Analyzing Fleet Metrics
As a fleet manager, you have a lot of data at your fingertips regarding your drivers and assets. How you leverage that data ultimately determines the success of your fleet, but determining which data to track closely can be a challenge. To help you prioritize, we’ve compiled fifteen of the most important fleet metrics you should be tracking.
If you’re just getting started with fleet data, we created a free Fleet Management Spreadsheet template to help you keep tabs on key fleet metrics.
Jump to a Section:
Vehicle Performance and Utilization
Driver Behavior and Monitoring
What Metrics to Track, And How to Track Them
Maintenance and Repairs
1. PM On-Time Completion Rate
Preventive maintenance (PM) is one of the best ways to lengthen the lifespan of your assets, save on costly repairs and maximize your uptime. Whether you perform maintenance in-house or outsource to a third party, monitoring the time vehicles are spent in the shop ensures repairs are being completed on time.
Implementing a PM schedule and tracking completion rates allows you to track and analyze all routine maintenance. And with fleet maintenance software, you can keep track of open work orders and service tasks so you not only know what’s being done, but what’s in progress and where it’s at in the process to make sure they actually get completed on time.
How to track PM On-Time Completion Rate: Make sure you track your PM schedules closely and record when vehicles enter and exit the shop. The length of time it takes to complete the service will likely vary based on your technician or shop's workload, but the most important measure is whether or not you got your vehicle in the shop in a timely manner relative to its PM schedule.
For Fleetio Users
Find your average inspection compliance on the right side of your Service Reminders dashboard, which you can get to by clicking on Reminders in the left sidebar navigation.
2. Time to Repair
Preventing downtime should always be front of mind for fleet managers, so when vehicles are parked in the shop for a number of days, you’re rightly concerned. It’s important to make sure you keep track of not only how long vehicles are in the shop, but the active time it requires your technicians to handle the repair.
Technician productivity is crucial to getting vehicles back on the road and managing expenses. You can use their time logs as an indicator of what work is being done, and determine if vehicles are sitting idle for too long. If you manage your own in-house maintenance team, it can also be a great indicator of if you should consider looping in a third-party provider to assist with labor that your team is struggling to accommodate.
How to track Time to Repair: Timestamp when vehicles enter the shop and track timesheets from technicians. In fleet management software, you can view vehicle service reports to monitor the start and completion dates and see status updates on maintenance to ensure the productivity of the maintenance team. For Fleetio users, check out Technician Labor Summary Reports.
For Fleetio Users
You'll find Labor Time Entries List in your Reports dashboard under Work Orders.
3. Scheduled vs Unscheduled Service
When thinking about repair costs, it’s important to understand the impact that unexpected asset downtime can have on your budget. It’s okay when unscheduled service pops up, but you’ll want to measure it against your planned services to ensure your PM timelines are actually benefiting your vehicles
Tracking work orders and maintenance through fleet management software ensures you remain aware of how long vehicles are in the shop and what work is being completed. If you use a third party for maintenance, leveraging maintenance shop automations allows you to quickly approve or reject any service tasks, helping you control costs and manage productivity.
How to track Scheduled vs. Unscheduled Service: The best way to track any and all maintenance is through well-maintained service records. You can utilize a labeling or coding system that allows you to track whether a certain service was planned or unplanned, and you can also measure against your set PM timelines.
For Fleetio Users
Under the Vehicles dropdown in the left sidebar, you'll find your Vehicles List, where you can filter by Vehicle Status next to the search bar. You can also run a Repair Priority Class Summary report in your Reports Dashboard, found under Service.
Optimize your fleet's performance with Fleetio
Don't let poor performance hold back your fleet. Discover how Fleetio can help you optimize your fleet's operations.
Get a demo
Vehicle Inspections
4. Inspection Completion Rate
Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIR) keep fleets compliant and alert managers of vehicle issues, but they are also a key to understanding the health of your assets. Leveraging DVIR data and analyzing it across user or vehicle groups can provide important insights into your assets’ health.
But in order to use that data, you have to make sure that it’s consistently completed. Tracking your inspection completion rate can help you ensure that drivers are staying on top of inspections and that you’re collecting vital data touch points on each asset.
How to track Inspection Completion Rate: Have a way to collect daily vehicle inspection reports, whether it’s a physical form or digital entry, and keep a running percentage of inspections completed that can be related to either individual assets or drivers.
For Fleetio Users
You can find more details about your fleet's PM on-time completion rate in Inspection History in the left sidebar navigation under Inspections. You can also view due dates and Last Inspection time stamps for your vehicle inspection schedules under Inspection Schedules in Reports.
5. Inspection Pass/Fail Rate
It’s not enough to just complete inspections – you have to pay attention to the results to understand the overall effect of your maintenance plans and utilization. Understanding the relationship between your fleet operations and your inspection pass fail rate can quickly reveal areas for improvement.
