, starting with basic record-keeping for the vehicles
and gradually extending to real-time monitoring and the analysis of the data collected. The data
can be used to improve services. For example, maintenance records can show which vehicle makes
are less likely to suffer breakdowns and purchasing policies can be updated accordingly. Data on
vehicle routes can be used to improve public transport by offering more or less frequent services.

Technologies required to implement fleet management systems are readily available and
inexpensive. This project could be implemented with cheaper devices initially and then, based on
the information collected and results, upgraded to more sophisticated technologies. A gradual
implementation can allow the city to examine the costs/benefits/viability of each stage.

Results

Fleet management solutions have been implemented in many cities, including the Municipality of
Ezeiza and the Municipality of Cipolletti, where a GPS control system has allowed the city greater
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control of vehicles and has resulted in service improvements. 44

The benefits that result from improvements in basic record-keeping include:

• More effective record-keeping and control of the fleet.
• More effective preventative maintenance, reducing the time that vehicles are out of service and
ensuring lower vehicle turnover.

• Compliance with policies on maintenance and replacement.

U4SSC: Simple ways to be smart 19