About the author
Linda is a Content Writer at Fulcrum.
If it’s got four (or 18) wheels, sooner or later it will give you problems. From maintenance headaches to inspection snags to outright accidents, a lot can go wrong when you’re dealing with one vehicle, not to mention a fleet of them. A digital field inspection platform for fleet management can help minimize risk – and address problems when they develop.
Daily fleet inspections
Before your drivers head out, they must do a vehicle inspection of everything from tire pressure, wiper blades, brake lights and more to make sure vehicles are roadworthy. But like every other repetitive task, the mind wanders, attention fades, and things might be missed. And while checklists are a step up from a quick eyeballing of the vehicle condition, all too often they end up as a perfunctory line drawn through the boxes rather than reflecting a thorough once-over.
How a digital field inspection program can help
Performing daily fleet inspections through a digital platform guarantees a uniformly comprehensive vehicle inspection. Requiring photographs of critical components with each item ensures thoroughness. A digital, visual record allows review if a road maintenance issue arises to identify any missed steps and conduct further training if needed.
Weekly maintenance checks
Comprehensive vehicle inspections, taking 15-30 minutes, usually avoid the inattention seen in daily check-ups. But if your inspection details are buried in paper stacks or spreadsheets, you’re not maximizing this time and effort investment.
How a digital field inspection program can help
A robust digital field inspection program such as Fulcrum allows managers to transform inspection data into reports, analytics, and insights for more informed, thoughtful decision making. For example, if premature tire deterioration is discovered over the course of weeks of inspections of fleet vehicles, reports generated from the data collected prompt further investigation, such as, is there a faulty shop tire inflation gauge? Or an inadequate tire rotation schedule? Or are there defects in the tires themselves causing them to not perform as expected? Having all the data available helps answers these questions, and more importantly, allows for the connecting-the-dots necessary to make these questions apparent in the first place.
Incident reporting
No matter how conscientious your fleet maintenance is, or how careful your drivers are, they’re always just one mistake – or moment of bad luck – away from an accident. With a commercial fleet annual accident rate of about 20%, eventually your luck is going to run out. Setting aside accidents requiring law enforcement reporting, minor incidents like bumping into a parking lot pylon occur. Drivers may be on the road for hours or days, leading to significant delays in claim filing and processing.
How a digital field inspection program can help
A digital field inspection platform guides drivers through on-scene incident reporting, including photo prompts for damage. The geotagged report is instantly shared with office management, expediting claim filing and follow-up actions. This reduces the time from incident to comprehensive, actionable reporting, potentially by hours or more.
Fulcrum field inspection management for fleets
Looking for a fleet that drives your profits, without driving you crazy? Whether your fleet is responsible for delivering your goods and services, or your goods and services are the fleet itself, Fulcrum provides new insight and oversight into operations, helping to keep vehicles safely on the road, and address problems quickly if they occur.
Ready to take Fulcrum for a test drive? We’re giving you a full 30 days to field test Fulcrum to perform safety inspections, quality inspections, or whatever other processes you want to digitize to gain speed, efficiency, and usefulness. Sign up today!