Do your clients have multiple vehicles to keep track of – maybe even in different states?
Or perhaps they’ve come to you after they’ve forgotten to renew their registration or insurance one too many times, and are wondering how they can stay on top of it all.
In this guide, we’ll give you all the information you need to advise and protect your clients.
Let’s start with the big question: what is fleet management?
What is fleet management?
Fleet management is the system a business uses to track all their work vehicles and ensure that they are:
- Registered
- Insured
- Maintained
Some companies, such as delivery companies, may have more complex needs. Their fleet management system may also include overseeing routes, drivers, and fuel consumption to reduce wastage.
For most of your small business clients, however, fleet management will be focused on ensuring vehicle insurance and registrations are up to date and that there is a complete and easily accessible maintenance history.
Do all businesses need a fleet management system?
At first glance, fleet management may seem like something only larger companies with hundreds of vehicles should be concerned with.
The truth is that any business with multiple work vehicles should have an effective fleet management system in place to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks.
This is especially the case if businesses have any vehicles that are in other states and may be overlooked.
We all know how busy business owners can be – without an organised system in place (usually in the form of fleet management software), things get pushed aside and ultimately forgotten.
This means that often, business owners won’t even realise their vehicles are unregistered.
“When we first started to use Manage My Renewals, it forced us to do an audit of all our registered motor vehicles. We found two trailers had not been registered for over two years.”
– Tom, ACT Business Owner
Why do clients need to be on top of vehicle registration dates?
There are many consequences to driving an unregistered vehicle in Australia – even if your clients are unaware that their registration has expired.
Most incur large costs that could have a serious impact, especially for smaller businesses.
Below are some of the most common reasons why business owners need to stay on top of vehicle registration dates.
1. Clients could be fined for driving an unregistered vehicle.
If your clients are caught driving an unregistered vehicle, they could be subject to a fine. This amount can vary depending on the state, but generally, your client can expect to pay hundreds of dollars.
For example, New South Wales has fines of $704 for parking or driving an unregistered light vehicle and a whopping $1,487 (plus 4 demerit points) for a heavy vehicle.
Plus, business owners will still have to pay the $70 registration and vehicle tax. This means that ultimately, businesses end up with unnecessary expenses they could otherwise avoid.
2. Clients could lose access to their vehicles, causing business interruptions.
If a business owner or employee is caught driving an unregistered company car or truck, that vehicle may be impounded.
Apart from the inconvenience of impounding fees and storage costs (on top of re-registration fees), this means that clients may not be able to continue operating their business as usual, costing them revenue and potentially even future customers.
3. Clients may be uninsured.
Letting a car’s registration expire can affect insurance coverage, as most insurance companies will not insure an unregistered vehicle.
This means if a client or one of their employees is in an accident before the vehicle can be re-registered, the insurer will likely refuse to pay the damages, leaving your client to foot the bill.
4. Clients could lose their license plates
Some states may take away your license plate if you are stopped by the police for driving an unregistered vehicle.
This means clients may have to go through the hassle of getting new plates, costing them precious time and money.
How can you help business owners stay on top of their vehicle registrations, insurance, and maintenance?
Looking to help your clients implement a more efficient fleet management system?
While there is dedicated fleet management software out there, this is often quite expensive and overcomplicated for the needs of smaller businesses.
If your clients need to track multiple vehicle registrations, insurances, and maintenance schedules, there’s a simpler way.
Here’s how Manage My Renewals helps business owners stay on top of all their vehicle registrations, insurance, and maintenance schedules.
Send car registration reminders to the right people
You can set up email or SMS reminders to go out to yourself, your client, and members of their team before their vehicle registration is set to expire.
This means you can always reach the right person responsible for taking care of the renewal.
If vehicles are on varying renewal schedules, no problem. You can easily set and forget notifications to go out whenever you need.
Get full fleet visibility
Clients can see all upcoming renewals and vehicle records in one place for better oversight.
If you’re offering renewal management services for clients, you can also easily switch views, or track all your clients’ vehicles on a single dashboard.
Never let insurance lapse
Clients can proactively manage their insurance policies (vehicle or otherwise) and ensure that their businesses are always protected.
If business owners want to get a better deal on insurance, they can also connect with an approved broker straight from the platform.
Keep up-to-date records on fleet maintenance
It can be difficult to keep track of which vehicles received which repairs and when – especially with fragmented documentation.
With Manage My Renewals, you can upload and attach all relevant documentation, allowing you to create a complete and up-to-date history for every vehicle.
Easily see when it’s time to renew the registration and insurance – plus when the last service was.
This can then be shared with anyone who needs access: your client, their employees, or any other relevant party.
💡Manage My Renewals can also help business owners keep track of all their software subscriptions, contractor compliance, and more.
This is perfect for clients who want more value from their fleet management software and need to do more than just stay on top of vehicle renewals.
Show your clients a better way to keep track of their vehicles
We all know business owners have a lot of their plates, meaning that things can often be left to the last minute. Renewing your car or truck registration shouldn’t be one of them.
Want to help protect your clients from fines and the other risks of forgetting to renew vehicle registrations? See how Manage My Renewals works with a 30-day free trial.
