Managing a fleet isn't just about having vehicles available - it's about having the right vehicles, used in the right way. With rising acquisition, maintenance, fuel, and insurance costs, getting this balance right is more important than ever. That’s where fleet optimisation comes in.

What is fleet optimisation?

The simple truth is that every fleet is different. The mix of vehicles that works for one organisation may not be suitable for another.

Fleet optimisation is the task of ensuring you have the right tools for the job. Say you have a fleet of four vehicles: two sedans, and two utes. Your budget can comfortably sustain these four vehicles, but any additional vehicle acquisitions are out of the question.

After a while you start to hear that it’s incredibly difficult for staff to book a sedan. Furthermore, hardly anyone uses the utes because they’re impractical for most staff. But they are necessary for certain situations.

You crunch the numbers and discover that the sedans are frequently booked, while utes go days or weeks without use. Historical data further backs up your hypothesis. Armed with data, you can make an informed decision about how to optimise your fleet: replace one of the utes that is hardly used with another sedan.

In a nutshell, this is fleet optimisation. Making informed decisions based on usage data specific to the needs of your organisation.

The case for pooling vehicles

Many organisations still assign vehicles to individuals. While convenient, this approach is inefficient. Most of these vehicles spend more time parked than driving, tying up budget in unused assets.

By shifting to a pooled fleet model, you gain flexibility. Staff book vehicles only when they need them, and overall vehicle numbers can be reduced without compromising access.

However, changing habits can be tough. Staff may be reluctant to give up a dedicated vehicle. That’s where the right technology makes all the difference.

Empowering fleet decisions with booking software

Booking software is an essential tool for modern fleet optimisation. It provides the data you need to understand how your vehicles are being used - and where there’s room for improvement.

Smartrak’s PoolCar booking platform gives you real-time visibility into fleet usage. Whether you're evaluating which vehicles to retire, replace, or upgrade, PoolCar arms you with the insights to make confident, cost-effective decisions.

In fact, many Smartrak customers have reduced fleet sizes by over 10% with no negative impact on operations - delivering significant savings on acquisition, maintenance, registration, and insurance costs.

Plus, by digitising the booking process, PoolCar eliminates paper-based systems, simplifies reporting, and reduces admin time.

Going deeper with telematics and hardware

Booking data tells you when a vehicle is booked - but not how it's actually used. That’s where telematics comes in.

Let’s say a staff member books a car for a full day to attend a meeting across town. The vehicle is technically in use all day, but it may have only been driven for an hour. GPS tracking shows how long the vehicle was truly in motion - highlighting opportunities to recommend alternative transport, such as walking, ridesharing, or public transport.

This deeper level of insight allows fleet managers to reduce unnecessary vehicle use and lower costs, without affecting productivity.

Streamlining access with smart hardware

Key cabinets

By storing keys in a central location that is close to your fleet, you reduce the need for staff to take detours to collect and drop off keys. Smartrak’s KeyMaster key cabinet integrates directly into the PoolCar booking platform to provide staff with a seamless key access solution. It also ensures staff take the keys for their specific booking; they can't accidentally take wrong keys.

Keyless entry

Another option is to remove keys from booking process entirely. Keyless Entry provides a unified entry method into fleet vehicles through either their smartphone or an RFID enabled device. After staff make a booking through the PoolCar booking platform, they head straight to the vehicle, where they unlock the vehicle either with the app, or by tapping their RFID card against the windshield. This unlocks the vehicle, allowing staff to access the keys that have been stored in the glovebox.