Managing a rental fleet efficiently and effectively can be a headache without the right tools and metrics. Access to accurate, real-time data is crucial in order to proactively manage and optimize the profitability of your fleet. In today’s blog post we will discuss some best practices for managing your rental fleet.
1. Reduce Gaps in Communication
Necessary interdepartmental communication can be time consuming and lead to rental delays for the customer or missed rental opportunities. A real-time source of documents and data which is readily accessible among different departments reduces time spent searching filing cabinets for information and playing phone and email tag to access another departments’ information. Having a real time view of your rental fleet will give your rental department an edge against your competition.
2. Analytics
To fully manage the status of the equipment in your rental fleet, you need access to your data and analytics in real time, not monthly or weekly as is the case with some rental management platforms. To maximize your understanding of your fleet, a best practice is to identify KPI’s to monitor on a regular basis. Some rental KPI’s that our digital transformation platform tracks are financial utilization, time utilization, rental rate, washout percent, maintenance to income ratio, physical utilization, fleet age, and fleet apportionment.
3. Mobile Applications
Real-time data access is not always accessible without on-the-go access. This is where solutions such as our eInspection mobile app fit in. With the mobile application you can view the data on your phone. Your rental team can check rental equipment in and out and take pictures of equipment conditions as it is sent out and returned from rent.
4. Telematics
To access the data on a unit-by-unit basis, you will want to use telematics to track the specific activity for each unit. You can use this information, such as meter readings, location info, etc. to aid in your preventative maintenance planning and unit tracking. The fleet management capabilities of the e-Emphasys ERP can integrate with generic Telematics such as KOMTRAX and OEM-specific applications.
5. Regular Maintenance
Regular, preventative maintenance can help you keep your rental fleet running smoothly and reduce costly repairs. Within e-Emphasys Fleet Management, you can use the preventative management tool, which is fully customized by type of unit, application type, time and utilization. This keeps your units out on rent because they are cared for properly, reduces their time in repairs, and lowers your overall repair costs.
Alta Equipment Group has reported significant increases in customer satisfaction since upgrading to e-Emphasys. Lori Brandon, Corporate Rental Manager, states: “Our customers seem to appreciate the system change. There’s less wait for them. If they call and they have a question, a lot of times they want to know what they rented before. We can pull that up in history very quickly. They want to know while they’re talking to us if they have any outstanding bills. Rental coordinators don’t do a whole lot of AR but they can tell the customer what is outstanding and what has been paid. Less wait, we don’t have to put somebody on hold and do call backs. We can answer 99% of their questions at any given time.”
To learn more about how e-Emphasys can help you manage your rental fleet, along with your entire equipment dealership business, schedule a demo with our team today. We can help you achieve these best practices with e-Emphasys ERP and many other efficiencies for your business overall.
