Franklin, TN Transforms Fleet Operations with FASTER’s Intuitive Fleet Management System
Managing nearly 1,000 municipal assets across multiple departments presents extraordinary challenges for any public sector fleet. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, preventive maintenance programs save an estimated 12-18% in costs compared to reactive fixes—but realizing these savings requires the right technology foundation. For Franklin, Tennessee, the path to operational excellence began with recognizing that their existing fleet management system was no longer adequate for the complexities of modern municipal operations.
With 971 assets spanning 12 departments—from high-demand garbage trucks and fire apparatus to administrative vehicles and specialized equipment—Franklin’s fleet management team faced a critical decision point. Insufficient reporting capabilities were hindering decision-making, reducing operational efficiency, and making it nearly impossible to demonstrate the value of fleet operations to city leadership.
The Challenge: Complexity Without Visibility
Franklin’s fleet management challenges reflected issues common across municipal operations nationwide. For Franklin, the core challenges included inadequate reporting infrastructure, limited accountability and transparency, decentralized data management, and compliance documentation challenges.
Fleet managers were spending countless hours manually compiling data from disparate sources, often resulting in reports that were outdated by the time they reached decision-makers. According to industry research, vehicle downtime costs approximately $448-$760 per day per vehicle—costs that were difficult to track and nearly impossible to prevent without proper visibility tools.
When stakeholders across 12 different departments requested information about vehicle availability, maintenance histories, or operational costs, fleet managers often couldn’t provide immediate answers. This lack of transparency created frustration and eroded trust between the fleet department and the city departments it served.
The team recognized that without a centralized fleet management software solution, they would continue struggling with data accuracy and operational inefficiencies.
Building Stakeholder Support: The Foundation for Success
One of Franklin’s most strategic decisions came early in the process: prioritizing stakeholder engagement before selecting technology. Rather than having the fleet management team make a unilateral decision about new software, Franklin took a collaborative approach that would ultimately prove essential to successful implementation.
The fleet management team conducted structured interviews and focus groups with representatives from all 12 departments that relied on fleet assets. They asked specific questions about pain points, reporting needs, communication preferences, and operational priorities. This process showed that different departments had different needs. For example, fire and emergency services needed real-time information about vehicle readiness, public works needed detailed maintenance histories for budgeting, and administrative departments needed easier reservation systems for shared vehicles.
Franklin developed requirements that reflected actual end-user needs rather than creating a wish list based solely on fleet management preferences. Technicians provided input on work order management workflows, parts managers outlined inventory control requirements, and department heads specified the reporting metrics they needed for strategic planning.
Franklin’s team developed a compelling business case that quantified the costs of the current system’s limitations—including staff time spent on manual data compilation, efficiency losses from poor scheduling, and compliance risks from inadequate documentation. By presenting clear ROI projections and demonstrating how improved fleet management system capabilities would support city-wide operational goals, they secured leadership support for the initiative.
This stakeholder engagement process took approximately three months of focused effort, but it created the foundation for successful implementation. When Franklin ultimately selected FASTER Asset Solutions as their fleet management partner, all key stakeholders understood why this decision had been made.
Strategic Data Preparation: The Often-Overlooked Success Factor
The fleet management team at Franklin showed exceptional foresight by initiating data preparation well in advance of choosing their new fleet management information system (FMIS). This proactive approach proved critical to their ultimate success.
The team carried out a thorough audit of the current data, pinpointing inconsistencies, duplications, and gaps that required attention. They discovered vehicle records with incomplete maintenance histories, assets with inconsistent naming conventions, and parts inventory records that hadn’t been updated in years. Rather than importing this problematic data into a new system, they committed to cleaning it first.
Franklin set clear data standards that would apply to all asset types. For example, they made sure that vehicle types had consistent names, maintenance codes were standardized, and procedures for recording labor hours and parts usage were the same. The data preparation phase took approximately six months—a substantial investment that would pay enormous dividends during implementation.
When Franklin began working with FASTER to configure their new system, clean data meant that testing could focus on system functionality rather than data cleanup. The team could immediately begin using sandbox environments to validate workflows and reporting capabilities, accelerating the overall implementation timeline.
Implementation Excellence: The FASTER Advantage
When Franklin selected FASTER Asset Solutions as their fleet management partner, they gained more than software—they gained a proven implementation methodology developed over 40 years of serving public sector organizations. FASTER’s structured approach to system deployment, combined with Franklin’s thorough preparation, created ideal conditions for rapid value realization.
