Fuels costs are easily one of the most significant expenses for any business running a fleet of vehicles. Whatever the size of your fleet, keeping the fuel costs in check can help to reduce your overall operational budget, allowing you to realize profits.
GPS fleet trackers can help you save on fuel costs in several ways. The trackers can provide you with an approximate of how much fuel each vehicle uses. You can then use this information to develop and implement the best action to reduce your fleet’s fuel usage.
Route Planning and Optimisation
Taking optimal routes every time saves fuel. Fleet tracking management technology can help your business narrow down to the fastest and most fuel-efficient routes. The data from the vehicle trackers on current routes can help identify opportunities to save on fuel consumption after considering traffic patterns and road conditions, among other factors.
Idling in heavy traffic, for example, can drive your vehicle’s fuel consumption. Using your GPS tracker information, you can update, in real-time, the route of your fleet so they can use an alternative route without a traffic snarl-up.
Monitoring and Correcting Driver Behavior
Some driving habits, such as accelerating and decelerating too quickly and too frequently, aggressive braking, speeding, inefficient change of gears, and idling too much, contribute to poor fuel economy. Avoiding these habits will save fuel consumption and cut down your costs.
GPS trackers with dash cameras can help you to monitor driver behavior closely. Fleet managers can then ensure they train drivers to avoid these fuel-inefficient driver habits. Sending alerts on the go, such as speeding and idling alerts, can help to proactively regulate these habits and save money.
Keeping up with Maintenance
Fleet tracking technology provides critical information for fleet managers to stay on top of all maintenance tasks. Maintenance significantly affects your fleet’s overall operational efficiency, including fuel economy. It’s the manager’s responsibility, while coordinating with the maintenance technician, to ensure that all preventive and corrective maintenance is done in good time.
The information from the trackers helps the maintenance team to have an idea of where to start so they don’t spend too much time on diagnostics. Fixing the oxygen sensor, for example, can greatly improve the fuel economy of the vehicles in your fleet. Tyre pressure also significantly impacts, and ensuring your vehicles’ tyres are well-inflated will improve fuel consumption. Overall, well-maintained vehicles generally consume less fuel.
Curb Fuel Theft and Unrestricted Use
Gas prices have gotten quite high, and some unscrupulous drivers may be tempted to pull tricks to get gas. It’s not uncommon for unethical drivers to use the company fuel card to fill up their own vehicles. Some become so confident when their dishonesty goes undiscovered that they make a habit of filling up on the company’s dime.
A reliable fleet tracking solutions provider can help integrate your tracking solution with your company fuel cards. With this integration, you get reports that, after analysis, will help you see any suspicious activity. You can then take the right action fast, which may mean giving the culpable individuals a stern warning or terminating their contract altogether, as you will have the relevant proof and cause.
Similarly, you can save fuel costs by ensuring no unauthorized use of company vehicles. Some drivers may want to use company vehicles to run personal errands. The GPS tracking system, through calendar entries and time-of-use restrictions, can alert fleet managers to unauthorized vehicle use.
Save More Money
Improvements across different areas, from driver habits to vehicle maintenance and route planning, can have a great impact on your fleet’s fuel economy. With the right GPS tracking solution, you have just the right tool to drive down your fuel usage and avoid fuel theft. Any savings you realize
