What is… “fleet management”?

Fleet management refers to planning, tracking, coordinating, monitoring and administering multiple vehicles. A fleet can include passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, forklifts and diverse warehouse vehicles and conveyor systems (such as AGVs). Fleet management solutions are used to define routes for each vehicle in accordance with a number of factors – identifying and avoiding potential problems at an early stage. 

Today, fleet management is a task performed with the help of bits and bytes – carried out using conventional desktop software or web applications. To this end, each vehicle is equipped with a GPS unit to track its location. The corresponding geodata and other information, e.g. a vehicle’s current condition, provide the dispatcher with an overview of all activities, and any anomalies that need to be addressed. In addition, fleet management is becoming more and more intelligent. Employees can monitor processes in real time, take action, and identify potential issues before they become disruptive. This reduces staff workload, improves route planning, and lowers associated costs. Additionally, advanced systems, such as Linde Connect, can even monitor the maintenance needs and condition of fleet vehicles, and arrange appointments for servicing. 

LOGISTICS LEXICON ⋅ F – FLEET MANAGEMENT