Chauffeur Drive Software – Key Factors to Keep in Mind While Choosing One

Any owner, whether he runs a taxi service or a luxury limo fleet will know the problems associated with day-to-day running of the business.

Whether it is scheduling the right driver to the pick-up or keeping track of and avoiding the routes that see more traffic gridlocks, there are innumerable factors, each of which can be a key differentiator in running a profitable or a loss-making business.

With so many divergent aspects pulling the business owner in multiple directions, it is quite common to see long-term goals being pushed aside by everyday running of the business. The result of all this is a longer road to profitability. 

The question that arises in this case is whether there are solutions that solve most of these problems and allow the owner to run a profitable business? 

The answer is a strong YES. 

Advances in information technology have solved many practical problems and running a taxi fleet is one of them. In fact, if you look at a top software development company in Canada, chances are they will have a chauffeur drive software to take care of the problems of taxi or limo operators. 

Nonetheless, choosing a good software is not quite that smooth a road. Each of the fleet management solutions that is available in the market comes with its own quirks. In this article, we look at some key factors that you should consider as a taxi or limo business owner if you want to buy such a fleet ERP software or upgrade from an existing one.

Know your business’ pain points

This is important as unless you know the small problems that assume gargantuan proportions if not taken care of right there and then, then you are likely to choose the wrong software. 

To understand your business’ pain points, start from the ground up and check each process in the larger operational cycle. Does having teams of dispatchers or customer care personnel increase costs? Are there regular inconsistencies between mileage and billed amount? Are cars sitting idle in the garage?

Once you know your pain points, make a list with the most critical ones at the top and the ones you can manage without any worries at the bottom. 

See how the software addresses them

The next step is to see if the software you have shortlisted is solving your problems. Does the software already address most of your pain points or can it be made to do so by simply making some minor changes in your operational processes? Does it plug any loopholes in oversight that you did not realise until then? 

If the answers to these questions are yes, then you are on the right track to get yourself a great or even the best chauffeur drive software. 

Does it offer customisations?

This is a critical element when you look for such solutions. Most of the ERP software in the market are built as a ready-to-use products, rather than something that can be customised to suit your business. The more the customisations possible, the better it is. Just remember that a fully customisable solution may be slightly on the higher side in terms of price, through its long-term benefits often outweigh the initial cost. 

Does it come as a subscription pricing or as a package solution?

ERP software come in different pricing models. The more popular ones are subscription pricing where you pay a fee for using the software for a certain time or for every user, and package pricing or perpetual license model where you pay a fee to use it indefinitely. 

For a logistics company, the package pricing model makes sense as it gives more freedom to the owner and he does not have to buy a new user license every time a new driver joins. 

What do your drivers need and are you solving their problems?

If you have a team of chauffeurs to drive your cars, then using a chauffeur drive software ERP solution that solves most of their queries like hours logged, daily mileage, commissions and bonuses earned, etc. is more likely to make them adapt to the new software. 

Does it automate nearly all processes, if not all? What about billing or spare parts?

The more automation it brings to the management process, the better. If it can take care of matters like billing, salaries, leaves, spare parts inventory and ordering, then it will free up your time and you will be able to focus on more important matters like growth. 

Start with these key factors and you are likely to find it easier to choose the chauffeur drive ERP software you want. 

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Created on Sep 27th 2017 01:04. Viewed 648 times.

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