How to plan the management of light electric vehicles?

When people often talk about a fleet of vehicles, their most familiar image is usually that of trucks, trailers and even vans, given their relevance in the logistics industry. However, we should not forget the latest protagonists in terms of alternative vehicles to the usual ones: motorcycles and bicycles.

More and more companies have already implemented electric light vehicle management, promoting sustainability and last mile capillarity. However, how can you have control over a fleet of motorcycles and bicycles? Does it differ much from a conventional fleet of trucks and vans?

If you are curious about the following points to keep in mind when controlling a fleet of light vehicles, take a look!

Define a fleet management strategy

Like any logistics fleet, such a fleet requires a good strategy in its respective document in order to be in line with the needs and other business strategies. In particular, if one takes into account objectives such as the sustainability of the activities for which an electric light vehicle management can grant.

It should be noted that a fleet strategy must be connected to the fleet policy, which establishes everything that can be covered by the strategy, both its objectives and the rules to be followed by both the personnel involved and the drivers. Consequently, it is essential that all the organization involved in the fleet participates in the realization of the strategy so that the strategy is defined in a realistic and well realized way.

Automate routine tasks

Fleet management (and, for that matter, electric light vehicle management) is known to have very tedious tasks and optimizing time and cost savings is paramount to improving the efficiency of the process. These include paperwork, MOT, fines, regulatory compliance and supplier cost invoices, and so on.

Therefore, the automation of manual processes is an almost essential step because of the numerous benefits it provides. Among its advantages are reducing the number of unnecessary tasks, going paperless, creating the possibility of analyzing data collected from operations and improving the use of human resources.

Connection of vehicles

The vehicles of any fleet generate a significant amount of data that can be monitored to be key pieces in making decisions to improve the strategy and cut costs. That said, it is an essential step that all light electric vehicle management is connected through hardware such as an OBD that gives you the information you need to know the status of the fleet itself and make resolutions in near real time.

By connecting and collecting data about your fleet of light vehicles, you can track in real time, reduce visits to the mechanic, save fuel and, above all, greatly improve customer service through improved communication. 

Accident prevention

Looking at the amount of valuable information you can get about your electric light vehicle management can be of great help in preventing one of the most important and difficult to avoid problems: accidents. Especially when it comes to light vehicles, because they are more unstable and have fewer regulations than heavy vehicles.

It is very evident that accidents cause great inconvenience, not only in terms of delay and/or damage to the goods, but also in terms of health and reinstatement of the affected drivers. Therefore, the correct monitoring of data that can alert to the danger of an accident together with a rigorous MOT inspection and correct maintenance can considerably reduce the likelihood of incidents and save on notably costly expenses.

Conclusions

As we have seen, the management of light electric vehicles is carried out in a similar way to that of a conventional fleet, but with certain differences. The first of these is that it opens up the possibilities of expanding last-mile distribution thanks to its reduced volume to enter narrow streets. On the other hand, special attention must be paid to their fragility, since bicycles and motorcycles are severely impacted by adverse weather conditions such as rain.

It is worth mentioning that studies have confirmed that a combination between light vehicles and a delivery van achieves better results in terms of transport cost savings and customer agreements than with bicycles and/or motorcycles alone.

At Hedyla we adapt to one or more particular sectors in which a company operates and offer customization and adaptation of our software to meet those specific needs.