Are Your Fleet Spreadsheets Still Doing the Job?

Your fleet spreadsheets have grown with the business. There’s a reason you’ve kept using them: they’re built around what you need.

But how much work goes into getting the information ready for a decision? If a monthly report means checking mileage against invoices, finding the latest garage update and cross-checking driver records, could bringing that information together save you some work?

Assessing your current setup

Start with a recent report or vehicle decision and look at what it took to get the information together. Include everyone involved, so you can see the time spent across the business rather than just your own part of it. Then consider:

• Preparation: How much time went on collecting, checking and copying information before you could use it?

• Accuracy: Where did figures need correcting or checking against another record?

• Timing: Was the information current enough to act on, particularly for mileage allowances or upcoming servicing?

• Continuity: Could a colleague pick up the work during an absence without relying on the person who usually maintains the files?

There’s no particular number of spreadsheets or vehicles that makes a change necessary. What matters is whether you can rely on the information when you need it, and whether the work of maintaining it is proportionate to your fleet.

What would improve the process?

If most of the effort comes from a duplicate file or an awkward handover, simplifying the records or agreeing how updates are shared may be enough. Keep the parts that work well for you.

If collecting and checking information takes up much of the time, look at what a fleet platform could take over. Use the same report or decision to assess it: which steps would disappear, what would still need your input, and would you get the information soon enough to make a difference?

Compare the time saved with the subscription cost and the work involved in moving across. Include what your team could get done with that time back, particularly where fleet admin takes them away from their main role.

Where Orbis could help

Covase’s fleet platform, Orbis, is what our fleet managers use to help our clients every day, and it’s now available to in-house teams.

For supported vehicles, Orbis can collect mileage directly from the vehicle, reducing the need to request readings and copy them into your records. That can give you more current figures to work with when reviewing mileage against lease allowances. The information available varies by make and model, so checking compatibility with your fleet is part of assessing whether it would help.

When looking at Orbis, bring an example of the report you need or the checks you currently carry out. You can then see how it would fit your fleet, which records you could stop maintaining and where your team would still need to act.

You can explore Orbis if you want to keep managing the fleet in-house. If you’d like to consider outsourcing the day-to-day fleet coordination and driver support, see what Covase could take off your plate.