How to manage your truck fleet efficiently

Optimal electric vehicle fleet management - understand what you really need

As a first step, you need to understand the evolving environment in which you operate and your real needs. Those involved in fleet management face sometimes difficult challenges that make fleet procurement and management more complex than ever before. These include, for example, transportation management laws, ill-defined sustainability standards, often shrinking budgets, and the increase in pedestrian and restricted areas or limited parking, which makes choosing the right vehicle even more difficult. While you and your employees are grappling with these issues, the work is not being done adequately. But with foresight, planning and EV fleet expertise,you can address and overcome many of these problems during the fleet selection process. When planning the fleet, it is very important to understand how many vehicles you really need, the , number of operators who will use them, the presence of shifts and the downtime for charging.Another very important aspect to consider when sizing the fleet is to study the route the vehicles usually take, also to evaluate the most suitable battery.

Rely on an electric vehicle supplier who has adequate structure and expertise

To avoid problems in the future, you should purchase electric trucks from a single supplier who understands the issues you face. This decision will improve safety and compliance, reduce training time, streamline spare parts inventory, and reduce downtime. It will also simplify warranty issues, standardize EV charging, facilitate preventive maintenance, and help stabilize monthly fleet budgets by providing a single point of contact in case of problems. You can also switch to a single supplier in stages, or have more than one, depending on the composition of your fleet. The important thing is to look for an experienced and knowledgeable sales team , with proven experience in electric trucks. Ensure that the supplier has a portfolio of vehicles to meet your needs and a sales network with technicians trained by the parent company. Other factors to consider are whether there are authorized dealers or service centres to take care of maintenance and the availability of a wide range of vehicle accessories. Once the choice of supplier has been made, it would be useful to form a team consisting of fleet management staff and mechanics. This team should work closely with the supplier. Coordinating the team is always recommended to be a fleet manager, a strategic figure in fleet management.

Identify vehicles that are robust, reliable, and long-lasting

Make sure the vehicles your supplier provided are sturdy, built for work. Some EVs are built for recreational use and sold as work vehicles, but their construction is often insufficient for heavy work and transportation. Also make sure that the vehicles are built on strong frames and havehigh build quality. Inquire about ease of access to perform maintenance, safety equipment, on-board chargers, customization options, and any warranties. For example, all Alkè electric trucks are built entirely in Italy with quality components. They are small vehicles but suitable for intensive use, with high loading and towing capacities.

Look for a supplier with fast and continuous after-sales service

One of the most important aspects for those involved in fleet management is being able to rely on effective and quick after-sales service. With a fleet of vehicles to manage, one must rely on those who can respond promptly and effectively to the problem that arises. Maintenance is not only about reactive maintenance but also and especially about preventive maintenance. Thanks to proper routine maintenance, it is possible to have vehicles that are always efficient and reduce operating costs. In the case of Alkè, service and maintenance are also supported by the integration of vehicles with a Cloud platform specifically designed and built for Alkè electric vehicles. Thanks to this device, servicing is even simpler and faster because it is possible to see the status of the vehicle in real time as well as a whole range of useful information for carrying out diagnosis. Managing a fleet is a very complex business. Large tourist facilities or municipalitiesthat use fleets of Alkè vehicles have chosen Alkè electric trucks because following test drives they have proven to be very robust and reliable. These customers were able to count on a wide range of accessories and fittings /strong> as well as customisationif requested. In addition, another factor in their choice was precisely the guarantee of timely and quality service.