Moving to a fully integrated fleet management system can be a little overwhelming upfront for dispatch managers and fleet managers. Many companies already have some sort of system in place, most commonly a GPS or tracking-based system, but what if your company wants to do more than that like monitor KPI’s or integrate with your scales? How complicated is the integration to switch over? What are the options? 

Tyler Hackman, our National Territory Manager, breaks down 2 of the biggest fears he hears from prospective customers looking to take the leap to a more integrated system like FleetWatcher and why these are good questions to ask yourself before making a decision.  

Who is going to use it? 

One question I hear pretty early in conversation is “who is going to use the software”. A simple question but a legitimate concern for many managers. The main goal is to get everyone looking at the same information in real-time so you can work more effectively together as a team. A question to ask yourself is “who do you need to use it?” Information without action accomplishes nothing. So make sure you consider which individuals along the chain of command need to make decisions in real-time and then decide what information they need to obtain to be effective. The right system should empower all parties involved to use the software from the Foreman to the Vice President. 

How should I approach tracking my entire operation when I don't own half or more of the trucks that I use?  That sounds like a full time job. 

This process is different for everyone, but it typically depends on how often your 3rd party haulers are working for you. A good rule of thumb is to look for consistency in your trucking operation. Are you typically using the same brokers regardless of which jobs their trucks are working on day after day?  A good fleet management system will automatically assign trucks to the correct jobs for you. We typically find that once you isolate which trucks are showing up to your properties on a daily basis and which ones aren't, you usually only have to come up with a coverage strategy for a handful of outliers.