BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY

BAHIR DAR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL
ENGINEERING
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
GROUP ASSIGNMENT I
Bekalu Daniel 1103529
Elias Arage 1103577
Yonas Kifle 1103345
Firaol Getachew 1103438

Dejenu Habte 1102578

Mikael Seife 1103274

SUBMITTED TO: MR. YARED A.

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 1

Contents
...................................................................................................................................................................... 1
History of the company ................................................................................................................................. 3
Under FDRE ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Establishment of ethio telecom ................................................................................................................. 3
Post War Restoration ................................................................................................................................ 3
Under the Imperial Regime ....................................................................................................................... 3
Under the Dergue Regime ........................................................................................................................ 4
Telecommunications Sector in Ethiopia ................................................................................................... 4
Fleet management system in ethio telecom north western region ................................................................ 5
Structure of fleet management system in ethio telecom ............................................................................... 5
Divisions of fleet management in ethio telecom ........................................................................................... 7
1. Fleet operation administration and assignment ..................................................................................... 7
2. Maintenance and repair division ........................................................................................................... 7
3. Fleet refueling division ......................................................................................................................... 7
Vehicles used and number of fleet in ethio telecom ..................................................................................... 7
Vehicle routes assignment. ........................................................................................................................... 8
Travel request and authorization procedure .................................................................................................. 9
Fuel management system ............................................................................................................................ 10
Salvage vehicle disposal ............................................................................................................................. 10
Driver scheduling and assigning system ..................................................................................................... 11
Vehicle and driver outsourcing method ...................................................................................................... 12
Maintenance scheduling.............................................................................................................................. 12
Maintenance procedures ............................................................................................................................. 13
Maintenance outsourcing ............................................................................................................................ 15
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................... 15

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 2

History of the company
Telecommunications service was introduced in Ethiopia by Emperor Menelik II in 1894 when
the construction of the telephone line from Harar to the capital city, Addis Ababa, was
commenced. Then the interurban network was continued to expand satisfactorily in all other
directions from the capital. Many important centers in the Empire were interconnected by lines,
thus facilitating long distance communication with the assistants or operators at intermediate
stations frequently acting as verbal human repeaters between the distant calling parties.

Under FDRE
The telecommunications sector was restructured and two separate independent entities namely
the Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority (ETA) and the Ethiopian Telecommunications
Corporation (ETC) were established by Proclamation No. 49/1996 on November 1996.

Establishment of ethio telecom

As a continuation of the 2005/06-2009/10 five-year plan and after concentrating its efforts on
education, health and agriculture, the Ethiopian government has decided to focus on the
improvement of telecommunication services, considering them as a key lever in the development
of Ethiopia, ethio telecom is born, on Monday 29th November 2010, from this ambition of
supporting the steady growth of our country, within the Growth Transformation Plan (GTP),
with ambitious objectives for 2015.

1991-Present

Post War Restoration

After the independence from the Italian occupation, the re-established Ministry of PT and T took
over the running of Telephone, Telegraph and Radio communications. It, therefore, rehabilitated
the network of the whole country.

Under the Imperial Regime

The Imperial Board of Telecommunications of Ethiopia (IBTE) was established by the
proclamation No. 131 on October 15, 1952

The main purpose of the Board, as stated in its establishment charter of article 5 was
“to rehabilitate, extend, repair and maintain the telecommunication facilities of Ethiopia and to
engage in the business of telecommunication for profit.”

In 1960, IBTE looked after the operational matters of central Ethiopia, and a dedicated regional
office was created in Addis Ababa. At the same time, a radio division was created separately
from the preceding Technical Division, bringing the number of division offices to seven.

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1942-1952

Under the Dergue Regime

Under the Dergue regime, the Ethiopian telecommunications was renamed as follows:

In October 1975, the organization was renamed as “THE PROVISIONAL MILITARY

GOVERNMENT OF SOCIALIST ETHIOPIA TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES”

It was renamed again as “ETHIOPIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY (ETA) on

January 1981. It retained its name as ETA up to November 1996.

At this period, the telecommunication services had made a major change of technology ranging
from Automatic to Digital technology.

