There is no denying the fact that fleet and safety managers have an ever-increasing workload, and measuring and comparing these factors can be challenging, as there are many variables, standards, and sources of data involved.
In this article, you will learn the best way to benchmark and compare fleet safety and risk performance, and how to use the insights to improve your fleet operations.
Fleet benchmarking is the practice of comparing the performance, efficiency, and safety of one’s own fleet of vehicles with industry standards, the best practices of other similar fleets, or against internally set standards.
First, you measure your current performance, and then you track progress towards your goals. This process involves collecting and analysing data related to various aspects of fleet management, such as vehicle utilisation, maintenance, fuel consumption, driver behaviour, and safety records, and then using this data to identify areas for improvement. With telematics software, users can gather a large volume and variety of data, set unique fleet goals, and then make necessary adjustments to save money and resources.
Fleet benchmarking aims to enhance the overall performance and effectiveness of a fleet, reduce operational costs and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations. Benchmarking is supposed to answer the following questions:
Each fleet is unique, and finding the optimal benchmark for your fleet can be a challenge. Fleet benchmarking can provide several benefits to organisations, including:
Benchmarking is a process of comparing the strengths and weaknesses of organisations with the aim of learning how best to make improvements. Here are steps to get started with fleet benchmarking:
The first step to benchmark your fleet performance, risks, and costs, is to define your goals and objectives. What are you trying to achieve with your fleet? What are the key challenges or issues that you want to address, and how will you measure your success?
Common objectives include reducing fuel consumption, improving safety, enhancing vehicle utilisation, or cutting maintenance costs. For fleet benchmarks to be useful, you must measure something relevant to your business needs. For example, if you set a fuel consumption benchmark of 18L/100km, you must measure the actual fuel use.
The next step is to select the metrics that will help you track your progress and compare your performance and costs with others.
Metrics are quantitative indicators that measure your fleet performance and costs in areas such as safety, maintenance, utilisation, productivity, and environmental impact. It’s important to choose metrics that are relevant to your goals, such as collision rate, injury rate, claim frequency, claim severity, fuel consumption, compliance score, or customer feedback, and above all are easy to collect and report on. These metrics should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Once you have your goals and metrics, you need to collect and analyse your data. You can use various sources of data, such as telematics, driver behaviour monitoring, vehicle inspection reports, maintenance records, insurance claims, regulatory reports, or customer surveys. You should ensure that your data is accurate, complete, and consistent and that you use the same definitions and methods across your fleet. You should also use data analysis tools, such as dashboards, charts, or tables, to visualise and summarise your data, and to identify trends, patterns, or outliers.
Fleet management software serves as a centralised platform that integrates various aspects of fleet operations. It allows fleet managers to track and monitor KPIs such as fuel efficiency, maintenance schedules, and driver performance. The software provides real-time data updates, enabling fleet managers to have a comprehensive view of their fleet’s performance at any given moment. This empowers them to identify areas for improvement, track progress, and make informed decisions to optimise operations.
Telematics systems, which consist of GPS tracking devices and onboard sensors, provide valuable data on vehicle performance and driver behaviour. These systems capture information such as speed, acceleration, braking patterns, and idling time – all of which can have a significant impact on a fleet’s cost and performance.
Most fleets have a mix of different vehicle types, no matter what benchmarking tool you use, ensure your data is segmented by vehicle type, which enables a far more accurate comparison. This will allow you to use a two-benchmark system.
The first allows you to compare your performance to the all-user average in the system. This gives organisations a clear indication of where they sit as part of the whole picture – are they above or below average? But that in itself is only part of the picture and doesn’t help them determine if where they are is good enough.
The second benchmark is to compare against good practice and industry standards.
After you have your data and analysis, you need to compare your fleet safety and risk performance with internal and external benchmarks. Internal benchmarks are the standards or targets that you set for your own fleet, based on your goals and metrics. You can compare your current performance with your past performance, or with the performance of different segments, units, or drivers within your fleet.
External benchmarks are the standards or norms that are set by the industry, the market, or the best practices. You can compare your performance with the performance of other fleets, competitors, or peers, or with the performance of industry leaders or benchmarks. These fleets will serve as your benchmarks. You can often obtain benchmarking data from industry associations, consulting firms, or fleet management software providers.
Based on your comparison, you need to identify the gaps and opportunities for improving your fleet safety and risk performance, then set realistic targets for improvement in the areas where your fleet is underperforming.
Gaps are the areas where your performance falls short of your benchmarks, and where you need to take corrective actions or implement changes. Opportunities are the areas where your performance exceeds your benchmarks, and where you can leverage your strengths or share your best practices.
You should prioritise the most critical or impactful gaps and opportunities and set realistic and attainable goals for addressing them. These targets should be specific, measurable, and time-bound.
Finally, you need to develop and implement strategies and initiatives to address the identified areas for improvement, this includes:
Once the recommended improvements have been implemented and given time to take effect, one can ask the final question, “How big was the improvement?”, which in turn means:
Benchmarking is a good way for fleets to leverage the data they have. For benchmarking to be effective, fleets must look at data over time to see if their performance improved or deteriorated. They also need to compare vehicles in their own fleet and then compare vehicles in their fleet with those from other fleets. This information can be used to pinpoint areas that need improvement or to spot new trends and ultimately assess their fleet risk profile.
When data is collected, analysed, and put in context, it can give fleet managers great insights into their operation and help them make better decisions on how to improve all aspects of their operation.