To manage your light commercial vehicles effectively with fleet software, you should invest in a platform that’ll directly tackle the biggest challenges LCVs face. LCV fleets deal with some unique vulnerabilities due to their frequent journeys. Wear and tear, fuel wastage, unexpected downtime, and more are just some of the main concerns.
LCVs are some of the most widely utilised vehicles within South Africa, typically being used for deliveries, trade work, and other services. Statistics South Africa shows that, as of early 2025, around 82% of all freight payload in the country travels by road. This underscores the need for effective fleet management to ensure better vehicle control and enhanced safety.
In this blog, we’ll discuss how using fleet software can completely change the way you manage your LCV fleet. Get more clarity, efficiency, and cost control for your business—all with the help of Cartrack.
LCV fleets need a different management approach because they usually deal with different conditions compared to bigger fleets, indicating a need for a fresh and unique take. Fleet management software allows LCV operators to keep an eye on and tackle these specific challenges, ensuring smooth operations.
These are some of the key points to discuss and consider:
A light commercial vehicle is a vehicle that typically includes vans, bakkies, small trucks, and other vehicles weighing under 3,500 kg. They’re used for jobs like deliveries, repairs, and similar services.
These are the industries LCVs are usually involved in:
Fleet management software helps you manage things like compliance, safety, and overall operational efficiency.
These are the main benefits of fleet management software:
The cost of fleet management software depends on a few factors, like who your service provider is, what features you choose, your business needs, hardware, etc. Prices are typically between about R100 and R900 per month, but could be more. Ultimately, the ROI usually surpasses any of the upfront costs, regardless of how high they may be.
Cartrack can offer you a package that best suits your specific business needs, without surprise fees or pricing that isn’t transparent.
The core challenges for LCV fleet managers include wear & tear and high fuel costs. Software solves these by providing the tools needed to address the challenges. Features like GPS tracking, driver monitoring, and fuel consumption reports are just a few of the tools that can transform your LCV fleet management.
Take a look at this breakdown:
How fleet software helps: LCVs usually have many stop-and-start routes, idle often, and generally make their way only around urban areas—all of which contribute to more fuel use. Fleet software helps by tracking fuel use, analysing consumption, and getting idling alerts. This way, you can spot where fuel's going to waste, avoid inefficient routes, and so much more.
How fleet software helps: On top of the multi-stops, trips that happen frequently contribute to vehicle degradation. Fleet software helps by offering predictive maintenance notifications, which can help in preventing expensive and unexpected downtime.
How fleet software helps: Working in urban areas means there’s bound to be congestion during trips, and these unfortunately affect delivery times. Fleet software helps by not only optimising routes for the quickest and most efficient trips, but also sharing real-time route updates to keep drivers on the quickest routes.
How fleet software helps: On top of the multi-stops and potential route delays, the pressure to deliver on time means there are likely some reckless on-road behaviours from drivers. Fleet software helps by monitoring driver habits, scoring behaviours and providing feedback for coaching. This can help you improve safety among your drivers.
How fleet software helps: With LCV vehicles, there are usually many people using or sharing one vehicle. But more than this, after-hours use and theft can really hit your business through increased liability. Fleet software helps by bringing together live GPS tracking, movement alerts, and remote vehicle immobilisation to stop misuse and help recover stolen vehicles quickly.
How fleet software helps: LCVs are constantly on the move between locations, customers, and depots, so it can be a bit tricky to keep tabs on them without solid managerial control. Fleet software helps by displaying vehicle locations, fuel data, driving habits, and other features on one dashboard, giving managers the full overview required.
You can manage your LCV fleet more efficiently with Cartrack’s fleet software, which has the tools that directly tackle your business challenges. Some of these tools include smart fuel usage insights, proactive maintenance alerts, and in-depth driver analytics that help cut running costs.
These are some practical, actionable steps:
Fuel tends to be the biggest daily expense for most fleets, more especially LCV fleets with intense city trips. Our live fuel tracking gives you a clear view of how much fuel each trip and vehicle uses, plus alerts you when a vehicle is idling for too long.
Fuel card integration can also help you detect any odd spending, allowing you to take targeted action to reduce fuel waste.
Driver habits on the road, unfortunately, significantly impact fuel consumption and accident risk. Our AI-powered camera systems and driver scorecards assess driver behaviour and highlight harsh driving.
Analytics and insights can also highlight recurring patterns, so you can give drivers coaching to help them drive better. This all contributes to a safer, more cost-effective fleet.
LCVs put in so much work daily, and our predictive maintenance features track mileage, engine diagnostics, and service history to predict when they might need attention. Our software will send automated service reminders to catch issues early, preventing breakdowns and saving you further stress.
For delivery companies, technicians, and other businesses that rely on LCVs, quick and efficient trips are vital. Our system uses live traffic data and trip patterns to suggest the best routes and accurate ETAs. This helps drivers reach their destinations faster, spend less time in traffic, and improve customer service.
Between theft and unauthorised use, our real-time GPS tracking keeps you in the loop about your LCVs. You’ll get alerts for geofenced vehicles or vehicles parked suspiciously. For high-risk cases, you can even immobilise the vehicle remotely, keeping your assets safe.
Our system combines all your data into one dashboard, so you can quickly see driver behaviour, vehicle locations, fuel usage, and other features. This clarity helps you compare performance, quickly make informed decisions, and streamline your operations across the board.
The KPIs that managers need to track are in five key categories: financial, maintenance, operational efficiency, compliance, and customer satisfaction. Some of these factors within these categories include fuel consumption, cost per kilometre, and delivery times. Measuring KPIs is the best way for you to bring down costs and easily identify gaps in performance.
These are measurable indicators relevant to light commercial operations:
Light commercial vehicles work hard, and they don't come cheap! Staying on top of things is a priority. With a bit of smart software, moving your LCV fleet into high gear is a breeze, making the roads a safer place and keeping maintenance costs under control. This keeps your bottom line nice and healthy.
Cartrack brings all this functionality together into one neat package, so you can spend your time running a fleet that's operating at its best for your business and your customers, instead of wasting time on trying to sort out the latest issue.
Manage your vans and light commercial vehicles with confidence. Speak to a Cartrack specialist and start optimising your fleet today.
Take charge of your LCVs: discover how real-time tracking, maintenance alerts, and route optimisation through Cartrack’s fleet software can save you money.
