Is your company still using paper sheets to manage work orders? The drawbacks of using paper forms are often hidden, making it difficult to understand the true impact of paper forms on a business. Typically, as your business grows, the paper problem becomes more difficult to manage. Here are some of the top concerns:

• Rising direct costs of paper usage
• Manual workflows and time-consuming data entry
• Missing or inaccurate data that leads to rework
• Lack of insights into operations
• Hard to scale your business efficiently

By switching to digital work orders, your business can alleviate these data challenges. This article covers how digital work orders enable better data insights and ultimately how they can save your business time and money.

Top 3 Ways Digital Work Orders Can Impact Your Business

There are many reasons to switch from traditional paper forms over to digital work orders and software to help manage your business operations in the field. Let’s look at the top three ways going digital will help your growing business to scale more efficiently. 

1. Streamline processes for the field and the office

Companies with large field teams often rely on paper forms, but eventually find this process to be difficult to manage. Take for example Centurion Transport based in Australia, who found that their work orders could sometimes take a week or more to return from the field and process in the office. As a transportation and logistics company, the paperwork was difficult to manage, reporting errors were common, and long turnaround times for paperwork made it difficult to scale. After implementing digital work orders and other forms, Centurion realized a total cost savings of $100k annually by focusing on software to help them streamline and automate their business processes.

Digital work order management software is designed to connect the field and the office. Tools can be used to dispatch workers in the field and share information seamlessly back to the office. Since mobile forms are used to collect and share information from the work order, everything is managed centrally in the cloud. Improving workflows and eliminating paper can have a profound impact on the business. Taking it one step further, companies can also start to leverage automation to integrate work orders into their payroll and invoicing systems. Since work orders are managed using cloud-based tools, they can easily connect to the other cloud-based tools your business uses to manage its operations. 

2. Standardize how data is collected

Data is a valuable asset, but it’s easy for businesses to miss out on the opportunity to use data in meaningful ways. Paper forms are not ideal for data collection because they are hard to control what data is submitted from the field. If data on paper forms is missing or illegible, it can require rework to fix the problem or there is key information that’s unknown.

Digital work orders bring consistency and standardization for data collection in the field and for the office. Teams generating work orders from the office have standardized digital templates to be used for specific work order requests. Teams performing the work and documenting the work orders in the field will have mobile forms that can require certain information and types of data to be submitted. For example, they may have the ability to choose from a pre-set drop down list of options or they may be required to format data as a number rather than text. All of this leads to better data collection practices that can make the work order data useful when it needs to be reported on. 

The key outcome is better reporting and analytics for your business in real-time. Consistent data is better for reporting purposes and standard KPIs ensures you are collecting the right information from the field. In the case of work orders, this may help you to understand common challenges and problems that are happening with your teams, so you can take the appropriate response to help overcome these obstacles. Are there delays happening and where? What is causing down time? Where do we need additional resources in the field? All of these types of analysis become much easier when you have consistent and standard data available at your fingertips for reporting.

3. Create a better customer experience

With more competition and options for customers to choose from, it’s become more important than ever to provide a best in class customer experience, no matter how big or small your company may be. 

Customers expect the service experience to be effortless for them. So if your field service teams are interacting directly with the customer to complete work orders, it’s important to have a digital experience that streamlines the process for everyone involved. This could mean providing digital signatures for the customer to sign off, a digitized report with detailed explanation of work performed, and clear documentation on any next steps or scheduled work orders in the future.

Providing transparent documentation and an effortless experience for customers by leveraging simple digital technology for work orders can help to bring more satisfied customers and more revenue to your business. 

Ready to see a work order management system in action? Reach out to the team at GoCanvas to learn more about our mobile platform for managing work orders and digitizing your core business processes. 

To keep your fleet in great shape, you need regular real-time fleet inspections and consistent management. With the help of proper inspections, you can avoid potential breakdowns and costly downtime. To get the most from your fleet management practices, it’s important to understand the specific benefits of inspections and the ways you can improve the inspection process.

The Importance of Optimizing Your Vehicle Inspection Processes

A non-functioning fleet is potentially expensive for many businesses, with downtime costing as much as $760 per vehicle per day. This makes it necessary to conduct routine inspections if you want to maximize the performance and longevity of your fleets. By doing so, you can centralize requests, and automate maintenance workflows and extensive reporting.

You also need to take certain steps to transform your maintenance processes. Maintenance is a significant factor in the overall costs for fleet companies, with these processes normally accounting for around 20-60% of operating expenses (OpEx) and capital expenditures (CapEx). By taking steps to optimize maintenance processes, companies have managed to save more than $500 million over the course of ten years, which translates to around 30% of the company’s total fleet expenses. These numbers show how crucial it is for fleet management companies to have a solid inspection process and streamlined maintenance solutions.

