How To Develop Custom Fleet Management Software?

Custom Fleet Management Software Development Market

It is a real challenge to manage the vehicles in your business. Keeping track of scheduled maintenance and registration renewals, as well as your vehicles' associated costs, can influence your future buying and selling decisions. 

The more vehicles you have to manage-the more difficult this process gets. That is basically the primary reason why businesses need fleet management and tracking systems. 

Yes, fleet management apps are aimed to help you understand where your vehicles are, what their status is, and who is in charge of driving and taking care of them. 

So, no wonder that the fleet management software development market is growing rapidly. Yes, according to a MarketsandMarkets report, the fleet management software market is estimated to grow to $28.66 billion in 2022, up from $12.08 billion in 2016.

Therefore, many businesses decide to create such an app. But what information should fleet management apps collect and process, how to develop a fleet management app, how long does it take, and what is the cost of fleet management system development? We will try to answer these and other questions in this article. 

Data That a Fleet Management App Collects

As mentioned above, fleet management apps are critical for businesses that have to deal with logistics. But what exactly can you use fleet management and tracking system for?

Fleet management and tracking systems are usually used for: 

• Vehicle management;
• Driver management;
• Incident management; 
• Tracking.

Each function collects some information. So, let’s view what data is gathered in each of these four categories. 

1. Vehicle management with a fleet tracking app:

When it comes to vehicle management, we mean the collection of such parameters as the number and type of vehicles of your fleet, licensing and registration of vehicles, vehicle maintenance, insurance (including due dates), cost management, as well as vehicle disposal. 

2. Driver management with a fleet tracking app:

Here we mean driver license management, including special provisions, logging of penalty points against a license; booking system for pool vehicles; passenger safety.

3. Incident management with a fleet tracking app:

In this case, the fleet management and tracking system tracks accidents, fines, and apportion costs to drivers.

4. Tracking with a fleet tracking app:

Tracking with an app is a way to save time and, as a result, costs. A fleet management app can help your business with telematics (transmitting, storing, and receiving data from devices over a network), route planning, logbooks, and work time, as well as alerts. 

All this information is critical for the continuous improvement of your business through process automation. 

But how does an app collect these types of data? Let’s view fleet management software from the perspective of development and elaborate more on such applications' critical functions. 

The Functionality Of a Fleet Management App

First of all, most fleet management software comes in the form of SaaA (Software-as-a-Service), which means your vendor hosts an app in the Cloud, and you sign up for the needed number of accounts. After that, you can also log in through a standard web browser or other devices, e.g., smartphones or tablets. 

This information brings us to the first and most important aspect: the availability of different software versions - web, desktop, and mobile. This will make life easier for your end-users, as it will allow them to switch between devices and not stick to one. Indeed, accessibility is the key to popularity. 

However, that is general advice, and what about the features of an efficient fleet management app? Let’s find out together. 

1. Real-time GPS vehicle tracking for a fleet management app

This feature is critical, as driver safety and safety of the vehicle, fleet productivity, and many other aspects highly depend on it. Also, the app’s ability to track your vehicles in real-time helps answer customer queries on the status of their delivery. 

Real-time GPS vehicle tracking also helps resolve an issue with drivers that leverage the vehicle for personal use that, in turn, result in losses. Knowing where the vehicle is will help establish accountability and reduce such cases. 

2. Fuel-consumption monitoring with a fleet management app

Fuel is a significant item of expenditure when it comes to vehicle maintenance and management. Yes, according to Forbes, fuel is usually 25% of fleet operating costs. 

So, optimal fuel consumption is a major success factor. An effective fleet management app will help monitor and control fuel consumption as well as tackle inefficiency. 

Fuel management is also of great importance, as it helps deal with factors that can influence the fuel market.

3. Optimizing the routes with a fleet management app

Some routes and roads are more beneficial for businesses than others. However, the decision-making process of identifying profitable routes has to be based on some insights. These insights can be gained through a fleet management app. 

4. Fleet maintenance with a fleet management app

Fleet maintenance is important to keep vehicles in good condition that ensures they are safe and serve longer. When it comes to introducing this feature, developers usually unite vehicle diagnostics features and fleet telematics extensions to work as a tool for scheduling preventative maintenance. 

This feature basically improves fleet utilization, which, in turn, increases the predictability of vehicle management.

5. Generic features of a fleet management app

Apart from the features mentioned above, a fleet management app should also have such generic features:

• An intuitive and accessible user interface;
• Multi-platform support (Android and iOS);
• Security, as some of the data collected and stores, will be confidential information of the company.

We have made clear what features are needed when it comes to a fleet management system. But how much does it cost to create one?

