Notes for owners · Industry-Specific Software Guides
What a Car Rental Company Should Check Every Month
Check each car’s working and idle days, duty slips against corporate invoices, papers falling due next month, challans received, and running cost against earnings per vehicle. These five show where the fleet earns and leaks. GullySystem builds fleet and booking systems for rental companies. A handful of cars may suit a ready app.
Ganesh HS, Strategy and Technology, GullySystem · · 3 min read
Working days and idle days for each car
A fleet earns only on the road. Count, for each car, the days it was on duty, in the workshop, blocked and simply idle. Attached cars hired from other operators belong on the same list.
A car idle most of the month may be in the wrong segment. A car never idle may be skipping its service. Both patterns are easier to see side by side.
- Days on duty, by car
- Days in the workshop or blocked
- Idle days with no booking
- Attached cars hired, and what they cost
Duty slips against what was billed
Corporate invoices are built from duty slips: kilometres, hours, tolls, parking, night halt and bata. Missing slips mean missing charges. Late slips mean late invoices.
Each month, match the slips returned against the duties booked. Any duty without a slip needs chasing before the invoice goes out. Where drivers photograph the odometer at each end, disputed extras are easier to settle.
Read the package terms again too. The minimum kilometres for the day and the extra hours should match the contract.
Papers and service dates falling due
Insurance, permit, fitness, PUC and service dates each run on their own cycle. List what falls due in the coming month, car by car. A lapsed paper caught in the office is far easier to handle than one caught on a highway.
Look at the FASTag balance on the same pass. Which papers a vehicle must carry depends on how it is registered, so confirm that with your RTO agent or adviser.
Challans, damage and deposits
E-challans can arrive weeks after a trip. Match each one to a booking by its date and time. That shows the driver or, for self-drive, the renter and the deposit.
Self-drive returns need the same care. Compare return photographs with handover ones before releasing any deposit. Note every damage claim against the car, so repeat problems show.
Review open challans and open damage claims once a month. Old ones tend to be paid by the company.
Running cost against earnings per vehicle
Diesel, FASTag recharges, tyres, repairs and challans all belong against the car. Set them beside what that car earned in the month. Some vehicles look very different once cost sits beside revenue.
A spreadsheet can hold this for a small fleet. It gets hard when self-drive, chauffeur trips and corporate contracts run together under different billing rules. That is usually when a booking and fleet system is worth building.
- Fuel and FASTag per car
- Tyres and repairs per car
- Challans paid and recovered
- Earnings per car for the month
Monthly fleet review sheet
One row per car, with columns for duty days, idle days, slips missing, papers due next month, open challans, running cost and earnings. Fill it in on the first working day of the month. Review the cars with the most flagged cells first.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can GPS data be checked against duty slips?
Yes, if your GPS provider shares the data. Trip kilometres can then be compared with what the driver wrote on the slip.
Will fleet software fetch challans on its own?
No. A challan is entered when the notice arrives. Its date and time then point to the booking, the driver and, for self-drive, the renter.
Should a small operator have software built?
Usually not. With a handful of cars, a ready app is often appropriate. Custom work suits fleets running self-drive, chauffeur and corporate contracts with different billing rules.