Running a construction business requires significant capital investment, particularly in building and managing a construction fleet. After all, your fleet of vehicles and equipment are your money-generating assets, helping your workers complete jobs.
While procuring and managing your construction vehicles and heavy equipment can be expensive, there are several ways to help reduce your cost. In this article, we share some tips to help you save money on your construction fleet.
- Don’t Forget Preventive Maintenance
This is one of the most obvious tips to help your construction business save money and yet often overlooked.
As an expensive asset, you need to make sure that your construction vehicles and heavy equipment remain fully functional and utilised. Following regular maintenance can reduce downtime. In addition, a well-maintained vehicle can run better than a neglected one, improving the productivity of construction projects.
While it may cost you time and money to do regular maintenance, it helps avoid large expenses when something does go wrong. Regular upkeep can ensure that defects are spotted before an issue escalates or prevent accidents.
Fleet maintenance also allows you to have an updated maintenance record. Not only can a proactive construction fleet maintenance program help keep your assets working efficiently, but it also keeps your workers safe. Accidents are costly, especially in the construction industry.
Whether you’re aiming to extend the lifespan of your fleet vehicle, improve efficiency, reduce fuel costs, and ensure driver safety, scheduling regular preventive maintenance is vital for your construction fleet operations.
- Hire A Construction Fleet Manager
Hiring costs money, which may seem to contradict your goal of saving money. However, hiring an expert fleet manager can be beneficial in the long run. A professional construction fleet manager can help keep track of your construction vehicles and heavy equipment and manage it more efficiently.
For one, a fleet manager helps ensure vehicle and equipment efficiency and safety by correctly scheduling maintenance. As mentioned before, a well-maintained fleet of vehicles and heavy equipment reduces your maintenance and repair expenses, saves fuel, and increases overall construction productivity.
A construction fleet manager will also be responsible for dispatching and monitoring your construction vehicles and equipment and streamlining construction operations to make them more efficient and profitable.
- Invest In A Construction Fleet Management Software
A construction fleet manager is only as good as the technology they use. So, aside from hiring a reliable manager, you also need to equip them with the right software to help them do their job more efficiently and productively. To help you save more, you can opt for fleet management software and train one of your employees on how to use it effectively.
Investing in a dedicated construction fleet management solution allows you to automate most of the administrative processes of fleet management while organising responsibilities. It also provides better visibility of your assets’ costs to own and run. This allows you to focus on fleet improvements and make the best use of your construction vehicles and equipment.
That said, make sure to do your homework when choosing the right solution. It’s recommended to choose software with more focus on asset and equipment management. Determine the features you need and don’t forget to check for ease of use and integration options. Also, check a vendor’s existing clients and the type of vehicles and industry they cater to.
- Be Vigilant On Fuel Use
Fuel price is on the rise because of the Russia-Ukraine war. Thus, you want to be vigilant about your construction fleet’s fuel use. By monitoring your construction fleet’s fuel usage, you can identify daily mileage, potential wastage, and viable alternative fuels that you can use.
Effective monitoring of fuel use is possible with the right solution. It allows you to see which operators are using the most fuel, allowing you to take corrective action such as driver training and hopefully reduce fuel usage and save more money.
In addition, the introduction of fuel cards can give you real saving opportunities. Fortunately, most fleet solutions also can integrate with fuel cards, enabling real-time recording of fuel transaction data and providing comprehensive fuel economy reports.
- Dispose Of What You Don’t Need
Underutilised assets on your construction fleet can drain your finances. With underutilised construction vehicles and equipment, you still need to spend on their maintenance, insurance, and taxes, and yet you’re not using them to their full capability.
So, if you have vehicles and equipment that aren’t being used or have become redundant in your operations, sell them. There’s no point in keeping expensive assets that you don’t use.
Takeaway
There you have it! These are just some of the ways construction companies can cut unnecessary expenses and save money on their construction fleet without compromising the quality of their work. So, whether you need to tighten your business belt to help you survive these tough times or you just want to boost your profit to grow your business, make sure to implement the above tips to help you get smart with your construction fleet and save money.