No driver? No business

"It came by truck," they say, as if delivery were automated. But the reality is nothing goes anywhere without someone to drive those trucks. In an industry with already very lean margins, the current shortage of drivers is making it even tougher to operate. Ken Shirley, chief executive of the Road Transport Forum (RTF), says the driver shortage will get worse in 2015, and that around the country trucks are parked up because there aren't enough drivers.

Improvements to the heavy vehicle licensing system, which are being considered in a Ministry of Transport review, could improve driver numbers, but this is unlikely to be implemented until 2017. In addition, the category of truck driver remains excluded from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's immediate skills shortage list. This means that any drivers hired from overseas have to reapply for working visas on a regular basis. As there is an immediate need for drivers with at least five years' experience driving heavy vehicles, transport firms are in a very difficult situation.

In addition, the stiff competition for drivers is pushing up wages. For example, a few years ago a class 5 driver (who operates a heavy truck-and-trailer unit) might get $18 an hour on average, whereas now it starts at around $25, with some experienced drivers in the $30 to $35 range.

The shortage of drivers, the increasing cost of driver wages, and of course fluctuations in fuel prices are all largely beyond the control of transport operators.

So what can you do?

Focus on the things you can control. Monitor and manage your fleet options using a GPS fleet tracking system that helps you save money and increase productivity.

Fleet utilisation: Accurate fleet utilisation data lets you get more work out of your vehicles and machines. With system reports generated from reliable data, you have full visibility into which parts of your fleet are unused and underused.

Site utilisation: Take it one step further with systems that use geofencing to offer site-based fleet utilisation reporting. These advanced telematics systems can automatically break down your fleet use by site as vehicles move from depot to various delivery points then return. You can review different route options and see what changes improve the efficiency of your daisy chain.

Advanced fuel monitoring: Every telematics system should be able to report on fuel burn, but not every telematics system can help trim fuel consumption. Trimming fuel consumption across the fleet is based on the approach of gathering and reporting the data, and presenting reports to enable fleet operators a top-to-bottom view of the business. The system can help detect fuel theft and fuel-related equipment problems, and eliminate unnecessary refuelling trips.

Business analytics: For enterprise-size organisations, combining a fleet management system with a business intelligence system helps organisations to measure and manage fleet expenditure, leverage their own data for decision making based on key performance indicators, and provide insights into future trends. For most enterprise organisations, their fleet is the third biggest cost to the business - behind wages and rent. The ability to analyse current trends creates the ability to predict future trends and adapt their employees' behaviours accordingly.

While fleet management systems won't alleviate the driver shortage, they will help trim the costs. And that can make all the difference to delivering a good business result.