The Benefits of Fleet Inspections

Fleet inspections help maintain fleets of all sizes with the right practices and technology. The following are some specific advantages of fleet inspections for businesses, including digital inspections and fleet management software.

Prevent Serious, Expensive Breakdowns with Digital Vehicle Inspections

Fleets require proactive preventative maintenance as opposed to reactive maintenance. Inspections can help identify certain issues or potential issues before they have the chance to cause expensive breakdowns and repairs. To properly prevent breakdowns, fleets need to undergo routine servicing along with both pre-and post-trip inspections. Taking these steps will ensure that fleet vehicles don’t experience wear and tear that put your business and employees at risk

Increase Productivity for Fleet Operations

By preventing avoidable breakdowns, you’ll be able to avoid the headache of decreased productivity among your fleet. Without inspections that detect issues beforehand, employees would need to spend more time getting vehicles back up and running when they should be focusing on making deliveries on time. Preventative maintenance also makes sure your equipment performs optimally, which will further increase productivity across your fleet.

Maintain Compliance with Fleet Maintenance Software

It’s important for fleets to comply with inspection regulations under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These regulations dictate what inspections companies need for their fleets, including specific components, such as brake systems, fuel tank fittings, and chassis. Without adhering to the FMCSA’s strict requirements when it comes to inspections, you may inadvertently violate them, which can lead to certain repercussions, namely hefty fines that can severely compromise your bottom line. Maintaining compliance with fleet management software and proper inspections will give you peace of mind in knowing that your fleet and business aren’t at risk.

Keep Insurance Costs and Other Pricing Low

By performing regular inspections for your vehicle, you’ll also be able to save more on insurance costs, along with those resulting from roadside inspection fines. 

The FMCSA developed and launched the CSA safety compliance and enforcement program with the purpose of holding both fleet owners and drivers accountable for their behavior on the road. To gauge conduct, this program gives drivers a CSA score that can influence insurance premiums. 

The CSA score looks at several factors to measure each driver’s performance. These include:

• Crash Indicator
• Unsafe Driving
• Vehicle Maintenance
• Driver Fitness
• Hours-of-Service Compliance
• Controlled Substances or Alcohol
• Hazardous Materials Compliance

The vehicle maintenance factor is why inspections are so important in boosting the CSA score. Poor maintenance can negatively impact this score, leading the FMCSA to give a lower score and subsequently leading to increased insurance premiums. A higher CSA score, conversely, can help reduce premium costs while also increasing the chances of coverage approval and reducing deductibles. In addition to reducing insurance costs, inspections can help lower roadside inspection fines. You should always make sure your fleet and drivers are prepared for roadside inspections. If your vehicles are in great condition and you provide drivers with the right documentation, including inspection forms, you’ll be able to avoid potentially costly fines. Additionally, performing pre-trip inspections prior to roadside inspections can help save a trip to the repair shop, which could also lead to otherwise avoidable downtime and costs.

Reduce Driver Liability with Digital Templates

If a driver gets involved in an accident on their trip, they may be liable for it if they don’t have documentation proving that a pre-trip inspection took place. Even if the driver isn’t responsible for the accident, the lack of proof of inspection could make them liable regardless. This makes it necessary to perform pre-trip inspections and provide drivers with the right documentation and asset management to reduce liability.

Maximize the Longevity of Equipment

If you maintain your fleets, including all vehicles and equipment, you’ll be able to dramatically increase service life. This will help you get the most from your equipment and avoid the expenses of buying replacements. 

Streamline All Processes With Digital Inspections

Traditional fleet inspections are effective, but you can get even more from them when you digitize them. Using the right fleet management and inspection tools, you can make all inspections paperless and easy to navigate. A digital solution would be able to include images and detailed checklists that simplify the inspection process from start to finish. A reliable digital inspection solution will allow you to work online and offline as needed. When connected, online inspections can save data to the cloud. However, when in areas without connectivity, field teams can still conduct inspections and save data locally on their smartphones or tablets.

You Can Optimize Fleet Maintenance and Inspections with GoCanvas

While regular maintenance and inspections are invaluable for your fleet, you also need to make sure you can properly perform these tasks. Today, businesses have access to a variety of technological solutions to optimize these tasks. One of the best ways to streamline inspections and more is to use digitized forms. Ordinarily, businesses need to deal with piles of paperwork and spend time looking through forms. This is highly inefficient and can significantly reduce productivity while increasing the risk of human error. Digital forms will make every inspection and maintenance form easy to access and modify, with the ability to keep all documentation on a single accessible platform. Digitization of forms will also help collect data on maintenance to better inform future decisions. The right technology will help create a paperless environment for your business that makes fleet management easier and more cost-effective than ever. However, you need to find the ideal solution to get the results you want.GoCanvas offers a great platform for converting paper forms to digital versions that create a more holistic maintenance and inspection ecosystem. To learn more about GoCanvas and what it can do for your fleet, connect to an expert and schedule a demo.

