If you run trucks for a living, you already know this: the vehicles don’t manage themselves.
Behind every on-time delivery, every safe trip, and every compliant logbook, there’s usually one person quietly pulling the strings in the background... the fleet manager.
Whether you’re thinking about stepping into that role, hiring for it, or just trying to understand what your fleet manager actually does all day, this guide will walk through the core responsibilities in plain language.
What Is a Fleet Manager?
A fleet manager is the person responsible for everything related to a company’s vehicles and the people who drive them.
They’re the bridge between drivers, maintenance, dispatch, safety, and leadership. One day they might be negotiating a truck purchase. The next, they’re dealing with a breakdown, reviewing fuel reports, and answering questions about Hours-of-Service.
At a high level, a fleet manager’s job is simple to describe but complicated to do:
- Keep vehicles safe and legal.
- Keep drivers supported and productive.
- Keep costs under control.
- Keep leadership informed and regulators satisfied.
Everything else rolls up to those four goals.
Managing Vehicles: The Lifecycle from Purchase to Disposal
One big part of the job is managing the vehicles themselves.
Choosing and Acquiring Trucks
A fleet manager helps decide what vehicles the business should run. That means thinking about:
- What routes they’ll run.
- What cargo they’ll haul.
- How long they’re expected to last.
- Whether it makes more sense to buy or lease.
The wrong spec costs money every mile it runs. The right spec holds value, performs better, and keeps drivers happier.
Maintenance and Repairs
Once the trucks are in service, the next job is keeping them there.
Fleet managers set preventive maintenance schedules based on the manufacturer’s recommendations, operating conditions, and past experience. They decide when trucks come into the shop, which repairs can wait, and when a truck needs to be sidelined before it fails on the road.
They work with in-house technicians, driver DVIR data, outside shops, or all of the above. And they’re responsible for making sure every service is documented and easy to pull if there’s ever a question about safety or compliance.
Lifecycle and Replacement
Eventually every vehicle hits a point where it costs more to keep it on the road than to replace it.
A fleet manager watches mileage, repair costs, and downtime to decide when to cycle a unit out. They also keep an eye on the market so they can time disposals and replacements intelligently, not reactively.
Managing Drivers and Daily Operations
Fleet management is not just about machines. It’s just as much about people.
Hiring and Onboarding Drivers
Fleet managers often work closely with HR or safety teams to bring on new drivers. That may include reviewing applications, sitting in on interviews, or designing onboarding checklists.
They help make sure new drivers understand:
- Company safety expectations.
- How to use in-cab technology.
- How to complete inspections and logbooks correctly.
- Who to call when something goes wrong on the road.
Getting this right at the start can prevent a lot of headaches down the road.
Scheduling and Route Planning
Once drivers are on the team, the fleet manager makes sure work is assigned in a fair and efficient way.
They balance customer expectations, Hours-of-Service limits, and home-time needs. They work with dispatch to design routes that make sense, avoid unnecessary empty miles, and match the right driver and truck to the right job.
If a load falls through, weather hits, or a truck breaks down, the fleet manager is usually in the middle of the scramble to adjust.
Coaching, Safety, and Communication
Modern fleets use telematics, dashcams, and ELD data to understand how trucks are being driven.
A good fleet manager doesn’t just use that information to catch mistakes. They also use it to coach drivers, recognize good performance, and spot patterns that might indicate fatigue or bad routes.
They stay in regular contact with drivers, listen to feedback about equipment and schedules, and try to solve problems before they turn into turnover.
Cost, Fuel, and Budget Responsibilities
Fleet managers have a huge influence on costs, even if they’re not the ones signing the checks.
Tracking Operating Costs
Every mile costs something — fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance, tolls, permits, and more.
A fleet manager watches all of these line items, not just as separate bills, but as part of a bigger picture: cost per mile and total cost of ownership.
They look for trends like:
- A truck that’s in the shop more often than the rest.
- A route that consistently runs over on fuel.
- A driver or vehicle with repeat damage or breakdowns.
