Safety in light commercial vehicle fleets is more than a priority. It’s the foundation of your reputation, your bottom line and your drivers’ wellbeing. Whether you operate a delivery fleet or service vans that travel between job sites, keeping your assets safe and visible is essential. Asset tracking technology makes this possible by giving you clarity on where equipment, tools and cargo are at all times. With better insight, you can prevent theft, avoid costly breakdowns and enhance operational efficiency.
In this blog, MICHELIN Connected Fleet highlights all the key points you need to know about asset tracking to keep your fleet operations moving.
The real value of asset tracking lies in visibility across a complex mix of vehicles that move constantly. Vans may make dozens of stops in a single shift, trailers are often detached and left on job sites and expensive tools or parts are loaded and unloaded throughout the day. Each of these moments is a risk point for loss or safety incidents.
With asset tracking, fleet managers can simplify asset management, enhance efficiency and mitigate risk through real-time insights, including real-time location, battery status and more. For light commercial fleets that live in a world of tight schedules, rapid turnarounds and customer expectations for on-time service, this insight transforms daily operations into safer, more predictable routines.
Protecting against theft and loss
Light commercial vehicles and work vans are often parked in driveways, job sites or city streets where security can be limited. With tracking, managers can set geofences and receive alerts if assets are misplaced or missing. This also reduces theft risk.
Lowering costs
Asset tracking enables the quick and easy location of assets at any time and in real-time. This helps lower administrative costs, as administrators no longer need to manually track or locate assets. Efficiency is improved, and downtime is mitigated, resulting in trimmed costs. Not to mention, asset tracking ensures accountability and accuracy in asset loss and management, informing fleet managers of what they have, what they need and where costs should be allocated.
Increasing accuracy
With real-time location data, you can receive reports on the position of each asset and increase the accuracy of your asset management strategy. With the ability to track and reduce asset loss and utilize assets more effectively, customer service is enhanced, safety is improved and productivity is optimized.
Supporting compliance
From electronic logging to maintenance records, many regulations require accurate data. Asset tracking creates a digital record of how equipment is used. This supports compliance and helps protect your business in case of audits or insurance reviews.
Not all asset tracking systems are created equally. For fleet managers, a strong solution should deliver:
Rolling out asset tracking is most effective when approached step by step. Start with a pilot on a small group of vehicles, ideally those most vulnerable to theft or downtime, to test features and refine alerts before expanding across the fleet. At the same time, train drivers and staff to help them understand that the purpose is to improve safety and reliability for efficient asset management. Involving them early helps build trust and ensures the data is used constructively.
It's also important to define clear KPIs that show what success looks like, such as reducing misplaced assets, mitigating downtime or eliminating asset loss incidents. Review these regularly and make adjustments as needed. Finally, link insights to action. Tracking only delivers value when managers use the information to increase asset management accuracy, enhance efficiency and reduce potential risk.
With the right system in place, asset tracking does more than show you where things are. It builds a culture of safety and accountability. Fleets experience fewer thefts, fewer asset losses and fewer cost increases. Managers gain the insight to improve efficiency based on real-time reports and make informed decisions.
Ready to get started with asset tracking for your fleet? Contact the MICHELIN Connected Fleet team today.