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It’s all About the Mileage
 Mileage. If only fleet managers knew what the mileage was on each vehicle in the fleet, it would be easy to schedule preventive maintenance, perform valuation of the fleet, calculate imputed income, do replacement analysis, and more. But, often, we just don’t know the mileage. There are many tools such as telematics that can automate mileage collection, but they can be costly and you may not be able to outfit your entire fleet with that type of solution. Fortunately there are solutions that are easy to implement and are effective!
This article explores two methods for collecting mileage that preclude the need for hours of manual data entry or the use of hardware mounted in vehicles; specifically: Fuel file imports and On-line mileage entry.
Getting Mileage from Fuel Files or other External Systems
If you have mileage data, but it’s just not where you need it, then integrate! Perhaps you have mileage retrieved from maintenance records or from your fuel system. The problem is that the data just isn’t in your fleet management system where you need it. That’s ok. Today it is easier than ever to share data between different types of computer systems.
Talk to your automation providers about how best to share data amongst the systems in order to get your mileage data where it needs to be. Typically, the following items must be considered when sharing data between disparate systems:
- A physical path to get the data. In order to get data from a fuel system, for example, you must be able to get the data out of the fuel system and in to your fleet management system. A couple of common ways to share data are:
- Email. Many fuel systems will automatically generate and send emails that include all fuel transactions (including mileage). Emailed files can be imported via a user interface on some fleet management systems.
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is an easy way to send files around the world. Most modern automation systems can be setup to generate a file and send it to a designated location on pre-defined intervals. Automated processes, or scripts, can then import the data automatically or via manual means.
- Web Interface. Some fleet management systems may reside on the same network/computer as the system that has the mileage data – but the systems just don’t automatically share. If this is the case, your fleet management system may be able to just upload the mileage data via a web-based user interface.
- A schedule for sharing data. Setup a schedule for how often data is shared. Computers really don’t mind doing it, really! But sharing data may take up a limited amount of computing resources. So, define a schedule that is practical for the data that is involved. For example, if you are importing mileage data from fuel files, you may elect to share data once per week or once per month. If you are importing from a maintenance system, perhaps you do it every night. Obviously, if there are manual steps involved with importing data, you must consider what is practical due to the need to have a person performing this task.
- Translation rules for sharing data. You may need to setup rules for how data is “translated” from one system to the next. For example, you may have rules such as:
- Match mileage data based upon the VIN associated with a transaction
- Error-check the mileage data to make sure it is a numeric value
- Validate that the new mileage is higher than the last mileage received.
- Store the mileage date along with the actual mileage. Only import the mileage data if the mileage date on the imported data is greater than the last mileage date known in your fleet management system.
So, to summarize, integration with other systems is an easy way to get mileage data.
Getting Mileage Data from On-Line Mileage Entry Tools
Modern fleet management systems have interfaces for collecting mileage directly from the end-user. The benefit is that data entry is not all performed centrally, and, added-value data such as imputed income data (business vs. personal travel) and other information can be collected effortlessly. Three methods for collecting mileage data directly from the end-user are described below:
- Collecting data proactively from users via a web-based form. Fleet management systems such as FleetCommander include web-based forms for collecting mileage data. Drivers, or those responsible for reporting mileage, proactively provide mileage data by clicking on a link on their web-based fleet system and completing a form.
The mileage entry form is straightforward to use.
Drivers enter mileage in accordance with policies and procedures. For example, some fleet drivers are required to record each trip and related mileage. Others drivers may have a monthly mileage reporting requirement. Regardless of the schedule, drivers can click on the link at any time and provide the latest mileage data. Behind the scenes, the fleet management system will use the latest mileage data for scheduling preventive maintenance, calculating imputed income, and other mileage-based functions.
- Requesting mileage data from users via automated email and web-based forms. In the event that fleet drivers do not proactively provide mileage data within the desired time interval, fleet systems such as FleetCommander provide an administrative interface to effortlessly notify fleet drivers that their mileage data is past due. The tool sends an email that includes a hyperlink that can be clicked on to provide drivers with direct access to the mileage collection form (after logging in, of course).
The “Request Mileage” tool has the capability to only prompt users to enter their mileage if they have not recently reported mileage. In the sample above, only users that have not updated their mileage within 30 days would be notified.
Users simply click on the hyperlink to access the mileage entry form on-line.
This method takes less than one minute for the fleet administrator to perform. And, this way of interacting with fleet drivers is only intrusive to those that do not provide mileage data in accordance with fleet policy!
- Collecting data via a fleet-specific kiosk. Some organizations have a public kiosk for interacting with the fleet management system. For example, FleetCommander’s motor pool kiosk can be used to return a vehicle to the motor pool.
Note in the screenshot above that mileage data is collected as part of the vehicle return process (dispatch-in). When entered, the data is error-checked prior to storing the information in the fleet management system.
Web-based forms for mileage collection are easy. If the process is included as a condition of driving a vehicle, it is a reliable and accurate way to collect mileage data.
Summary
Everyone needs mileage data to effectively manage the fleet. Collecting mileage data the old fashioned way is not practical or cost-effective. Thankfully, there are easy-to-implement solutions that help keep your mileage data accurate and current.
Call us today to see how FleetCommander can help you maintain current mileage data effortlessly.
Agile Access Control, Inc.
(408) 213-9555 x555
www.AgileFleet.com
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