When vehicles continually pass inspections, but end up in the shop, it could point to an under-thorough inspection process. On the other hand, a vehicle that is constantly failing inspections could indicate a vehicle that has outlived its usefulness in your fleet.
How to track Inspection Pass/Fail Rate: Keep a ratio for each individual asset on their inspections versus fails, and as that ratio increases, consider new maintenance measures or replacement. For Fleetio users, look at the Inspection Failures List in your dashboard.
For Fleetio Users
You can explore your failed inspection items in Item Failures under Inspections in the left sidebar navigation. You can also run a report for Inspection Failures List in your Reports dashboard, found under Inspections.
Vehicle Performance and Utilization
6. Downtime vs. Uptime
In relation to scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, the downtime and uptime on each of your vehicles is essentially the consequence of maintenance, and tracking it can help you determine whether or not you’re still getting a positive ROI on your assets. If a vehicle is spending more time in the shop than out on the road, it could be a good indication that it may be time to replace it.
How to track Downtime vs. Uptime: Record every time a vehicle goes down, whether it’s in the shop or just out of service, and keep a running total that you gauge against your operations' total potential working hours.
For Fleetio Users
Under the Vehicles dropdown in the left sidebar, you'll find your Vehicles List, where you can filter by Vehicle Status next to the search bar. You can also run a Status Summary report in your Reports dashboard, found under Vehicles.
7. Mileage/Hours
Your odometer is the key to unlocking tons of fleet insight, from preventive maintenance scheduling to determining vehicle replacement. Tracking odometer readings ensures you stay prepared and proactive for maintenance milestones and replacement timelines.
PRO-TIP
Adding meter entries as soon as you get into a new fleet management software can be the key to unlocking all of the benefits of digital fleet management – in platforms like Fleetio, you can use odometer readings to immediately populate important details for your PM scheduling, making the process that much easier.
As most PM tasks are based on mileage and hour intervals, receiving regular odometer updates allows you to keep your vehicles in top condition. You can also use odometer readings to manage drivers and lower fuel costs.
How to track Mileage/Hours: Integrating a telematics device that will automatically update numbers in your fleet management software is the easiest way to track mileage, but you can also include it as a required field in your inspections. Utilizing telematics data eliminates the risk of manual errors in odometer reporting and provides complete visibility into your fleet.
For Fleetio Users
Run a Vehicle Details report, found in your Reports dashboard under Vehicles, to see a full listing of your vehicles' profile information, including current meter and meter usage per day.
8. Fuel Consumption and MPG
Fuel is one of the largest ongoing fleet expenses, so it’s crucial to closely track usage and spend. Having a system to monitor and calculate fuel costs and consumption in real-time can benefit your fuel management process.
This is a process that can be easily handled via fleet management software and telematics integrations, but having a way to gauge fuel consumption regardless of your solution is important to ensuring your vehicles are running properly and maximizing ROI with their fuel expenditure.
How to track Fuel Consumption and MPG: A fuel management system helps you know the ins and out of your fuel economy by automatically determining cost-per-mile to forecast future expenses. Viewing costs in real-time helps optimize financial allocation. To further streamline the fuel management process, consider integrating fuel cards with fleet management software to automatically download fuel transactions and avoid invalid readings.
For Fleetio Users
Run a Fuel Summary report, found in your Reports dashboard under Fuel, to see summarized metrics per vehicle.
9. Utilization rate
Investing in a fleet isn’t cheap, so getting the most out of your assets is essential. Monitoring your fleet assets will help increase your ROI and maximize their lifespan. Tracking average hours of use or miles per day not only keeps you on time with preventive maintenance scheduling; it also helps you maintain a sustainable fleet size.
After monitoring asset utilization for several months, you may discover under-utilized vehicles in your fleet that can be better used or sold for a profit. Alternatively, you may discover your current fleet size can’t meet demand.Proper asset utilization levels vary, but finding your fleet’s sweet spot can help you avoid costly expenses or unplanned downtime.
How to track Utilization Rate: Utilization rate is similar to uptime in that it reflects how often an asset is in use. You’ll want to track it in either mileage or time, whichever is more useful to you.
For Fleetio Users
Run a Utilization Summary report, found in your Reports dashboard under Vehicles, to see usage per vehicle based on meter entries.
10. Vehicle Operational Life
Without a doubt, vehicle replacement can be one of a fleet manager’s most daunting tasks, but if approached strategically, replacing your assets can be mostly painless. Sometimes, vehicles stay in operation longer than they should, causing asset performance to decline while operating costs rise. Even though replacing assets is expensive, having aging vehicles constantly in and out of the shop will negatively affect your bottom line.
How to track Vehicle Operational Life: Tracking fleet metrics like odometer readings, service history and TCO can help decide whether a vehicle should be replaced. Leveraging fleet management software ensures you make the right decisions at the right time. For Fleetio users, check out.
