Choosing fleet management
software for contractors.

Treat fleet as part of delivery readiness

For utilities, telecoms, fibre and civils contractors, vans, tippers, welfare units, trailers and plant are booked against real jobs. A defect, an expired MOT or a late hire delivery affects the gang and the programme, not just the fleet register. Generic fleet tools often manage the vehicle well but lose sight of the work it supports.

Before comparing suppliers, choose a week of real allocations and one exception: a vehicle reported defective on the morning of a job. Ask each supplier to show who finds out, how the allocation changes and what the supervisor sees.

Bring company and hire vehicles into one record

Contractors often run a mix of owned, leased and hired vehicles and plant. If hire items live in a spreadsheet, they are easy to miss when checking readiness or reconciling costs. Look for one record that holds vehicle details, MOT, insurance, servicing and maintenance dates and the driver or gang allocation, whether the item is owned or hired.

Ask how a hire vehicle is added, allocated and off-hired, and how its history is kept after it has gone back.

Make defect reporting quick and evidenced

Daily walkaround checks and defect reports are only useful if drivers complete them and someone acts on them. The reporting flow should be quick on a phone, capture photographs and make clear whether the vehicle is safe to use. Fleet managers need a list of open defects with their effect on upcoming work.

Follow a defect from the field, through repair and back into service. Check what evidence is captured, including photographs, receipts and before-and-after condition, and who confirms the vehicle is fit to return to use.

Keep compliance dates and inspections in view

Obligations vary with the asset. MOT, insurance, servicing, tachograph and operator licence requirements may apply to vehicles, and lifting equipment needs thorough examination under LOLER. Software should help the fleet team see what is due, overdue or missing evidence, while the compliance decision stays with the responsible people.

Ask how due dates are recorded and reported, who is alerted and what happens to an allocation when a date passes.

Connect drivers, licences and competencies

A vehicle allocation is also a people allocation. Licence categories, plant operator cards and other competencies decide who can use which asset. When fleet and workforce records are separate, it is easy to allocate a vehicle or machine to someone who is not authorised to use it.

Ask how the system relates drivers and operators to the assets they use, and how a lapsed licence check or card affects allocation. Our competency management guide covers the people side in more detail.

Be clear about telematics and integrations

Telematics can add location, utilisation and driving data, but integration scope varies. Confirm which telematics services are supported in your deployment, what data is exchanged, how often and who maintains the connection. Ask whether each connection is available now or planned, and what configuration it needs.

Ask how fleet data is reported alongside delivery, such as vehicle availability against planned work, rather than in a separate dashboard nobody on the operations side opens.

Questions to ask in a demonstration

• Can company, leased and hire vehicles and plant be managed in one record?
• How does a defect reported in the field change the vehicle’s availability and the affected jobs?
• What evidence is captured for defects, repairs and vehicle handovers?
• How are MOT, insurance, servicing and inspection dates tracked and reported?
• How are drivers and operators linked to the vehicles and plant they are authorised to use?
• Which telematics services are supported now, and which are planned?
• What does a supervisor see on the morning of a job?

How Stratal approaches fleet and plant

Stratal fleet and plant brings vehicle details, MOT, insurance, maintenance and driver allocation into a single fleet workspace, with hire vehicles in the same operational view as the company fleet. Defects, photographs, receipts and before-and-after vehicle evidence are recorded so the supporting record is available when a vehicle needs attention.

Telematics integration architecture includes ABAX capability where configured; availability and integration scope are agreed for each deployment. Fleet readiness sits alongside workforce and planning, so allocations can be reviewed with the people and jobs that depend on them.