Those trends guide decisions on specs, vendors, driver assignments, and policies.
Fuel Management
Fuel is usually one of the biggest expenses in the trucking industry.
Fleet managers work to control it by:
- Reducing idling.
- Encouraging better driving habits.
- Using route planning and traffic data.
- Putting fuel card programs or preferred networks in place.
They may also watch for signs of fuel theft or card misuse and tighten controls when needed.
Budgeting and Reporting
Leadership wants to know what the fleet costs and why.
Fleet managers help build budgets for fuel, maintenance, equipment, and technology. They review actuals against those budgets and explain what changed. Maybe fuel spiked, parts prices went up, or a new contract increased miles.
They also bring recommendations back to leadership: “If we invest in X, we can save Y over the next year.”
Compliance, Risk, and Record-Keeping
If something goes wrong on the road, regulators and insurance companies will want answers. A big part of the fleet manager’s job is making sure those answers exist.
Driver and Vehicle Compliance
Fleet managers help ensure:
- Drivers have valid CDLs, endorsements, and up-to-date medical cards.
- Drivers follow Hours-of-Service rules and complete DVIRs before every trip.
- Vehicles have current registration, inspections, and insurance.
- Hazmat and other special requirements are followed when needed.
They keep an eye on CSA safety scores and violations and work with drivers and dispatch to keep those metrics trending in the right direction.
Record Management
When there’s an audit, the clock starts ticking.
Maintenance records, inspection reports, accident files, logs, fuel receipts, and IFTA data all need to be organized and accessible.
The fleet manager is usually the person who designs the system for managing those records, whether it’s all digital or a mix of paper and software.
Risk Management
Ultimately, fleet managers are one of the first lines of defense against accidents, lawsuits, and reputation damage.
They:
- Promote safe driving and realistic schedules.
- Investigate incidents and near-misses.
- Work with safety and legal teams when something serious occurs.
Their decisions influence insurance premiums, customer trust, and driver retention.
Data and Technology: The Modern Fleet Manager’s Toolkit
In the past, fleets ran on clipboards, phone calls, and a lot of memory. Today, they run on data.
From Spreadsheets to Connected Systems
Most fleets now rely on some combination of:
- ELDs for HOS and log data.
- GPS tracking for location and routing.
- Dashcams for safety and incident review.
- Onboard scales for real-time weights.
- Software for maintenance, fuel, and IFTA.
A fleet manager’s job is to bring those tools together into something usable, not just “more screens.”
They decide which tools to adopt, how to roll them out to drivers and office staff, and which metrics actually matter for their operation.
Turning Data into Action
Data on its own doesn’t fix problems. The fleet manager has to interpret it.
They might use reports and dashboards to answer questions like:
- Which trucks are overdue for maintenance?
- Who is idling the most?
- Where are we losing time every day?
- Which routes cause the most breakdowns or delays?
The best fleet managers don’t just look at reports. They use them to change policies, adjust routes, fine-tune PM schedules, or build new training.
A Day in the Life of a Fleet Manager
No two days look exactly the same, but there are patterns.
Morning might start with overnight alerts, emails from drivers, and a quick scan of dashboard notifications: any violations, breakdowns, or accidents?
Midday often means fielding calls from shops, vendors, and drivers, approving repairs, and juggling schedules after a truck goes down or a customer changes a delivery time.
Afternoon might shift toward analysis and planning: reviewing fuel and maintenance reports, checking upcoming renewal dates, and preparing updates for leadership on costs, safety, and performance.
In between all of that, things go wrong. Weather rolls in, a driver gets sick, a part is backordered, a customer needs a hot shot load. The fleet manager is usually the one connecting all the dots to keep the fleet moving.
It’s a high-responsibility job, but when it’s done well, a lot of problems never reach the surface.
Skills and Traits That Make a Strong Fleet Manager
The job calls for a mix of technical knowledge and people skills.
Good fleet managers tend to be:
- Detail-oriented without getting stuck in the weeds.
