What Makes a Great Fleet Leader?

  • What Makes a Great Fleet Leader?

    What Makes a Great Fleet Leader?

    A survey taken around the country has come up with the following attributes that make a great fleet leader. Do you have what it takes?

    Excels at Multi-Tasking

    The ability to juggle multiple tasks is essential for a fleet leader. One must balance a variety of responsibilities if the operation is going to run smoothly. You have to manage company image, driver safety, fuel economy, and vehicle depreciation. Naturally, a fleet manager isn’t responsible for all these tasks. Instead, he or she must delegate to subordinates—a skill in its own right.

    Good Time Management Skills

    Second only to the ability to multi-task is the ability to manage one’s time. After all, fleet management is all about meeting your schedule, plus the schedules of all your clients. As a fleet manager, you must meet corporate needs, driver needs, and client needs simultaneously.

    Setting Goals

    The best fleet managers set goals. The success of the entire process, both in the short term and long term, is ensured by creating explicit goals and setting priorities. One must develop, analyze, and update metrics to measure and improve utilization, productivity, and operating costs. Without clearly stated goals, the job would be impossible!

    Willing and Able to Adapt

    The market is always changing. New technology has made what worked 20 years ago all but obsolete. Rather than getting stuck in an outdated system, great fleet managers jump at the opportunity to adapt. Sometimes it’s necessary to make systematic changes even when those changes come at high initial cost.

    Lifelong Learners

    If you’re going to adapt to new demands and seize new opportunities, you’ve got to be a lifelong learner. Great fleet managers are active in industry associations and stay up to date on industry advances, always ready to put what they’ve learned into practice. They lead from the top down, setting a positive example for all.

    Great Communication Skills

    With so many moving parts and overlapping schedules, a great fleet manager must have exceptional communication skills if he or she hopes to delegate responsibility. It’s all about precision and concision—being precise and getting to the point.

    Believers in the System

    When you’ve got a system in place, you’ve got to be behind it 100%. Dissatisfied clients are unavoidable in any industry. Great fleet managers can balance receptiveness to client needs and fidelity to their system. They’re confident and trust their judgment.

    Balch Logistics

    Balch logistics works with some of the finest fleet managers in the nation to provide complete shipping coordination and vehicle delivery. Check out our
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