1974-1991

Telecommunications Sector in Ethiopia

In that particular period, Ethio telecom had been renamed and restructured through different
stages.

First, the management of the service was under the Imperial Court of Menelik II in the name of
the “CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OF TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM OF
ETHIOPIA” from 1890 up to 1907. Mr. Stevenin, a French citizen, was appointed as the General
Manager of the service.

The service was renamed as “THE CENTRAL OFFICE OF POST, TELEGRAPH AND
TELEPHONE (PTT) SYSTEM OF ETHIOPIA” since 1907-1909. It was administered by
Emperor Menilik II’s Advisor, Mr. Al Fred Ilg, a Swiss man.

Then the service was renamed as “MINISTRY OF POST, TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE
(PT and T)” in 1910. First, it was administered by Mr. Leo Shafno, a French citizen and then
replaced by the first Ethiopian administrators Lij Gizaw Bezabih, Lij Beyene Yimer and their
successors consecutively.

In late 2006, the ETC signed an agreement worth US$1.5 billion with
three Chinese companies, ZTE Corporation, Huawei Technologies and the Chinese International
Telecommunication Construction Corporation, to upgrade and expand Ethiopian
telecommunications services. This agreement will increase the number of mobile services from
1.5 million to 7 million, land line telephone services from 1 million to 4 million, and expansion
of the fibre optic network, from the present 4,000 kilometers to 10,000 by 2010. It is part of a
larger US$2.4 billion plan by the Ethiopian government to improve the country's
telecommunications infrastructure. In 2018, the mobile service business has reached 85% of the
country. In February 2018, it was reported that Ethio telecom had 64.4 million subscribers

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 4

making it the largest telecommunication services operator in the continent. The operator runs
three terrestrial fiber optic cables with a capacity of 42 Gbit/s to connect Ethiopia to the rest of
the world via Kenya, Djibouti and Sudan. In August 2019, the company announced that it will
install 4G network before other telecom companies enter the Ethiopian market since the
government decided that it will liberalize the telecom sector.

Frehiwot Tamru serving as the current Chief Executive Officer since 1 August 2018 preceded by
Andualem Admassie who served five years. Frehiwot previously worked as Deputy CEO for
Internal Support Service for then Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation. She told Capital
that she managed all surveillance quality protocols.

By 26 August 2020, Ethio telecom planned to extended 842 new infrastructure site during 2020
fiscal year. This infrastructure expected to enable the company to host additional 5.2 million new
customers. During this fiscal year, the company planned to generate 55.5 billion birr in revenue,
a 16pc growth from the last fiscal year. It also plans to boost the country's telecom density to
51.3%. At the end of financial year 2021/22 it generated a revenue of 61.3 billion birr and
boosted the country's telecom density to 63.3% after total subscribers reached 66.59 million birr.

In May 2021, Ethio telecom launched Telebirr, a mobile service platform. Frehiwot said 21.8
million users signed up with this service, making total transaction of 30.3 birr.[On 10 May 2022,
Ethio telecom commenced 5G network for pre-commercial sale in partnership of Huawei
Technology after several months upgrading the predecessor 4G network.

Fleet management system in ethio telecom north western region

As a sub division from the head office in Addis Ababa, ethio telecom north western office have
control over some major divisions of management where the fleet management department is
one. This division of the north western region has a system to control the fleet used for daily
functioning of the office. The increasing need of vehicles have led to the need of a system to
manage the vehicles in harmony with the needs of the branch offices. Technology took a major
role in managing the vast fleet of 168 vehicles in north western region where two soft wares are
employed in the three major divisions of fleet management these softwares interlink these three
divisions and the employees under. Unlike the old system for managing fleet these softwares
have a better data handling and efficient use of vehicles and personnel. The fleet management
out sources vehicles and drivers for higher demands of vehicle and work orders

Structure of fleet management system in ethio telecom

The structure of fleet management in ethio telecom has a fleet manager on the top of the scheme
to control the overall processes and techniques of action for the lower part of hierarchy to

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 5

perform as intended and, since resources are scarce, efficient utilization of resources is a major
issue for the managing department to overcome.

