2024 Hyundai Tucson

What does it take to develop a fleet management budget that will support you on the way to your business goals? In this short guide will cover the determining aspects you should keep in mind and strategies to employ when drawing up a fleet budget. But first, let’s clarify — why is it imperative to have one? 🤔

As of December 2024, there are 968 fleet management software (FMS) options listed on Capterra alone. Think of going through dozens of them, hoping to find the perfect fit for your fleet. You spend days, maybe weeks, swamped by endless features and specs, sitting through overhyped demos, and feeling your brain turn to mush.

Most "fleet management software" was built for long-haul trucking or service vehicles — construction is the asset-mixed reality in between, and most vendors treat it as an afterthought. Here are the four capabilities that actually matter for a construction fleet, starting with dispatch, plus an honest vendor-by-vendor look at how Samsara, Motive, Fleetio, Verizon Connect, Tenna, and Fleet Chaser handle each.

Setting up a real job takes a few minutes — a route, products, a crew, a schedule. Get interrupted halfway and that half-built task used to be gone. Drafts fix that: while you build a task, Fleet Chaser saves it automatically, so you can step away and pick up exactly where you left off. A draft stays private and silent — no task number, no notifications — until you press Create task.

Fleet management requires the handling and analysis of numerous metrics and variables, which can quickly get out of hand and clutter your desk with piles of hard-to-access information. Compiling reports, communicating with employees, contractors, and drivers, etc., should be intuitive, all laid out in a simple, visual way. This is where fleet management software comes in.

Managing a fleet isn’t just about tracking dots on a map. It’s about knowing exactly what’s happening — and reacting before small issues become big problems. That’s why we rebuilt and expanded the Fleet Chaser Events System. Now, with a cleaner interface and more flexible rules, Events is open to every Fleet Chaser customer.

Ever needed to record specific vehicle information that you can’t quite assign to your existing data categories? With notes, important vehicle details are safe in one place, always at your disposal. This can be repair shop inspections, vehicle documents, legal information, etc.

Unexpected downtime presents a tangible setback for your fleet. Not only is your asset now off the road, but you have to tweak your operations and allocate finances to accommodate for it.

Compare 8 dispatch platforms for US construction fleets — features, pricing, and which fits a 10-vehicle vs 50+ fleet. Includes Samsara, Fleetio, Procore.