Jamma offers small fleets free three-month management software trial

A free three-month trial of fleet management software specially designed for businesses running smaller fleets has been launched by Jaama. With smaller fleets recognising the considerable cost saving benefits of running an efficient fleet, the uptake for FleetAssistant has increased dramatically over the past 12 months. The credit crunch inspired recession heralded the introduction of a tighter cost focus for many businesses but, simultaneously, many organisations found crucial fleet data was uncoordinated and 'managed' by different departments thereby making budgets difficult to control.

 
FleetAssistant is targeted at improving the fleet management, reducing the operating costs and managing the duty of care for companies operating smaller fleets of cars, vans and commercial vehicles as well as managing employees who drive their own cars on business - the so-called 'grey' fleet. It is a hosted product therefore all that is needed to utilise the system and related management reports is web access. There is a 250 system set-up fee and monthly management charges start at 33p per vehicle.
 
FleetAssistant incorporates Jaama's RiskAssistant, which aids occupational road risk legislative compliance and seamlessly integrates with Jaama's online driver licence validity checking with the DVLA database. The system also comes with full help desk support and future software updates to reflect improvements in technology and updates in the industry.
 
In addition, an optional HGV module manages commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and comes with the defect and tyre management reporting, operator licence management, commercial vehicle technical information, roadside inspection tracking, vehicle depreciation management, associated special equipment management and tachograph and speed limiter management.
 
Jaama managing director Jason Francis said: "We already have hundreds of customers benefiting from using Jaama software, including an increasing number of businesses running smaller car, van and commercial fleets. The vast majority of UK employers are companies running only a small number of vehicles. Our research highlights that thousands of these organisations continue to run vehicles on an ad hoc basis with few management controls in place. Yet, customer feedback shows that once having introduced FleetAssistant the financial and administrative fleet savings are huge, while management controls are also significantly boosted. Our trial offer gives companies the opportunity to sample the benefits of FleetAssistant without any financial commitment."

 
FleetAssistant user Nicola Waite, who is in charge of a leased fleet of 16 company cars and 16 HGVs at Smeg UK, supplier of prestige domestic appliances, said: "Before Jaama, all information on vehicles and drivers had to be logged on paper and the data had to be inputted manually into spreadsheets. Information had to be written out more than once and there was considerable duplication on files. That was a huge administration task. But, the problems increased if I was asked to provide information on either a vehicle or a driver as the only way I could find it was by trawling through reams of files and spreadsheets. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of all aspects of the fleet."
 
Following the introduction of FleetAssistant, the amount of time spent on fleet issues has been halved. Nicola added: "Instead of ferreting through paper trying to find information I will now have my finger on the fleet operation pulse. The technology has contributed to all-round fleet and time-saving efficiencies."
 
Mr Francis concluded: "In companies such as Smeg UK, it is common for the role of fleet manager to be combined with other corporate responsibilities. Not only does the fleet manager's job continue to increase in its complexity, but the explosion in electronic vehicle and driver data means that sophisticated technology is essential to manage a fleet effectively and efficiently. Smeg UK is a typical example of a company that has discovered that FleetAssistant will help not only reduce the amount of time spent on fleet administration, but will also enable detailed analysis of all aspects to help reduce operational costs and monitor and control risk."