How to get the most out of your business fleet at Christmas

When you’re managing a large fleet of vehicles, Christmas can be one of the most challenging times of the year. After all, while some businesses wind down over the festive period, fleet managers are always on the go, and factors like increased demand, higher levels of traffic on the road and poor weather conditions can all make it challenging for you to get the most out of your fleet.

That’s where daily van hire and flexi hire can come in handy as they can help you scale your fleet as required during this challenging time. But there are also a number of other steps you can take to ensure you get the most out of your fleet this Christmas. Let’s take a more detailed look at some of the major ones.

Be proactive and make plans

For most businesses, the festive period is the busiest time of the year, so your organisation is likely to encounter lots of opportunities for growth. To make the most of these opportunities, it’s worth making sure that you have robust contingency plans in place that will allow you to scale at will. By ensuring your business is scalable, you’ll find it easy to meet increased demand and reduces the risk of one of your parcels being delivered late – or even not at all. Plus, by analysing the buying habits of your customers and forecasting potential growth areas, you can pre-empt how many vehicles you’re likely to need per geographic area and organise your staffing levels to prevent potential shortages.

Carry out preventative maintenance checks

Having just one vehicle out of action can have significant financial implications for your business (as you may already know, if you’re unlucky enough!). To help stop preventable breakdowns, it’s always a good idea to enforce regular maintenance checks on your vehicles.

These checks will help you identify small issues before they become big problems. Plus, you will gain confidence knowing that your vehicles will perform safely and economically. On top of this, you will also increase driver satisfaction and boost productivity by ensuring your vehicles are running at their peak.

Use the latest technology

Fleet management software can be a lifesaver during the busy Christmas period, as it enables you to increase your control over the fleet, save on operating costs, increase productivity and enhance the customer experience.

As it’s such a frenetic time, it can serve as an excellent litmus test of how well your current systems are performing, giving you a good idea of whether or not it’s worth upgrading in the New Year. If your fleet is beyond a certain size, you’ll always need to be able to locate and track all of your vehicles in real time. This will then allow you to assign a new delivery or collection task to the driver nearest the pickup/delivery location.

As well as helping you streamline your delivery schedule and make your operations more cost effective, your customers will also benefit, as you’ll be able to send them accurate tracking details and they’ll always be aware of when their items are due for delivery. As the Christmas deadline approaches, they’ll be increasingly thankful.

Embrace last-minute changes

Regardless of whether you’re supplying customers or fellow businesses, you need to be adaptable in the run-up to Christmas. Although you’re likely to be under intense pressure during this period, you should embrace last-minute changes that can potentially improve the profitability of your business.

After all, last-minute deliveries might be needed in order to fulfil orders that are larger than usual and provide you with extra profit. Thankfully, extra vehicles from your fleet can be rolled out to cope with these fluctuations. If you have adaptable staffing levels, then flexi hire or daily van hire can help you fulfil these orders. As an added bonus, you won’t need to worry about lasting changes to your fleet or long-term contracts, either. So when demand returns to pre-Christmas levels, you can return the vehicles.

If you think flexi van hire or daily van hire could help you manage your fleet this festive season, then speak to our experts. With around 50 years of experience behind us, you can trust us to provide the answers in as much or as little detail as you need. Feel free to give us a ring on 01254 57811!