Fleet management is a complex and ever-evolving field, and staying up to date with the latest technologies is essential to success. Here are four fleet management technologies that you should be aware of.

Top 7 Fleet Management Software Solutions

1. Fleet Management Platform

Keeping up with the latest technology is vital for any fleet business. As new features roll out, it’s important to ensure your fleet managers are taking advantage of them. GoCanvas makes this process easier by providing fleet management solutions that feature mobile apps, open APIs, and automated workflows.

2. Vehicle Maintenance Management and Tracking

Keeping fleet vehicles in top condition is of the utmost importance for fleet management businesses. GoCanvas can help fleet managers keep up with vehicle maintenance and easily track fleet activity. With an intuitive mobile app, fleet managers can access comprehensive vehicle data from any location and log hours of service with electronic logging.

3. Compliance and Fleet Safety

Safety and compliance are two of the most important fleet management concerns. GoCanvas helps fleet managers stay on top of compliance regulations and preventative maintenance with customizable fleet tracking tools tailored to meet fleet needs. Fleet managers can also use GoCanvas’s fleet maintenance apps to track maintenance schedules for each vehicle, ensuring fleet vehicles are always safe and updated with fleet regulations.

4. Driver Management

Fleet managers must also consider driver performance and driver behavior when managing fleet vehicles. GoCanvas’s fleet tracking apps can easily capture driver performance data such as fuel management, ETAS, vehicle tracking, fuel consumption, route planning, work orders, vehicle location, asset tracking, and driving behavior. This data can then be used to identify areas of improvement for drivers or the fleet.

5. Route Optimization Reporting and Analytics

Fleet managers can use fleet tracking software like GoCanvas to monitor driver safety, GPS tracking, and fleet performance in real-time. With fleet reporting and analytics tools, fleet managers can quickly identify areas of improvement, track fleet costs, and ensure fleet operations are running smoothly.

6. Inventory Management and Maintenance Costs

Fleet managers must also make sure fleet inventory is up to date and in line with fleet regulations. GoCanvas fleet tracking software can help fleet managers monitor inventory levels and pricing and comply with fleet regulations.

7. Automation

Automating fleet processes is a great way to streamline fleet operations, making them more efficient and cost-effective. GoCanvas fleet tracking software can help fleet managers automate fleet operations and processes, allowing them to focus their time on more urgent tasks and reduce downtime.

Enhance Your Fleet Management Technology with GoCanvas

Keeping up with the latest fleet management technologies is essential for fleet success. With mobile fleet management tools like GoCanvas, fleet managers can easily stay informed of regulations and trends, track fleet performance, and automate fleet operations. This will help fleet managers save time, money, and resources and ensure fleet operations stay safe and compliant. To learn more, contact us today.

Fleet managers have much to consider when digitizing their old fleet maintenance records. On the one hand, there are obvious benefits to doing so: protection against floods or fires, long-term records that can help with resell and insurance premiums, and a deep dive into safety and compliance issues. But on the other hand, making the switch can be daunting, especially if you’re unsure where to start.

Digitizing Paper-Based Fleet Maintenance Records: A Step-by-Step Guide

Digitizing fleet maintenance records is a big job, but it is manageable. Read a step-by-step guide to help fleet managers switch from paper-based fleet maintenance records to digital ones.

1. Identify what needs to be digitized: Before jumping in, fleet managers need to identify which fleet maintenance records should be digitized. This could include repair and inspection records, fuel logs, fleet utilization reports, driver qualification files, and more.

2. Choose the right document scanning service: Once you understand what needs to be digitized, it’s time to choose a document scanning service. Ask questions about the service, such as how long they’ve been in business and their experience with fleet management documents.

3. Create a plan: Once you’ve chosen a document scanning service, create a plan for digitization. This should include steps on how the documents will be stored (e.g., in an online fleet management software), how they will be retrieved, and any additional safety measures necessary to protect sensitive documents.

4. Execute the plan: Once you have a solid plan, it’s time to execute it. This may include having a fleet manager work directly with the document scanning service or outsourcing the entire process to them.

5. Monitor the fleet maintenance records: Fleet managers must ensure that all the records are being monitored properly. This should include tracking changes or updates in fleet utilization reports, fuel logs, and driver qualification files.

Why Fleet Managers Should Digitize Their Fleet Maintenance Records

Fleet managers should consider digitizing their fleet maintenance records in today’s digital world. Doing so offers several benefits, such as protection from floods or fires, long-term records that can help with resell and insurance premiums, and a deeper dive into safety and compliance issues. Additionally, fleet managers can track changes in fleet utilization reports, fuel logs, and driver qualification files. Ultimately, fleet managers will save time, money, and resources by digitizing their fleet maintenance records.

