Fleet Management Audit
A practical starting point for assessing whether vehicles are available, efficiently utilised, properly maintained and operated at reasonable cost while supporting safe and timely deliveries.
What are we trying to establish?
Determine whether vehicles are available, efficiently utilised, properly maintained and operated at reasonable cost while supporting safe and timely deliveries.
Risks worth paying attention to
What should you request?
- Fleet register and truck availability report
- Daily sales targets and delivery records
- Trip sheets and dispatch records
- Preventive maintenance schedule and job cards
- Odometer and mileage records
- Fuel issue and consumption records
- Tyre register and replacement history
- Breakdown and downtime reports
- Driver turnaround time data
- Transport contracts and service level agreements
Understand the process before testing.
- Who initiates, reviews and approves transactions?
- Which duties should be separated?
- What system controls and approval limits apply?
- How are exceptions identified, approved and monitored?
- How does management know key controls actually operated?
Practical tests you can perform
Compare daily truck availability with delivery demand
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Compare customer sales targets with actual deliveries
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Analyse turnaround time by route and driver
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Test maintenance completed against mileage intervals
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Review breakdown frequency and repeat repairs
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Analyse maintenance cost by truck and kilometre
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Review fuel consumption and unusual variances
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Assess tyre life and replacement patterns
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Check vehicle documents, insurance and licences
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Review driver incidents, violations and performance
Obtain appropriate evidence, investigate exceptions and document your conclusion.
Things that should make you look deeper
- Transactions or activities outside normal patterns
- Missing or retrospective approvals
- Repeated exceptions without root-cause action
- Manual adjustments with weak supporting evidence
- Key controls dependent on one person
- Management reports that cannot be reconciled to source records
Questions that can open up the process
- What can go wrong in this process?
- Which controls are most important, and who performs them?
- Where does the process depend heavily on manual intervention?
- Which exceptions occur most often, and why?
- What information does management use to know the process is working?
Need a more detailed checklist?
Steal My Checklist contains ready-to-use audit procedures designed to help you structure fieldwork across key business areas.
Get Steal My Checklist