Cost of Development Of a Fleet Management App

First off, it is nearly impossible to predict your custom fleet management app's exact cost, as the price depends on a range of factors. However, we have gathered these influencing factors to help you understand what is to be expected. 

What does it take to develop a fleet management system?

A successful project on fleet management app development depends heavily on the team that works on it. On such a project, your team composition should be as follows: 

• business analyst;
• UI/UX designer;
• mobile developers (both iOS and Android); 
• QA professionals.

Basically, the development cost is closely connected with the rates of your development team and the complexity of your project. The majority of outsourcing vendors charge per the staff-hours involved in the development. The price differs among different regions: in North America, the price is on average $150 per hour, in Europe - around $130 per hour. 

Also, the cost of fleet management software development depends on many other aspects.

For instance, the size of the fleet matters in this case. The bigger and the more sophisticated the fleet is - the more expensive your project gets. 

Also, the hardware used, the number of vehicles, the features needed are factors determining the cost of the fleet management software development.

All in all, each case is individual, and it is impossible to predict the cost of your specific app. The pricing varies from $30-$35 per vehicle and an overall cost of around $10,000 for the entire development.

How Long Does It Take To Build Fleet Management Software?

The time required for fleet management app development also depends on many factors. Usually, businesses have to decide whether they want out-of-box fleet management software or tailor-made for their company needs. Each option has its pros and cons.

Customized fleet management software will perform optimally for your business, as it is designed in accordance with your requirements and the peculiarities of your work. It is also more scalable, as it gives you full control over the technology stack, development, and features needed.

On the other hand, tailor-made solutions take much more time and effort than out-of-box ones, which also influences the price. Yes, custom fleet management and tracking system will cost you more than a system with generic features. 

Despite the lower price, which is a considerable benefit, out-of-box solutions also have their disadvantages. For instance, generic software cannot be fully compatible with all the elements of your fleet. What’s more, as generic fleet management systems are much more common, they are easier for hackers to break into. Thus, such systems are more prone to cybersecurity risks. 

To sum this up, the time required for fleet software development varies and depends on the features you want to add and the size of the fleet itself. So, each case is unique. 

Testing Of a Fleet Management App

Apart from many other things, fleet management apps are responsible for drivers’ safety and route calculation. That is the primary reason why the app has to be thoroughly tested. The best thing you can do is entrusting testing processes to the professionals that specialize in them. 

Why choose Apphawks for testing a fleet management app

1. Apphawks is known for the high quality of testing services and has a 5-star ranking on Goodfirms.co.
2. The company can help you with e-commerce testing services, automation testing services, mobile testing services, web testing services, and more.
3. Apphawks is based in Poland that gives you the ability to tap into a talent pool of 30,000 Polish QA professionals; 
4. Apphawks specialists are familiar with Agile software development principles, patterns, and best STLC practices, thus ensuring work flexibility and efficiency.

Now that you know more about the cost of development and testing of fleet management apps, let’s view the success stories of widely used ones:

Examples Of Feet Management Apps:

1. Fleetio

This fleet management app can help you manage every stage of your fleet operations. The app provides comprehensive data sets that concern vehicle management, as well as truck drivers’ management. With the help of Fleetio, businesses can track, score, and rank vehicle drivers when it comes to the latter. 

What’s more, the app collects data on maintenance costs, asset utilization, fuel consumption, and other information. 

The main pros of this fleet management and tracking system are: 

• it is easy to add new info (drivers, vehicles, etc.);
• the app costs a reasonable price;
• it is simple to track drivers with the mobile version.

2. Chevin FleetWave

This fleet management software can help you manage all assets of your fleet. The app collects information about vehicle maintenance, compliance, and accidents. Chevin FleetWare is very user-friendly: using the app, you can organize, search, and audit data due to the app’s extensive sorting tools.

Also, exporting data is very simple in this app, which is definitely a plus. Among other advantages there are:

• the vast set of core features;
• insightful reports on the data collected.

However, there is also a range of cons, such as vague pricing, difficult app customization, and lack of map functionality. 

3. Zubie

This fleet management and tracking system are known for its simple and intuitive interface. The app is very detailed and will help you assess the work of your drivers by scoring them. Logically, the more mistakes they make working, the lower their score will be. 

The app also organizes collected data into insightful reports that cover everything from a list of devices that haven't been reported in data in 24 hours to a list of estimated times until the next service for each vehicle based on its maintenance schedule.

Despite all the benefits you get with this fleet management app, there is also a range of considerable disadvantages. For instance, Zubie is significantly more expensive than other apps of this kind. Also, it is pretty difficult to add new vehicles to the system.

 

The thing that unites all these apps is that they are well-developed and well-tested. To get your app well-tested too, feel free to contact our experts.