Benefits of Fleet Maintenance Software

Digitizing fleet maintenance records offers numerous benefits, such as:

• Streamline fleet maintenance processes: By digitizing fleet maintenance records, fleet managers can easily track and monitor fleet utilization reports, fuel logs, driver qualification files, and more.
• Improved accuracy: Digitizing fleet maintenance records ensures that all documents are accurate and up-to-date. This also helps fleet managers identify potential safety compliance issues or lapses.
• Real-time access: In addition to improved accuracy, fleet managers can access fleet maintenance records in real-time. This gives fleet managers more control and insight into fleet operations.
• Reduced costs: Finally, digitizing fleet maintenance records helps fleet managers save time and money by reducing manual processes and paperwork. Ultimately, fleet managers who take the time to digitize their fleet maintenance records will reap these long-term benefits.
• Workflow automation: Fleet managers can enhance their workflows by digitizing fleet maintenance records. This will help fleet managers coordinate and manage fleet operations more efficiently.
• Preventative maintenance: Digitizing fleet maintenance records helps fleet managers identify vehicle maintenance and rectify potential safety compliance issues before they become a problem. This prevents costly and time-consuming repairs or replacements down the line. This can also improve maintenance schedules and reduce downtime.
• Mobile app software solutions: Fleet managers can utilize digital solutions that have a mobile app for their mobile devices. This allows fleet managers to receive fleet operation notifications and access fleet maintenance records and other data wherever they are.
• Work order management system: Fleet managers can use fleet management software to create and manage work orders. This makes fleet maintenance processes more organized and efficient.
• Simplify vehicle inspections: Fleet managers can schedule and manage vehicle inspections with fleet management software. This helps fleet managers ensure that fleet vehicles are safe and compliant with regulations.

Digitize Your Fleet Maintenance Records with GoCanvas

Digitizing fleet maintenance records can be daunting for fleet managers but offers numerous benefits if done correctly. Fleet managers can switch from paper to digital fleet maintenance records with little planning and the right document-scanning service. GoCanvas offers fleet managers a streamlined process for digitizing fleet maintenance records quickly and easily. With its intuitive app, fleet managers can access fleet utilization reports, fuel logs, repair and inspection records, driver qualification files, and more—all in one place. Contact us today to learn more.

Maintaining a fleet of vehicles is daunting, no matter the fleet size. Not only do you have to keep track of all the regular repair and maintenance tasks, but you also need to ensure that your vehicles comply with safety regulations such as vehicle inspections and inventory management. Luckily, several excellent fleet maintenance solutions can help make the process a bit easier.

Top Fleet Maintenance Software for Fleet Maintenance Safety and Compliance

There are several apps and software programs out there that help streamline fleet maintenance and make it easier to keep tabs on safety and compliance.

1. GoCanvas Form Templates

GoCanvas offers a comprehensive suite of form templates and checklists specifically designed for fleet maintenance and safety. These templates are fully customizable and include fields such as vehicle information, service records, inspection results, and more.

2. Fleetio

Fleetio is a comprehensive fleet maintenance software designed to help you streamline your fleet operations. It features an easy-to-use platform that lets you track and manage all aspects of vehicle repairs and maintenance, from scheduling routine services to monitoring vehicle performance. It also helps keep track of safety certifications, so you can be sure your vehicles comply with all applicable regulations.

3. Simply Fleet

Simply Fleet is an easy-to-use fleet maintenance app that helps you stay organized and on top of your regular maintenance schedule. It features a streamlined dashboard that lets you quickly view all the tasks and services associated with each vehicle and its current mileage and service records.

4. AUTOsist

AUTOsist is a comprehensive fleet maintenance app designed to help you manage all aspects of your fleet, from scheduling services and repairs to tracking vehicle performance. It also includes a detailed records system that makes it easy to comply with safety regulations.

5. Fleetsoft

Fleetsoft is an easy-to-use fleet maintenance software designed to help you keep track of all your vehicles’ maintenance, repairs, and expenses. It features a comprehensive dashboard that gives you an overview of each vehicle’s performance and service history.

6. Motive (KeepTruckin)

Motive is a cloud-based fleet maintenance software that helps you manage all aspects of your fleet operations. It includes vehicle performance tracking, fuel efficiency monitoring, and preventive maintenance schedules to help keep your vehicles compliant with applicable regulations.

Enhance Your Business with a Fleet Management App

No matter which app you choose, the right fleet management software can help ensure that your vehicles stay compliant with all applicable regulations and remain safe to operate. With the right tools and processes, you can keep your fleet running in top condition and ensure that your business workflow remains safe and compliant.