Fleet management for tribal organizations

For any organization, fleet management represents a significant investment of time and resources. For tribal organizations, whose fleets often take on a wider diversity of uses than other government agencies, fleet management may require more responsibility over more varied tasks. These fleet managers are tasking their vehicles with more activity while keeping expenses as low as possible.

With ever-rising costs for vehicles, parts, fuel and labor, fleet management software is the next step toward making fleets more valuable to tribe citizens. Fleet management platforms, like Verizon Connect, collect and collate the data tribal organization fleet managers need to gain valuable insight into driver behavior, find cost savings, better allocate resources to the highest priority needs and extend the lifespans of vehicles.

For tribal organizations, fleet management unites many unique needs

Managing fleets involves analyzing many different data points, such as where your vehicles are, their schedules, how your drivers behave on the road, how much gas is used and when they need maintenance. Manual management siloes information, making it difficult to find, share and consider within the greater context of the tribal organization’s unique needs.

Fleet management software can funnel all those data points together and present them in a single pane of glass view for better oversight. It can also help you decide what to do next with  digestible dashboards of maps, charts, graphs and reports to streamline operations, discover trends and find new efficiencies. With fleet management software, tribal organizations can expect to:

• View a live map with vehicle locations, as well as past and future routes.
• Receive alerts for vehicle maintenance according to odometer and mileage.
• Run reports on fuel use, vehicle activities and routes.
• Monitor driver safety behaviors, such as speeding and harsh braking.
• Share valuable information across departments and with citizens.

Fleet managers are no longer stuck reacting to problems as they arise and can start proactively putting vehicles to their most effective use, whether that’s for officials as they work, tribal police, tribal fire departments or public works.

The benefits of fleet management platforms for tribal organizations

Through a unified view of daily operations, fleet managers can better understand the drivers in their fleet and boost the use of their vehicles.

With GPS fleet tracking, you can pinpoint the exact location of every vehicle at any point in time, without having to call different drivers. This allows managers to call in the vehicle closest to wherever it is needed, helping to reduce response time, drive time and unnecessary fuel costs. As you continue tracking, historical data can be used to identify trends in vehicle use so you can plan more efficient regular routes.

You can also objectively assess how drivers use their vehicles by monitoring fuel consumption, idle time, speeding or hard braking. This provides an opportunity for coaching on better driver behaviors in order to reduce harsh driving, and in turn reducing accidents and wear and tear.

Other fleets that have deployed this software have reported cost savings in these areas, including a 9% reduction in fuel costs, 10% in labor costs and 15% in accident costs, according to the 2024 Fleet Technology Trends Report.

Being responsible financial stewards for tribal organizations involves managing costs, of course, but also extending the lifespan of vehicles. Fleet management and GPS tracking can help managers schedule appropriate maintenance intervals based on mileage, age and use to reduce downtime and avoid costly breakdowns. This kind of managed maintenance program can help tribal organizations to retain their fleets longer with a lower cost of ownership overall.

Tribal police and tribal fire departments fleet management

Fleet management software can help oversee first responder accountability, manage your reputation within the tribal organization, help reduce response times and plan vehicle downtime, so your emergency vehicles are on the road when your community needs them. Some of the unique benefits to tribal police and fire departments include:

• Use GPS tracking to provide proof of patrol, showing where vehicles traveled at certain locations and times.
• Improve public perception and transparency by utilizing and sharing driver-facing and road-facing dashcam video footage.
• Enable around-the-clock monitoring with always-on support with better visibility into vehicle location.
• Set up alerts to better manage unsafe driving behavior, unauthorized use or deviations from standard routes. 

Fleet management from Verizon Connect

Tribal organizations can purchase Verizon Connect Reveal through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program. Key benefits to buying through the MAS program include pre-negotiated pricing and terms and conditions, reduced lead time required to obtain services, and greatly improved timelines for requests for proposal (RFPs).

Combined with recent tribal and rural broadband grants at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture and Verizon’s discounted broadband programs for tribal organizations, this offering allows tribal organizations a unique opportunity to secure a fleet management platform that could allow them to provide tribe citizens with greater value from their fleets than ever before—and it doesn’t take long. More than 60% of fleets revealed in the 2024 Fleet Management Trends Report that they were able to achieve a positive ROI on a GPS tracking solution.