Operating an efficient and cost-effective fleet often requires fleet managers to possess high levels of expertise and knowledge. The upper management can provide strategic directions to drive such changes. KPIs (key performance indicators) need to be established from data that has been derived from vendors, vehicle assets, fleet organization, and more. Let’s take a look at how many companies try to achieve effective fleet performance while keeping their overheads low, e.g. cut fuel costs.
Methods to Reduce Fleet Management Costs
The first method that some businesses use is to get more MPG. There are two options: improve driver behavior or utilize innovative automotive technologies. Some organizations with fleets do not take in to account the impact drivers have on vehicle fuel economy. It is pertinent that bad driver habits are corrected with driver training. Today, more electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids can help improve fuel economy and their demand is expected to continue. However, high acquisition costs rarely produce a decent ROI.
Another method organizations may opt for is to reduce the size of their fleet. Currently, the average TCO for each light-duty vehicle is between $5,000 and $8,000 annually. If the company is able to eliminate approximately 100 vehicles, they may enjoy a potential savings opportunity of half a million dollars annually. This is believed to be the most proven way to reduce overall costs.
But what if we told you that there is a way to simplify things when reducing fleet costs without reducing the size of your fleet when it matters the most? Well, simply focus on cutting fuel costs first.
How Btracking Can Help with Fuel Cost Reduction
If you wish to keep your operating costs down, you should not forget to track and manage fuel and maintenance purchases. Organizations that own fuel cards can integrate all their purchase data into a GPS fleet tracking solution to ease the monitoring process. This practice also helps eliminate the usual time-consuming process of sorting through transaction data and receipts. You will also be able to provide fuel reports that allow you or your fleet managers to monitor fuel usage of each vehicle, in an automated manner, and identify any slippage. Ultimately, it helps simplify the IFTA Fuel Tax reporting procedures.
In today’s time, one needs to be able to make smart decisions when something is not right. You should never let manually filled trip logs and/or the words of drivers influence your fleet operations. It is about time you have them all electronically logged. This means that you get trip reports based on located points on map, ignition status, and time.
Here’s a quick look at what Btracking’s GPS tracking solutions are capable of when it comes to reducing fuel costs:
- Provide actual data (before and after values) on how much fuel was stolen, leaked, or drained out from the tank.
- Daily reports on fuel consumption, average mileage, and distance covered (for the month).
- Offers location-based trip reports with all the points driver has made on map, i.e. offices, warehouses, etc.
- Trip reports based on ignition status (when ignition was switched off and on).
- Updates you on distance covered and time spent in each place or village that vehicles passed.
- Detailed reports on all vehicle-stop locations as well as duration with timestamps.
- Identify the exact time and location where a driver sped.
- Helps you locate, dispatch, and send directions to nearest resources with exceptional ease.