How Fleet Key Management Can Save You Six Figures

Afleet manager’s day is never dull. They have reservations to manage, emergency use requests to field, and maintenance schedules to keep. And those are just the day-to-day tasks. We’re not even mentioning the important long-term planning, like budgeting, procurement, and lease management. 

Fleet Key Management Systems Help You Streamline Your Fleet and Your Administrative Work 

Streamlined vehicle distribution allows fleet pooling 

Implementing an electronic fleet key management system to control key distribution eliminates the need for a fleet manager to be present at every vehicle sign out and return. Instead, drivers get secure, unattended access to keys. Users simply present their access credentials at the built-in card reader, and the key cabinet releases only the key that the individual is entitled to. There are no signatures to record and no paper logs since all transactions are captured and time-stamped automatically. In addition, a fleet manager can reduce time spent tracking down missing keys since they will always know who removed the key in question. That will also help reduce expensive key losses if searches begin as soon as possible. 

Since all of these vehicle key sign-outs can happen unattended, vehicles are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Therefore, you can pool all available cars into a central fleet instead of assigning cars to individuals who might otherwise need a dedicated vehicle. That is exactly what the City of Saint John did. More on their solution is below. 

Valuable data collection 

The embedded computer system in electronic key cabinets records every key transaction precisely. Fleet managers will always know which vehicles are out and which vehicles are available for use by consulting an audit report. Audit capabilities provide real-time access to vehicle status. Without searching through a key cabinet or walking out into the yard, fleet managers can know which vehicles are available for use. 

You can also use key transactions as a point to collect other valuable information. For example, you can present drivers with a checklist at signout and return where they are required to log mileage, damage, and maintenance issues. Vehicle maintenance costs have been rising year over year, and keeping better track of how your cars and trucks are damaged can help you better contain those costs. 

Improved driver accountability 

An audit trail is an invaluable tool when investigating vehicle damage. Now a fleet manager can know who was holding the keys when an accident or damage occurred. Unauthorized personal use and stolen vehicles can cause financial, safety, and public relations concerns that can easily exceed the value of an electronic key management system investment. 

These systems can also solve the problem of “mystery miles.” Once a fleet manager knows who accessed a key, it’s not hard to track down who’s tacked those extra miles onto the odometer. 

These benefits sound great, but will fleet managers see them in practice? The City of Saint John, New Brunswick did. They were able to downsize their fleet of passenger vehicles by 33 percent and save over $150,000 annually, converting to a pooled fleet model managed unattended by a KeyTracer fleet key management system. 

The City of Saint John saved $155,000 per year using a KeyTracer system for fleet management

• It broke down departmental silos

The City recognized this was their greatest challenge. Some departments had overutilized vehicles, others very underutilized. And most significantly, no monitoring mechanism existed to promote sharing, so this status quo was difficult to change. Most departments managed their vehicles within their own organizational silos. An electronic key system allowed them to centralize and standard some of their most costly fleet services. 

• It made drivers more accountable 

Before, many vehicle operators knew the City did not track their cars and trucks. As a result, they were lax with caring for their vehicles and keeping them on proper maintenance schedules. That led to unnecessary repair and cleaning costs and shortened vehicle lifecycles. Under the pooled fleet model, drivers refueled and cleaned vehicles more consistently because they never knew whether their boss or someone higher up the chain would be the next to sign a car out. 

• It optimized how drivers used all vehicles over their lifecycle with the City 

The City’s budget for its fleet required recouping costs by selling vehicles after a certain number of years. However, if drivers did not maintain vehicles properly, resale values might not hit their desired targets. The KeyTracer automated key control system allowed the Fleet Services Division to rotate vehicle usage to extract as much use as possible from each vehicle over its lifecycle. They also used the key system to reserve vehicles for scheduled maintenance to keep them in good shape.

See our ultimate guide to key control in the workplace and learn how to create a comprehensive policy from planning to execution.