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The Role of Fleet Management Systems in Road Safety in South Africa

South Africa is a rich and beautiful country with many wonderful vista’s, bustling cities, incredible wildlife and immensely friendly people; however these attributes are often overlooked by newspapers and other institutions, with the focus falling on our high crime rate and our annual death tolls on the roads.   As South Africa’s leading logistics partner Dovetail has decided to take a brief look at how fleet management systems can have a positive impact on the scary statistics that rock the nation annually. In fact, the arrivealive.com website has calculated that South African roads lose approximately 40 people per day, which is a tragic testimony as to the state of our road safety awareness. We are not saying that logistics/ transport companies are the only road users at fault, this is more of a general comment on the country’s use as a whole. However we feel that it is our duty as South Africa’s leading logistics Software Company to help find a solution to the problems.  Not many people are aware of what a FMS can do or how is can benefit your company. We have done our best to give you a decent overview on the basics below.

What Can Fleet Management Do For You?

Fleet management systems will not only allow you to keep track of your vehicles and/ or trucks but it will also help your business keep in line with all the regulatory road safety requirements. Road freight and transport is one of the largest contributors to our economy, and according to certain statistics they are also the largest contributors to road accidents. In the past five years South African roads have seen a steady in the number of vehicles on the road, rising as much as 3.3%; with the number of newly acquired driver licenses at an average of 4. 7 % per annum.

 

While a fleet management system will not be able to stem the tide of road accidents a well-structured fleet management system will help private businesses reduce incidents and crashes which will then have a follow on effect of helping to stem the tide of accidents in general, while this is a grand view of the situation on South African (and African) roads in general the benefit of a FMS will have benefits far closer to home and that is to reduce the amount of downtime regarding your fleet.

Fleet Management & Road Safety:

With a decent FM system you will be able to track the wear and tear of your vehicles and be able to attend to issues before they become problems. Which means you won’t need to send the vehicle in to the shop for 3 weeks once the brakes have burnt out or the clutch has snapped. The vehicle will be out of commission for a week maximum- this also means that your lead time will improve and you will be able to expand in terms of new business because you will have a stellar road safety record.

As well as an improvement on your delivery service record, which will reflect well on your user reviews – lets face it, we live in a society that judges books by covers and with the right FMS you will be able to keep your vehicles looking good – no one will entrust their products, time and there for money to a company whose vehicles look like they escaped from the Eastern Block or been through a war zone.  As well as driving safely and reaching their destinations with minimal problems you will also be saving money on parts and down time during repairs. One of the many benefits for the business owner to ponder upon, when thinking about buying a Fleet Management System is the possibility of reduced operational costs (service, maintenance, wear and tear, insurance, fuel consumption).

Implementing a Fleet Management System means that the driver, the vehicle and the environment are brought together in a holistic strategy irrespective of the size of the company’s fleet.

Technological advancements have made fleet monitoring and evaluation a cinch and it is an initial cost that is best described as a major investment. The cost-benefit analysis will always weigh in favour of telematics since it provides for comprehensive desk top monitoring of a fleet in real time.

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