January 2008 - Feature
Best Practices for Asset Management Functions
By Michael Lewis
2. Managed Maintenance: Take a holistic approach
Fleet managers interested in getting the most value from their trucks and equipment take a holistic approach to costs in 2008. When it comes to maintenance, it all boils down to effectively managing a truck’s lifecycle according to your vehicles’ component and operational requirements.
New managed maintenance services provide access to OEM dealer networks, a national network of truck stops, and other independent parts and service suppliers, plus round-the-clock access to ASE-certified truck specialists.
Best practices for maintaining trucks combine effective policy management with engineering expertise to ensure vehicle assets are operating efficiently and effectively. Enhanced managed maintenance programs provide a variety of cost management capabilities, enabling fleet managers to track maintenance purchases, repair costs, repair status, and preventive maintenance schedules. This information also can be used to determine the optimal cost-per-mile strategy.
3. Risk Management: Predictive analytics help prevent crashes
Accidents have an estimated $35 to $40 billion annual impact on the trucking industry. So, it comes as no surprise that 85 percent of North America’s fleet operators have expressed an immediate need to curtail accident-related costs. The problem is that current industry-accepted driver safety analysis and training programs employ conventional, reactionary methods. These methods include, for example, reviewing past driving behavior and targeting drivers who have already been involved in an accident and are identified as "high-risk."
A revolutionary approach to truck risk and safety is predictive analytics. Predictive analytics applies smart technology and data modeling programs to driver habits, which helps forecast which drivers are likely to have collisions, empowering fleets to prevent accidents from happening.
With the integration of information about drivers, GPS, telematics, and preventive maintenance data, fleet managers are now equipped to proactively develop intelligent driver safety models specific to their business needs, operations, and systems. By leveraging and analyzing data to provide insight into truck-tractor usage, driver behavior, and fleet productivity schedules, predictive models allow the industry to maximize investments and realize benefits beyond driver safety.