Fleet Management. What is it?

By Hilde Lavrijssen · January 2023 · updated August 2026

Every company with company vehicles engages in fleet management—even those who have never called it that. The question isn’t whether you do it, but whether it’s done in a structured way or through phone calls, paper calendars, and a folder full of invoices.

What exactly fleet management entails, who does it, and at what point software starts to add value.

What is fleet management?

Fleet management, known in Dutch as “wagenparkbeheer” or “vlootbeheer,” is the set of tasks required to ensure that a fleet operates safely, in compliance with the law, and at an affordable cost. It includes the purchase or leasing of vehicles, maintenance, the monitoring of drivers, trip planning, cost control, and compliance with the law.

In Dutch, the terms “vlootbeheer” or “wagenparkbeheer” are used, but in practice, Belgian fleet managers usually just say “fleet management.” The terms mean the same thing.

While managing a handful of vehicles is still possible with a phone call and a calendar, it becomes a specialized field when dealing with a growing fleet. Three things are then necessary:

What does a fleet manager do?

A fleet manager oversees the entire lifecycle of the vehicles: from purchase to replacement. In large organizations, this is a full-time position, sometimes outsourced. In smaller companies, the business owner, the planner, or the site manager handles it on the side—which explains why it’s easiest to lose track of things there.

• 1
  Monitoring Driver Safety

  This is the biggest responsibility—and the most difficult one—because the vehicles are located kilometers away. Driving behavior data and dashcam footage provide insight into what's happening on the road and offer material for targeted coaching—rather than a general reminder to everyone.
• 2
  Knowing where the vehicles are

  It sounds simple, but it rarely is. You can call when there are five vehicles; when there are fifty, you can’t. Real-time location data is the foundation for planning, customer communication, and cost allocation by job site or project.
• 3
  Reducing Costs

  Fuel, maintenance, tires, downtime. The goal isn’t so much to save money as it is to identify unnecessary expenses: the vehicle that uses too much fuel, the car that sits idle three days a week, the trip that took a detour.
• 4
  Planning Maintenance and Replacement

  Ensure that every vehicle remains operational, coordinate routine maintenance, and assess how many and what types of vehicles the fleet needs. Maintenance that is performed too late turns from a planned expense into a costly one.
• 5
  Retain Directors

  The driver shortage in the transportation sector makes this a realistic challenge. Companies that do not burden their employees with endless paperwork and can present objective data during discussions about working hours will retain them longer.

What are the legal implications of this in Belgium?

This is where a lot of international information about fleet management goes wrong. The rules vary by country, and the Belgian context is unique.

Driving and Rest Times and the Tachograph

Anyone involved in freight transport is subject to European regulations regarding driving and rest times. The digital tachograph records this information, and you are required to download and retain the data within specified timeframes. The threshold above which this requirement applies has been lowered in recent years—lighter vehicles engaged in international transport are now also subject to these rules. Tachograph data download

Checkinatwork in the Construction Industry

If you work at construction sites above the reporting threshold, every instance of presence must be recorded with the RSZ. This is separate from your fleet management, but it does affect it: a vehicle that arrives at a construction site can automatically complete that registration. Checkinatwork systems

Privacy and Employee Monitoring

As soon as you collect data that can be traced back to a director, the GDPR applies. The purpose of the processing must be determined in advance, your employees must be informed, and you may not reuse that data for another purpose afterward. It is this last point that is where things go wrong in practice.

Vehicle Inspection, Road Tax, and Insurance

For each vehicle, with its own due dates. With just a handful of vehicles, you can keep track of that in a calendar. With thirty, a system with automatic reminders is no longer a luxury.

The 5 KPIs for Fleet Managers

Which metrics matter depends on your industry. These five are common to virtually every fleet—and all five can be measured as soon as you start tracking data on a per-vehicle basis.

Safety

Distracting events

Why

Distractions behind the wheel are one of the leading causes of accidents—with consequences for your drivers and other road users.

How

Record vehicle incidents using cameras that detect distracting behavior, and use that footage for targeted coaching.

Safety

Speed-Related Incidents

Why

Speeding not only increases the risk of an accident, it also drives up your fuel costs. One behavior, two expenses.

How

Measure speeding and fuel consumption at the driver level, compare patterns, and adjust driving behavior.

Environment

Idling the engine

Why

An engine that runs while the vehicle is not moving consumes fuel and emits CO₂ without producing any power. This has a direct impact on both your fuel consumption and your emissions.

How

Track the entire fleet, analyze statistics by driver, and provide coaching on what really matters—loading, unloading, and idling with the engine off.

Productivity

Average time spent at the job site

Why

Less time spent at each location means more locations per day. That’s the fastest way to increase capacity without purchasing an additional vehicle.

How

Analyze the time spent per vehicle and per job location, and use those figures to refine route planning.

Maintenance

Unscheduled maintenance

Why

Every unexpected repair increases downtime, and that downtime means you don't have that capacity available that day.

How

Record all unscheduled maintenance events in a digital logbook so you can identify patterns and take preventive action.

What they have in common: you can only track them if you record them by vehicle. A total amount on an annual statement doesn't tell you which car or which driver is the outlier.

What does fleet management software do?

Fleet management software brings together data from all your vehicles in one place. A unit installed in the vehicle records what’s happening and sends that information to a web platform. Specifically, this provides:

• Location and Trips — where each vehicle is, which route it took, and how long it was parked somewhere
• Consumption — fuel or charging sessions per vehicle, with alerts for anomalies
• Maintenance — Schedule maintenance based on mileage or date, with a reminder in advance
• Driving Performance — Scores for Braking, Acceleration, and Speed, by Driver
• Driver Registration — Who Drove Which Vehicle, via Badge or Tachograph Card
• Reports — historical data that you can export or send to your accounting department
• Alerts — a notification in the event of anomalies, such as use outside of business hours

At AllConnects, location and trip tracking are included in FLEET.START. Driving behavior, CAN bus data, maintenance tracking, and driver tracking are included in FLEET.PRO. See the difference between the two

When does it start to be useful?

In practice, this applies to fleets of three to five vehicles or more. With fewer than that, you know your fleet by heart. With more than that, it becomes harder to keep track: you no longer know exactly where each vehicle is, which one is using how much fuel, or when its inspection is due.

There is no upper limit. The same platform is used by a contractor with five vans and by a carrier with a full fleet of tractors and trailers—the difference lies in which modules you use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Hilde Lavrijssen — Marketing Manager at AllConnects

Closely follows the digitization of fleet management, equipment management, and time tracking in the construction industry and translates these developments into practical insights for companies on the road and at the construction site.