- Calm and clear communicators, especially under pressure.
- Comfortable with data, not just “gut feel.”
- Respectful of drivers and realistic about what they can safely do.
- Open to new technology, but skeptical enough to ask hard questions.
They have to think in the short term (“How do we get this load covered today?”) and the long term (“What will our fleet look like in three years?”).
The Biggest Challenges And How Modern Tools Help
Fleet managers are under more pressure than ever: higher equipment costs, more regulations, tight margins, and driver shortages.
Some of the biggest challenges include:
- Reducing operating costs without sacrificing safety.
- Finding and keeping good drivers.
- Keeping up with rapidly changing tech and regulatory requirements.
- Eliminating inefficiencies that hide in routing, idling, and shop delays.
- Keeping drivers, mechanics, dispatch, and leadership on the same page.
This is where modern fleet technology, used well, becomes more than “just another system.”
Tools like ELDs reduce paperwork and give accurate HOS and DVIR data to work with. Dashcams provide context around incidents and help with coaching and claims.
Onboard air scales cut down overweight tickets and wasted trips to the scale. Automated IFTA reporting saves hours every quarter and reduces mistakes.
Fleet visibility platforms pull GPS, hours, and load information into one place so managers can see what’s happening and react quickly.
When these tools are integrated instead of scattered, they help fleet managers work smarter, not just harder. They don’t replace the role, they give fleet managers better information to do what they already do best: protect drivers, control costs, and keep freight moving safely.
A good fleet manager is more than “the person who handles the trucks.” They’re a central part of how the business runs.
When they have clear responsibilities, solid processes, good people, and the right technology behind them, the whole fleet feels the difference on the road, in the shop, and on the bottom line.
Fleet Manager FAQs
What does a fleet manager actually do day to day?
A fleet manager monitors vehicle status, checks driver logs and safety alerts, reviews maintenance needs, responds to issues on the road, assigns routes, and coordinates repairs. They also spend part of the day analyzing data, handling paperwork, and communicating with drivers, shops, and leadership.
What are the main responsibilities of a fleet manager in trucking?
They oversee vehicle maintenance, driver scheduling, safety, route planning, cost control, compliance, and record-keeping. Their job is to keep trucks safe, drivers supported, and operations efficient.
Do all fleets need a dedicated fleet manager?
Small fleets sometimes share the role between owners, dispatchers, or safety managers. Once a fleet grows, a dedicated fleet manager becomes essential to avoid compliance issues, downtime, and preventable costs.
What skills make a successful fleet manager?
Strong communication, time management, knowledge of vehicle maintenance, comfort with software and data, and the ability to stay calm under pressure. A good fleet manager supports drivers and uses data to guide decisions.
Does a fleet manager have authority over routes and driver assignments?
Usually yes. They help determine who runs which loads, how routes are structured, and how to balance productivity with safety and Hours-of-Service requirements.
How do fleet managers control fuel and maintenance costs?
They optimize routes, enforce reduced idling, review fuel cards, plan preventive maintenance, monitor telematics data, and address problems early before they become expensive breakdowns.
What technology do most fleet managers use today?
Most use a combination of ELDs, dashcams, GPS tracking, fleet visibility platforms, maintenance software, and tools that automate IFTA and fuel tracking.
How does a fleet manager use ELD, GPS, and dashcam data?
They use ELDs for HOS, DVIRs for pre-trip/post-trip inspections, log accuracy, GPS for real-time locations and route analysis, and dashcams for coaching, verifying incidents, and improving safety. Together, these create a full picture of driver behavior and vehicle performance.
What challenges do fleet managers face right now?
Higher fuel and equipment costs, driver shortages, compliance changes, more data to interpret, and the constant pressure to reduce downtime while keeping safety first.
How do you become a fleet manager?
Most start as drivers, technicians, dispatchers, or admin staff in transportation. Experience with fleet operations, strong organizational skills, and knowledge of safety and maintenance are key. Certifications like ASE or CAFM also help.