Under the fleet managing department there are 3 main subdivisions which are fleet operation,
fleet maintenance and, fleet refueling department which contribute their own roles in accessing
the resource and utilizing it

The figure below shows the hierarchy of the fleet management system employed in ethio telecom

Fig: structure of fleet management

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 6

Divisions of fleet management in ethio telecom
Fleet management of ethio telecom consists of three divisions

1. Fleet operation administration and assignment

This office is given the authority to assign a vehicle to any request from any division of the
company this office also serves as a bridge to the maintenance and repair division by entering
driver requests of service and maintenance to the oracle fleet management system and get the
vehicle serviced on time

2. Maintenance and repair division

Since the garages for the repair and maintenance are outsourced this division make sure the need
of maintenance and approves the service which is followed by a strict follow up and approval of
the vehicle after the service.

The employees in the office have certain skillset to achieve the desired efficient and well
deserved maintenance or repair

3. Fleet refueling division

Fleet refueling division is the smallest division in fleet management since the only job of the
division is to receive order from the fleet operators and refuel the vehicles the fueling of the
vehicles is determined according to their mileage and the terrain of the work order

Vehicles used and number of fleet in ethio telecom

The wide operational area and new infrastructure building set the need for vehicles higher than
never before

Vehicles under ethio telecom north western branch

Owned vehicles Outsourced vehicles

remark
sedans 12 0
2wd pickup 35 50
4wd pickups 30 29
Light truck 6
Heavy duty truck 6

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 7

Vehicle routes assignment.
Vehicle routes assignment or tracking is not implies in this branch office this allows the driver to
be responsible for every action and choose routes which the driver consider the better, the fleet
management office refuels the vehicle only based on the mileage

Although the routes are not assigned for the vehicles the regional office have administrational
boundaries which allows them to decide the maximum coverage of a vehicle except for demands
or work orders from head office in Addis Ababa.

Operational areas can extend up to:

 Guba  Motta
 Dejen  Wereta
 Debremarkos  chagni and some regions in the north
 Dagela
The figure below shows the operational area of the vehicles under ethio telecom north eastern
office

Benishangul gumuz guba

Fig: ethio telecom bahirdar fleet routes

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 8

 Travel request and authorization procedure
Fleet management travel request is a request made by individuals or organizations to use the
corporate or government vehicle fleet for travel purposes. The requests must include the reasons
why they need the vehicles, the number of people travelling, the estimated start time and end
time of the journey and any other relevant information related to their needs. The request should
be reviewed and approved by the fleet management team before being allowed to travel in any of
these corporate or government vehicles. The travel request comes from the different divisions
inside ETHIO TELECOME in need of vehicle. A division in need of a vehicles requests a
vehicle through the software oracle before getting approval. The fleet operational division
reviews the request and gives the approval. The fleet operational division assigns a driver the
operation and the assigned driver has to turn in a travel authorization request paper. This paper
has to be filled out with the required information about the departure time, destination, route and
fuel usage which is calculated through the usage of software (oracle) by the fuel management. In
addition to fuel being calculated travel incentive is also calculated by the kilometers traveled and
by the length of stay.

Fig: travel authorization request paper

A division can request a vehicle at any time before the travel date through the FFD system.

Fig: Travel authorization procedure

assign Fill out fuel
review request departure
Division vehicle request Fleet operation appropriate authorization managemnt
and allow approval
driver request paper calculates fuel

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 9

The request inquire from the division in need of a vehicle has to incorporate the following Data

 Reference NO
 Full name
 Departure place
 Departure time
 Type of vehicle
 Description
 No of days
 Remark

Fuel management system

Ethio telecom bahirdar branch does not use electronic controlled fuel management system.
Which is the use of a GPS controlled system rather they use a software called oracle to calculate
the fuel usage for a specific vehicle before departure of the vehicle. Fuel management system
accepts travel authorization paper from the driver and calculates fuel usage for a specific vehicle
and specific terrain using oracle.

