Monitoring and keeping a strict control of fuel usage is a daily necessity under any circumstance for Fleet organisations. Under a present slow growth economy and nervous markets responding to debt forecasts amongst leading Eurozone member states, optimising fleet delivery schedules to customer requirement is crucial.
Fuel saving is always top of the list of running cost efficiencies and fleet managers can look to key areas of strategy implementation which directly controls the vehicle, the route and driver behaviour. While major enterprises are concerned to maintain their fleet by regular investment into vehicle purchasing, the likelihood is that any critical cost cutting contingencies would require an immediate fuel efficiency improvement, which the deployment of vehicle tracking system can provide at around 10 to 15per cent and more over time.
Fuel cards are well known and widely used throughout the fleet industry and can be set up very quickly by Fleet managers .
Considerable initial savings are made at the petrol pump, and the analysis of purchase price, fuel type and pump location are also vital to the prevention of abuse or deception by the vehicle driver. In addition fuel card discounting can be set at a fixed weekly rate or deducted directly from the pump price.
Under-inflated tyres can also increase fuel consumption by a very noticeable 4 per cent and it’s essential to implement a schedule of frequent pressure checking of all fleet vehicle tyres.
However, there is no doubt that the installation of a fleet tracking system represents the single most important action and a comprehensive solution to realise significant fuel savings whilst on the road and a key strategy to a company’s fuel saving endeavour.
There are decisive benefits to receiving constantly updated gps tracking reports on the exact vehicle location for both fleet controller and vehicle driver , On the spot reactive decisions can be made to both streamline workflow solutions and enhance customer service responsiveness and delivery deadlines.
Fleet vehicle drivers can gain performance related incentives by improving their driving skills to achieve key fuel efficiency and productivity by constant driver monitoring. Well-known driving faults can include unnecessary speeding, harsh gear changing and acceleration, over-revving, excessive idling and sudden braking.
It has been recorded that for every mile driven at above 50 mph, fuel consumption increases by 1.5 per cent . Also, one hour of idling time is equivalent to between 80 and 120 minutes of driving time. Therefore, it has been estimated that the average fleet vehicle loses 800 gallons in a year as a result of careless driving behaviour.
Equally as important is the use of mobile asset tracking to supply vital information on any off-road time inefficiency to unauthorised driver use and non-essential or unexplained journeys and routes taken.
In addition to the use of fuel cards and regular, frequent vehicle maintenance, fleet owners can expect to see at least 15 to 25 per cent increase in operational efficiency from fuel saving and improved productivity performance as immediate key benefits from a fully integrated real time tracking system.