Photo: FleetioFleet management software has become a valuable commodity with today’s green industry professionals, and ProQual Landscaping in Tempe, Arizona, has decided to go all-in with utilizing fleet management software in their day-to-day activities.
While there are numerous options to choose from when it comes to this kind of software, Scott Needham, president of ProQual Landscaping, says their number one choice was Fleetio.
“We demoed several, and ultimately, we utilized Fleetio because of the ease of use, the way it integrated with GPS, the app and the support that they provided during the demo showed us that they would be a good provider,” says Needham. “There were a lot of features that just seemed to work well together and that were very intuitive. More so than the others we tried.”
Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Fleetio has been on the market for about seven years, and over the last few years, the company says it’s begun to see tremendous growth.
“We’re a comprehensive solution where you’ll be able to track everything within one centralized location,” says Matt Dziak, content marketing manager with Fleetio. “It’s easy to use, very affordable and you can customize it to your specific needs. A lot of other software solutions out there are very one size fits all, where ours is very customizable. We’re going to help make your life easier.”
According to Dziak, the company’s main focus is to streamline the process of maintaining fleets from a fleet manager’s perspective, as well as provide them with a total solution that will allow them to manage their fleet in every capacity they are looking for.
“It’s a centralized database where you’re able to pull everything in and manage everything in one easy-to-use system that can streamline across every stakeholder within the company that you want,” says Dziak. “We also try to automate things as much as possible. We’re trying to help the fleet managers and their teams really get their data and analyze their data in a way where they don’t have to use spreadsheets anymore.”
Why Fleetio?
Currently, Needham says ProQual is in its second year of using the system.
Scott NeedhamHe says for them, it took about 30 days to actually get online and get everything rolling, and after that, it took about another 30-60 days to really train the staff and work out the bugs. As a whole, Needham says he felt that it went extremely smooth, as he says the Fleetio customer service team was also there to aid in the process.
“It definitely took work,” says Needham. “I think when you’re changing platforms or integrating technology, it’s a vested interest not only monetarily but also an investment in time. But my team saw the long-term benefit. Like with anything, you get out what you put in.”
Needham says the company, in general, has always been big about implementing technology and being a leader on the front, so the employees are relatively used to learning new things and utilizing various forms of new technology in their daily tasks.
When asked what sets Fleetio apart from the numerous other software options on the market, Dziak says the main elements he’s noticed customers mentioning over the years are the ease of use and the transparency of the program.
“A lot of the outdated software solutions that fleet managers have been using in the past decade or so really haven’t quite caught up with the times in terms of technology and features,” says Dziak. “That’s something we really champion in, being easy to use and easy to implement.”
Dziak says that Fleetio is all cloud- and web-based, and since everything can be accessed via the internet, there is no need to download any type of software. It’s as easy to log in, he says, as Facebook.
Fleetio GO app
At the start of each work day, Needham says his crews perform the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) mandatory vehicle pre-inspection before they hit the road.
Photo: FleetioWhen using the Fleetio GO app, Needham says drivers are able to spot issues before ever leaving the shop, report and document these issues via the app and notify the mechanics of the issues more quickly.
“Instead of trying to waste time, call someone and play phone tag, they can just input it, take a picture of the issue, upload it right away and then the fleet manager can make a decision based off that,” says Dziak.
Needham notes that overall, the biggest thing that’s changed since integrating Fleetio is that the company is much more proactive instead of reactive when it comes to repairs.
“I’ve found that doing these checks on a daily basis has cut down on general repairs because our guys are more aware,” says Needham.
In doing inspections via the app, Dziak says all the data can be collected in the software for the fleet manager to track, and he/she can then determine if there is a need to schedule maintenance to ensure all machines are performing at peak performance.
Needham says since implementing Fleetio, his mechanics are catching problems early while the machines are in the shop rather than the team members out in the field having to report the issues.
“In general, we’re much more proactive, and it’s probably ended up saving us close to 30 percent in repair costs and downtime,” says Needham.
Overall impression
So far, Needham says there have been very few negative instances that have occurred while utilizing Fleetio, and even when problems arise, he admits that nine times out of ten, it’s because of operator error.
But, through every up and down, Needham says Fleetio’s customer service has continued to be “top-notch, first-class,” as they take the time to walk users through the issues until the matter is resolved.
“I love that it gives my team the information and empowers them to make decisions based on what they need to schedule for the day and what repairs they need to make,” says Needham. “It’s a great platform and they’ve been a great partner. When we partnered with Fleetio originally, we could tell they cared about their customers and it wasn’t just a sales pitch to get new business and then them say, ‘Good luck.’ They are constantly evolving, and it seems like they really care about their customers and that we’re getting what we’re paying for.”