Driver

Refuel request

fuel administrator

fuel supplier

Fig: refuel process

Salvage vehicle disposal

The useful life of an asset is the period over which an asset is expected to be available for use by
an entity. After the vehicle surpasses the useful life and the repair and maintenance cost increases
over time it is sold for salvage value. A typical average useful life of most pickup trucks used by
the company is 7 to 10 years. After the vehicle surpasses the useful life the vehicles are shipped

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 10

to the head office and are auctioned off for their salvage value. Salvage value is the book value
of an asset after all depreciation has been fully expensed.

Driver scheduling and assigning system

In Ethio telecom bahirdar branch there are 168 drivers meaning 1 driver for every vehicle. When
there is a particular need for a travel the department puts in a request which will be met by the
fleet operation. In relation to assigning a driver to a job, it is done in order, availability and lastly
skill.

1. Establish Driver Availability: The first step for creating a driver schedule is establishing when
each driver will be available to work. This includes hours and days of the week, as well as
personal limitations/time off requests.

2. Define Regular Schedules and Rotations: Once availability has been determined, then you can
begin to develop regular schedules and rotations for your drivers. This may include set shifts and
routes that each driver is assigned on specific days or weeks, in order to create consistency in the
fleet's operations.

3. Assign Routes Based On Driver Preferences & Skills: Ensure each driver has ownership over
one or two routes or certain tasks that fit within their skillset, experience level and interests. This
allows them to leverage their knowledge & expertise so make sure their job performance is not
only successful but enjoyable - leading to improved employee satisfaction & retention rates
amongst your staff! In addition, it can also be beneficial to assign drivers additional duties
outside of their typical duties (i.e., deliveries) to keep things interesting and reduce boredom
from routine tasks when possible!

4. Monitor Performance & Improve Efficiency Constantly: Finally, once the systems are put in
place it's important that fleet managers monitor performance & adjust/improve efficiencies
where necessary through continual oversight & evaluation of operations - taking into account
feedback from both drivers & customers alike.

The drawback of Ethio telecom bahirdar branch in driver scheduling is the use of mostly manual
assigning system by the fleet operation. Ethio telecom bahirdar branch use software to manage
the available vehicles, vehicles on duty and vehicles that are in maintenance. The table below
shows a rough vehicle and driver management method.

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 11

Vehicle No. Vehicle Manufacturer Capacity Class Status
license (people) (vehicle)
plate
1 4-23765 Nissan 4 Pick up Available for
job
2 4-78664 Nissan 4 Pick up In progress
3 3-70239 Toyota 4 SUV Maintenance
required
4 4-84563 Eicher 2 Light duty Available for
truck job
Table: vehicle and driver availability

Vehicle and driver outsourcing method

As mentioned above Ethio telecom bahirdar branch has 168 vehicles in its fleet. Out of those 168
vehicles 79 of the vehicles are outsources. Which means 79 of the vehicles are rented and not
owned by the establishment. The company has plans to increase the number of vehicles owned
by the company in the near future. The drivers outsourced are substitute for the drivers when
there are no available drivers. The company employs drivers from commercial nominees, a well-
known company for needed personnel employment. Ethio telecom rents pickup trucks starting
from 3000 Birr/day. This can help reduce costs and improve efficiency, while giving the client
more control over their vehicle maintenance and operations. Benefits of driver outsourcing
include:

• Reduced overhead costs (e.g. hiring drivers and training them in-house)
• Increased efficiency by leveraging "ready to go" drivers
• Easier access to quality personnel on an as-needed basis
• Improved safety through consistently trained drivers
• Reduced paperwork by using online portals for driver information exchange
• Flexibility in terms of scaling up or pulling back quickly depending on needs.

Maintenance scheduling
Maintenance scheduling is critical to successful fleet management, especially in larger fleets
with 168 vehicles. A well-thought out maintenance schedule ensures that vehicles are properly
inspected and serviced on a regular basis and any necessary repairs are conducted in a timely
fashion, resulting in more reliable and cost-efficient operation of the fleet.