For Fleetio Users
Run a Cost Comparison by Year in Service report, found in your Reports dashboard under Vehicles, to see an analysis of total vehicle costs per meter based on when in the vehicle's life the costs occurred.
Fleet Operational Costs
11. Total Cost of Ownership
Perhaps the most important and comprehensive metric you should be tracking is your fleet’s true total cost of ownership. This is one of the most challenging aspects to track and manage, but knowing your fleet’s TCO allows you to confidently make data-driven decisions about your business. Getting a breakdown of your fleet expenses gives you an understanding of your return on investment (ROI). It also helps determine strategies for preventive maintenance, vehicle replacement and whether to purchase or lease future vehicles.
How to track Total Cost of Ownership: You’ll need to know the capital, maintenance, asset depreciation, licensing and vehicle administration costs on every asset in your fleet to calculate TCO, but once you have it, fleet management software can calculate TCO from an aggregate of your fleet’s data.
For Fleetio Users
The Total Costs Trends report, listed under Vehicles in your Reports dashboard, aggregates all of your vehicle data to analyze costs over time.
12. Cost per Mile
Cost per mile (CPM) is a metric that calculates the costs associated with operating a vehicle or a fleet of vehicles over a specific distance, typically to the degree of a single mile. Fleet managers rely on CPM as a performance indicator to monitor and manage the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their fleet operations – if cost per mile increases, then an asset might no longer be as efficient as it should be or may not be providing the same value to the fleet as it was before.
CPM data provides valuable insights for budgeting and financial forecasting, allowing for more effective resource allocation. When fleet managers understand CPM, managers can pinpoint areas of vehicle performance that need improvement and make data-driven decisions about the composition of their fleet.
How to track Cost per Mile: CPM is a fairly easy metric to track if fleet managers have effectively recorded vehicle costs and mileage. To calculate CPM, the total expenses for each asset are divided by the total distance covered using the formula: CPM = Total Expenses / Total Miles. Many fleets calculate their CPM over the course of a year and compare to previous years, but you can choose a time period that works best for your vehicle retirement cycle.
For Fleetio Users
Check out the Cost/Meter Trend report under Vehicles in the Reports dashboard to get insights into cost per mile.
13. Parts and Inventory Value
If you’re managing maintenance in-house, you need to have the right tools on hand to minimize vehicle downtime. Tracking your parts inventory helps avoid stockouts and reduces unnecessary inventory costs.
Because parts make up over one-third of vehicle maintenance costs, controlling inventory levels is crucial to your fleet management system. Keeping track of part quantities in an online parts database provides insight into part usage.
Regularly viewing part order history and tracking inventory values helps you make actionable decisions on future spending and efficiently manage inventory storage.
How to track Parts and Inventory Costs: A software that has parts inventory tracking is the easiest way to control your costs and avoid shortages. The right platform will allow you to utilize RFID and barcode scanning to manage your in-house stock.
For Fleetio Users
You can run a Parts Activity Report, found under Parts in your Reports dashboard.
Driver Behavior and Monitoring
14. Telematics Data
Telematics data provides valuable fleet visibility and insight into asset health. We’ve mentioned telematics data in relation to other metrics like mileage and cost per mile, so it’s inherent that integrating your telematics device into fleet management software can increase the value of your data across the board.
While tracking meter readings can help improve PM, telematics data helps you proactively monitor driver behavior and identify unsafe practices that can harm the driver and vehicle.
How to track Telematics Data: This metric is fairly simple to track – use your installed telematics devices to keep track of the frequency of diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) or engine fault alerts to quickly manage maintenance and observe trends across your fleet. If you want to go the extra mile, integrate your telematics data into a fleet management platform for more robust visibility.
For Fleetio Users
You can view a Faults Summary report in your Reports dashboard under Issues to see the faults metrics coming in from your connected telematics devices.
15. Average Miles per Driver
While fleet managers focus heavily on their assets, it’s also important to track and manage your drivers. A driver management system ensures the safety and productivity of your drivers and gives you peace of mind that your assets are in safe hands.
Fleet management software provides several ways and integrations to track drivers and their behavior. Assigning vehicles to drivers allows you to quickly view the duration and distance of assignments and keep your drivers accountable. Integrating other systems like telematics and fuel cards into a fleet tracking app allows you to further track driver productivity by getting a comprehensive view of their location, habits and spending.
How to track Average Miles Per Driver: If you have a system for tracking your drivers’ time on the road, use that to compare against their assigned vehicle’s mileage. Compile that data into reports on durations, mileages and utilization to manage and improve driver assignments.
For Fleetio Users
Check out the Vehicle Assignments Log under Vehicle Assignments in your Reports dashboard to see a listing of all vehicle-to-contact assignment details.
Easier Metrics Tracking
The best way to keep track of your fleet data is with fleet management software. See how Fleetio can help you better understand your fleet.
Get a free demo
