Fuel expenditure is one of the biggest costs when you’re running a fleet of vehicles and anything a fleet manager can do to reduce fuel is an instant improvement to the bottom line. GPS fleet tracking can be an invaluable tool in this fuel usage fight through the vehicle and driver performance data it provides. Telematics can lead to improved driver behaviour, more efficient route planning and ultimately decreased fuel output. In terms of giving you a return on investment, the decrease in fuel expenditure alone is worth the initial purchase price. This is a return that keeps on giving to any firm, of any size, that has company vehicles on the road regularly. We decided we should talk to the GPS tracking experts, CanTrack to understand how fleet telematics can make all the difference to decreased fuel costs.
GPS Tracking Data Cuts Fuel Expenditure
Where do you start when you first introduce a telematics system? A good GPS tracker will produce a huge amount of data but how can this tracking data enable a fleet manager to cut fuel costs? Let’s look at three ways telematics can help save fuel.
Better Route Planning with GPS Trackers Leads to Decreased Fuel Costs
When you use an effective GPS tracking system that employs commercial standard satellite mapping, you will be able not just to locate fleet vehicles wherever they go but also to put in place vastly improved route planning. Once you know the precise location of every vehicle, you can manage routing and dispatching much more effectively. Fleet managers can make sure vehicles always take the most direct route to any customer location as well as return drivers who are lost to the right route. With traffic information updated every 30 seconds, a GPS tracking system can enable drivers to be diverted around traffic logjams and allow them to keep deliveries or appointments on schedule. In addition a good telematics systems offers the facility to locate the nearest vehicle to any job location so drivers can be immediately rerouted to new priorities. This keeps customers happy while fuel costs are cut through this effective use of available resources. When your fleet has to cover large geographic areas, this more streamlined fleet management means fuel cost savings by reducing the number of miles each of your vehicle travels.
Improve Driver Performance, Improve Fuel Performance
Driver performance is a major factor in fuel costs and telematics can help radically reduce consumption through the data a GPS tracking system provides. Getting your drivers to cut down on excessive speed is the first way in which you can cut down on fuel consumption. Did you know for example that 40 percent more fuel is used by a high top van increasing its speed from 70mph to 85mph? Speeding isn’t just unsafe, it’s very costly but when drivers know their speeding is being monitored, they do slow down. Cut fuel costs by making sure your drivers cut out excessive idling and switch their engines off when stopped. Every hour with the engine idling equals 25 miles on the road. Make sure drivers turn off the heating and the air conditioning when your fleet vehicle is at rest and the fuel savings will continue to flow. Through the driver performance data provided by a GPS tracking system costly behaviour can really be highlighted. Fleet managers can be made aware that excessive acceleration and braking as well as harsh cornering is occurring. It has been estimated that this type of behaviour can increase fuel consumption by as much as a third at motorway speeds. However a good telematics system will alert a fleet manager to this type of driver behaviour so inefficient drivers can be identified and worked with to correct their performance and finally saving your fleet in fuel expenditure.
Cut Down on Unauthorised visits and Cut Back on Fuel Expenditure
With a telematics system fleet managers will soon know if their drivers are using vehicles for unauthorised trips or even taking unnecessarily long routes to customer locations. Using the out of hours reporting functionality present in all effective GPS tracking systems, you will have data reporting the location and time when company vehicles have been used outside of work hours and providing proof of inappropriate driver behavior. Cutting down on this type of unsanctioned usage reduces fuel consumption considerably.
For Better Fuel Consumption through Telematics, Keep CanTrack Tracking your Fleet
For the latest information on GPS vehicle and asset trackers go to CanTrack https://cantrack.com/. CanTrack is a leading UK provider in the telematics, fleet and asset tracking industry with over 10 years of experience and innovation. Their Vehicle Tracking System is the fastest way to get your vehicles tracked or your money back.