FASTER provided Franklin with a comprehensive rollout guide that broke the implementation into manageable phases. Rather than attempting to activate all functionality simultaneously, the team followed a prioritized sequence that established core capabilities first—asset tracking, work order management, and preventive maintenance scheduling—before adding more advanced features.
One of FASTER’s most valuable implementation tools is the sandbox environment—a full-featured replica of the production system where Franklin could test configurations, validate data migrations, and train staff without affecting live operations. The total implementation timeline from contract signing to full operational deployment was approximately five months—significantly faster than typical fleet management system implementations.
Maintaining Momentum Through Communication
During the 18-month period from initial evaluation through full deployment, Franklin’s project team maintained an unwavering focus on communication. The project team established predictable communication rhythms that kept all stakeholders informed without overwhelming them. Monthly all-staff meetings provided high-level updates, weekly meetings with departmental liaisons addressed specific issues, and daily stand-ups among the core implementation team ensured rapid problem resolution.
Recognizing that fleet technicians would be the primary users of the new system, Franklin invested heavily in keeping them informed and involved. The implementation team conducted regular shop floor meetings where technicians could ask questions, express concerns, and provide feedback on proposed workflows.
This comprehensive communication strategy created a culture of transparency and collaboration that extended beyond the implementation project itself, significantly reducing resistance and accelerating adoption.
Transformational Results: From Manual Tracking to Real-Time Visibility
The impact of implementing FASTER’s fleet management system became apparent within weeks of going live. The most immediate and dramatic improvement came in reporting capabilities. Tasks that previously required hours of manual data compilation—generating reports on maintenance costs by asset, tracking scheduled versus unscheduled repairs, analyzing technician productivity—now took minutes.
FASTER’s automated preventive maintenance scheduling eliminated the manual tracking systems that had previously resulted in missed services and compliance gaps. The system automatically generated work orders based on mileage, hours, or date intervals, ensuring that critical maintenance tasks never fell through the cracks. Research demonstrates that fleets with strong preventive maintenance compliance have approximately 20% fewer downtime days—a benefit Franklin began experiencing within the first quarter of operation.
For the first time, fleet managers and department heads had real-time visibility into fleet operations. They could see right away which cars were available, which ones were in the shop, which technicians were working on which repairs, and which parts were in stock or on order. This level of transparency transformed how departments interacted with fleet services and enabled data-driven decision making across the organization.
Enhanced Capabilities Across Operations
Beyond core fleet management, Franklin leveraged FASTER’s comprehensive solution suite to address specific operational needs. The parts inventory management system provided real-time visibility into parts availability, automated reorder points, and detailed tracking of parts costs per vehicle. This eliminated the guesswork from inventory management and reduced both stockouts and excess inventory carrying costs.
For departments that shared vehicles, FASTER’s motor pool management capabilities streamlined the reservation process, improved asset utilization, and provided clear accountability for vehicle usage. Department heads could now see exactly how their vehicles were being used and make informed decisions about fleet size and composition.
The integration of telematics positioned Franklin for future enhancements. While not implemented immediately, the technology foundation was established to seamlessly incorporate GPS tracking, engine diagnostics, and driver behavior monitoring when the organization was ready to leverage these capabilities.
Transform Your Fleet Operations with FASTER
Franklin, Tennessee’s experience demonstrates that transformational fleet management improvement is achievable for public sector organizations willing to invest in the right technology foundation and partnership. FASTER Asset Solutions has spent 40 years refining fleet management technology and implementation methodologies specifically for public sector organizations.
Join hundreds of public sector fleets across the country that have transformed their operations with FASTER. Our comprehensive fleet management solutions provide the visibility, control, and analytical capabilities that modern municipal operations require. From core fleet management to specialized capabilities like telematics integration and motor pool management, FASTER delivers the tools and workflows that drive operational excellence.
Ready to transform your fleet operations? Contact our sales team today to schedule a personalized demonstration and discover how FASTER’s fleet management platform can deliver measurable improvements in efficiency, compliance, and cost control. Our team of public sector fleet management experts is ready to help you achieve the same transformational results that Franklin, Tennessee experienced.
With FASTER, you’re not just implementing software—you’re gaining a partner committed to your long-term operational success.