If you’ve ever listened to a software supplier presentation and come away none the wiser about how their systems could help improve your business, you are not alone.

Software firms have have developed the products but some have forgotten to spend enough time on the results.

Overly complex systems may deliver few real benefits over old-fashioned filing or spreadsheets.

In some cases, software can even make a fleet manager’s life more difficult.

An estimated 3,000 of the 70,000 or so companies with fleets of 10 or more vehicles use some form of software.

The rest are still on spreadsheets.

However, any fleets that aren’t fully exploiting their software to improve efficiencies and manage drivers and costs might as well save their money and go back to their spreadsheets.

Changing minds

Software suppliers have failed to demonstrate the benefits well enough to change the minds of fleet managers from more traditional ways of working.

For those that have used software in the past, the most common problem has been data overload.

There is undoubtedly potential for fleet managers to use more technology, says Epyx business development manager Ken Trinder, and many are going through a phase of rapid adoption, much of it powered by the need to identify cost reductions.

He says: “If fleets are looking to lower costs, software can provide answers that can be easily adopted.”

Chevin Fleet Solutions marketing manager David Hart says organisations with fleets often struggle to manage disparate operating data because there’s no easy way to consolidate and standardise the information coming from multiple sources.

Get the benefits

The key to getting benefits from software is to focus on the end result, not the means of getting there.

That means working out what elements of the fleet you want to know about and manage most closely.

CFC Solutions is seeing two main areas of interest – fuel management and the environment.

Managing director Neville Briggs says: “Through our software, you can spot individual drivers and vehicles that are using more than an average amount of fuel.

"You can take action to reduce fuel consumption quickly.”

Jaama customers using its Key2 system can see fuel savings as a result of the ability to compare actual fuel economy against expected mpg.

Drivers with a heavy right foot can be identified for possible training, fuel-hungry vehicles can be targeted and possible fuel pilfering stopped.

Legislation is another area that software needs to be able to encompass.

Managers also need a system that can be adapted easily to reflect strategic changes in fleet policy.

Linking in with HR, payroll, procurement and numerous other departments makes choosing the right software vital – a system that cannot ‘talk’ to others in the corporate structure could prove to be a white elephant.

Toomey’s Optifleet is an online extranet application designed specifically for mixed-fleets containing both company-funded and employee-funded (ECO) cars.

It enables a fleet operator to run a tax and cost-efficient car policy with little direct management as employees enter a secure website to submit mileage, select cars and view policy documents.

Training is of vital importance, and time spent learning what the software can do for you will reap benefits.