How Can a Business Take Advantage of a Dedicated Fleet Service?
Running a private fleet can be a complex and time-consuming operation. From owning, handling, and maintaining trucks, to hiring and managing drivers in-house, it requires a level of complex operational efficiency.
However, there’s another option that can help companies handle the transportation and distribution of essentials and non-essentials: dedicated fleet services. It provides businesses with an efficiently outsourced solution to delivery operations while maintaining the organizational structure of the company.
What is a Dedicated Fleet Service?
Often referred to as dedicated transportation, dedicated fleet services are the transportation, distribution, and delivery services that are offered to businesses by third-party logistics companies. A dedicated transportation team provides a company with dedicated fleets, but with benefits like warranted capacity, supply chain management, and real-time visibility.
Dedicated fleet services don't take away the element of control from the company. Instead, they provide easier access to resources and logistics service options while internal employees focus on other business needs that require core competency.
A dedicated fleet can be an important tool in the hands of an organization that's largely invested in the shipment of products and requires dedicated drivers for transportation services.
Dedicated Fleet Services: Factors to Consider
Companies that have significant transportation and logistics needs have the option of either owning a private fleet or hiring dedicated fleet services. If you're considering the option of dedicated fleet services and wondering if it's the right option for you, it's important to consider the following elements:
The Size of Your Organization
If you own a small to medium-scale business, building a private fleet service in-house will require time, complicated processes, managing personnel, and taking on additional costs. Leaving the intricacies to a dedicated fleet service provider will help to reduce costs and eliminate the responsibility of overseeing the process.
The Complexity of Your Routes and Stops
Coordinating multiple routes and stops can be a huge complexity to deal with in-house. However, a dedicated fleet can help to control this appropriately as the demand arises. Consolidating your operations may be what you need to improve your business profitability and provide better service for your customers.
The Uniqueness of Distribution Requirements
A business that has straightforward distribution and logistics needs can focus on providing it in-house, rather than using a dedicated fleet. However, if you have complex logistics and distribution needs, hiring dedicated fleet services that can provide you with a guaranteed capacity may be an excellent option. Sometimes, the complexity of distribution requirements may depend on the compliance policies of the state and industry.
Your Need for Additional Service
Aside from hiring professional drivers, managing trucks, and providing real-time updates, a dedicated fleet can provide other benefits. They include warehousing, yard management, alternative fuels, use of specialized equipment, and regulatory compliance.
Are Fleet Services Right for Your Business?
Owning a private fleet has a couple of advantages for business owners, but it also has some shortcomings.
The biggest benefit of having your own fleet is that you have plenty of control over your operations. Interestingly, a dedicated fleet provides the same benefit for you, especially when it's from a fleet service. Unlike many shippers that are available today, fleet companies work in partnership with businesses to provide the benefits of a private fleet and those of dedicated fleets.
The best solution for your logistics and transportation needs will be to partner with a fleet management company to supply you with the control and personalization of a private fleet and the reduced costs and risks of a dedicated fleet at the same time.
The Benefits of Dedicated Fleet Management
The right fleet management company understands the intricacies of organizational logistics and distribution. As such, they can effectively:
- Create and provide personalized services for your business's logistics needs
- Help you ramp up capacity during the peak seasons to meet changing demand
- Provide other services (like hiring, training, and managing drivers, maintaining and substituting vehicles, insurance, licensing, and complying with regulations)
Working with the right logistics provider can result in many benefits, which we'll explore below:
Time and Cost Savings
Sustaining a private fleet of drivers and vehicles can be a costly undertaking for your business. Working with dedicated fleets, however, will take the responsibilities of those costs off your shoulders.
Eliminating transportation costs, resources, and the need for infrastructure to provide for vehicles, fleet maintenance costs, insurance premiums, technology equipment, employee responsibility, driver training and management, and other substantial expenses will save you substantial costs. You'll also save on the time that would be spent administering and overseeing these elements.
Unlimited Access
Dedicated fleet providers operate 24/7 to provide any category of delivery service that's required. If you choose to have a dedicated contract with the right fleet service, you can rely on them to always be available for scheduled delivery to your customers.
Supply Chain Optimization
Dedicated fleets allow you to constantly cycle freight through the same routes, thereby building a stable flow of inbound and outbound shipments.
With dedicated fleet providers, it doesn't matter if the freight is on local, regional, or long-haul routes; the shippers can convey loads to customers at various locations.
Simplified Planning and Communication
Just like every other industry, the logistics and transportation industry needs to constantly keep up with an ever-evolving world and the new changes in demand in supply to remain relevant. Partnering up with dedicated fleet services allows industry players to improve on the services they supply.
When you partner with a third-party logistics organization, you also get the chance to benefit from their resources and expertise to further improve your efficiency and ultimately the planning and savings of your company.
Business Scalability
Dedicated fleet services give you the opportunity to scale up your business by enabling a dedicated team to provide the resources, infrastructure, training, and management you require to meet your transportation needs.
A private fleet system may not allow you to invest your resources in the scaling up of your company. Rather, you may be stuck investing substantial costs into that one area of the company's operations. Dedicated fleet services help you to reduce costs and focus on taking your company to the next level.
Conclusion
Your business can benefit greatly from the use of dedicated fleet services. You have the opportunity to make your distribution network more efficient, economical, and customer-friendly while competing - and even thriving - within your industry.
If you’d like to discuss how your business can take advantage of dedicated fleet services, reach out to Ziing today. We offer integrated, automated, and data-driven solutions that help you take your business to the next level.