A comprehensive maintenance schedule for a 168 vehicle fleet should include periodic
inspections for all parts and systems, preventive maintenance such as oil changes and fuel filter

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 12

replacement, as well as numerous other scheduled maintenance tasks designed to keep the
vehicles in good working condition. As part of the process, records should be kept of all services
conducted on each vehicle so that drivers know when the next service interval is due. By
ensuring that all necessary services are completed on time, fleet managers will be able to catch
potential issues before they become major problems.

Preventative maintenance is scheduled for every vehicle every 5000 kilometers. There are 4
levels of services for the vehicle maintenances. These are A service, B service, C service, D
service

Type of service Distance traveled Maintenance

A service 5,000km Oil and filter change
B service 10,000 Brake component inspection
Fluid level check
Tire pressure check
C service 20,000 Drive belts check
Timing belt check
Wiper blade replacement
Engine coolant replacement
Brake fluid replacement
Transmission fluid check
D service 40,000 Check and replace wheel hub
components
Fuel lines end exhaust check
Table: maintenance schedule

Overall, developing an effective maintenance scheduling plan for a large fleet of 168 vehicles
requires careful planning, detailed record keeping and prompt attention to any issues that arise.
By taking proactive steps like these, fleet owners can improve the efficiency of their operations
while reducing costly repair bills down the road.

Maintenance procedures
Maintenance procedures in ethio telecom are made to be easy and fool proof for the users. The
procedure starts from the driver and ends with the mechanics in the out sourced garage.

The procedure is listed as follows

1. Maintenance inquiry paper is filled by the driver and is submitted to the fleet operation
department
2. Fleet operation personnel feeds the information on the inquiry to the software which is
made to communicate with the fleet maintenance department

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 13

 3. Maintenance department personnel inspects for the problems and see if there are any
more
4. Maintenance department personnel approves maintenance and, prepares a work order
5. Vehicles are sent to the outsource garage with their work order.
6. After the completion of the work order the vehicle is inspected by fleet maintenance
personnel
7. The fleet maintenance personnel approve the vehicle quality and
8. The vehicle is returned to the driver

Fig: Vehicle repair request form

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 14

Maintenance outsourcing
Maintenance outsourcing to other garages in fleet management systems can involve various
services and tasks, including scheduling servicing appointments and repairs, ordering parts and
supplies, tracking vehicle histories, and monitoring maintenance costs. Additionally, outsourcing
often includes an agreement for the outsourced garage or provider to handle all liability
concerns, such as ensuring licensed technicians use approved processes when handling work
orders. Moreover, the service provider is responsible for conducting quality inspections with
thorough documentation. Finally, most agreements allow for reporting of key metrics on a
regular basis to ensure that service levels are being met. Ethio telecom bahirdar branch has
contracts with various garages throughout bahirdar. These garages receive maintenance inquire
paper from Ethio telecom with the inspection from the fleet maintenance division.

Maintenance shops in contract with ethio telecom

• Nyala motors
• Moenco bahirdar

Recommendations
We recommend that the company invest in an inhouse fleet management system with GPS
tracking, fuel tracking software and driver scheduling software for improved efficiency. This will
give the company a comprehensive, real-time view of all its vehicles and drivers, as well as
detailed trip reports, fuel usage and maintenance records. GPS-tracking allows them to quickly
identify which vehicles are in the area or arriving late to jobsites — reducing costs associated
with customer service inquiries for arrival times. Fuel tracking helps them reduce operational
costs by monitoring individual driver fuel economy, understanding when fueling is necessary
and identifying patterns of wasted mileage or abuse. Finally, having a driver scheduling option
integrated into their system will allow the company to digitally manage fleet scheduling —
reducing paperwork while also automating reminders and notifications related to license
renewals, safety regulations and more. Investing in this comprehensive fleet management system
will improve customer relations, reduce operational costs as well as make sure their fleet runs
safely with up-to-date certifications.

Generally ethio telecom has better facility in fleet management however, the company can
have a better fleet management system if they included GPS controlled fleet to have a full
control of the position and routes of the vehicle. Additionally the driver scheduling system
can be controlled better by Oracle a software employed to meet the need of the company.

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 15

 These listed above have a very large effect on the fuel management which is the primary cost
of operating after purchasing the vehicle.

ETHIO TELECOM FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 16