Driving greater productivity (be it in the office or on the road) means taking a closer look not at just what makes individuals motivated and productive, but the systems that can help and hinder them, as well. As such, if you’re looking at your business fleet and wondering how to drive better performance from them, then you might want to start by looking at how you can increase their efficiency in what they do.

Make path-finding better

The routes that your drivers choose are going to be one of the key determining factors in how many deliveries or tickets they get to carry out each and every day. If they choose routes that take longer, then they’re going to get less done. GPS tracking devices and systems for trucks can help you better collect data on truck driver performance. What’s more, aside from helping you find more efficient routes after the fact, they can report on traffic conditions in real-time, which can help your drivers adapt on the fly, as well.

Ensure the backend dispatch is done with precision

Of course, how your fleet tackles the volume of orders coming in isn’t entirely down to how drivers operate and path-find. It’s also about making sure that your back-end system works in dispatching them as effectively as possible. Tools like dispatching software for dump trucks and aggregate show how this can be improved by sending tickets to drivers more quickly, as well as providing ETAs for other parties waiting for those drivers, including your own dispatchers. As such, tickets can be sent out more immediately to the drivers who are the best choice to fulfill them.

The trucks themselves play a role

It’s not just the systems that you use to help your drivers that will affect their efficiency, it’s the efficiency of the vehicles, as well. Monitoring your team’s driving habits can help you pinpoint and correct any habits that are more likely to waste fuel (and therefore waste money) or cause wear and tear ahead of time. You should train each driver in performing some level of regular maintenance on their vehicles as well to make sure that they’re less likely to experience problems on the road.

Continuous monitoring and improvement

You shouldn’t seek to introduce new systems or teach new skills to your drivers and then simply leave it at that. Improving your fleet performance needs to be a continuous process. Establish measurements to help you get clear data on performance, find the context that leads to changes in those metrics, and aim towards continuous improvement. There may come a time where it feels like any improvements you can make are relatively minor, but for most fleets, you’re going to find plenty of opportunity to keep sharpening their performance over time.

Helping your vehicles find the best routes, ensuring backend efficiency, and keeping vehicles in the top condition can manifest real and measurable improvements in how your business operates. Keep the tips above in mind.