"What do fleet maintenance managers want to know more about?" was a survey question asked of hundreds of members of the Dossier fleet maintenance software Users Group earlier this year.

Fleet managers were asked to select topics they would like to see addressed at the next Dossier Users Group meeting that will be held Oct. 24 and 25, 2007, at the Hilton Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J.
Fleet budgeting ranked first among 11 major fleet management topics listed in the Arsenault survey, according to 47 percent of the respondents. The second most-selected topic was capital expense planning, with 38 percent of the respondents choosing equipment life cycle costing.
Arsenault contacted fleet managers by e-mail, inviting them to click on a link to a survey site. The survey was conducted and the results were tabulated by SurveyShare.com. More than 200 fleet managers took part in the survey.
Other topics in the survey included driver/mechanic management, selected by 31 percent of the respondents; tire management, 30 percent; equipment specification, 28 percent; wireless computing, 24 percent; purchasing, 23 percent; downtime analysis, 23 percent; warranty management, 23 percent; accident tracking, 21 percent; and vendor management, 18 percent.
"Fleet managers are challenged to control and reduce costs, not just keep the fleet on the street," said Charles Arsenault, CEO of Arsenault Associates. "They are required to account for fleet maintenance expenses in detail more than ever before. Being able to develop an operating expense plan and then manage it is what budgeting is all about."
Arsenault said Dossier software automatically tracks and reports on actual fleet expenses compared to projected expense budgets.
Dossier tracks parts, labor, fuel, fluids, tires and other typical fleet operational expenses, as well as administrative and fixed expenses such as depreciation, license and permit costs and insurance expense. It provides the data necessary to monitor a fleet's operating costs and to make reasonable future fleet expense projections when preparing an annual fleet maintenance budget.
Fleet cost summaries are stated by current month, year-to-date and life-to-date and serves as the foundation of managing equipment life cycle costs, which was the second most requested item on the survey, Arsenault said.
"The concerns reflected in the survey indicate that fleet managers are being held more accountable for financial management in addition to their fleet maintenance operational responsibilities. The items selected through the survey will be addressed at our 2007 User Group seminar,"
said Arsenault.
For more information, visit www.arsenault.biz.