PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS FROM RISING GAS PRICES
One of the largest operational expenses of owning and managing a fleet is fuel spend. No matter the size of the fleet, with the dramatic rise in gas and diesel prices, it is becoming more challenging to keep exorbitant fuel consumption costs from wreaking havoc on the bottom line.
With fuel prices projected to soar to, “a three-year high this summer” according to statistics provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, business owners and fleet managers are in the difficult position of rethinking fuel economy strategies to find cost-effective solutions that will protect them from more than what is anticipated at the pump.
Paired with the increasing gas and diesel prices, inefficient driving practices also have an impact on fuel consumption. When drivers engage in unnecessary idling and aggressive behaviors on the road, it burns excess fuel and puts wear and tear on the vehicles. These driving behaviors inflate fuel spend and maintenance costs. And when drivers take circuitous routes when traveling to job sites or refueling their vehicles, it wastes gas and puts extra mileage on the odometer, leading to additional spending that negatively impacts margins and prohibits profitability.
As the owner or operator of a business with trucks, trailers, and other assets, tracking your fuel economy while managing the daily activities of your drivers is an impossible task to take on single-handedly. Whether you work in the public or private sectors or deliver goods or services, without the right fleet management platform, you are vulnerable to losing track of your fuel spend and exceeding your budget.
With GPS fleet tracking services, you can decrease your fuel consumption by monitoring and analyzing your fuel spend to optimize purchasing practices and reduce wasteful spending. And with real-time reporting and automated alerts, you can address inefficient driving behaviors to enhance your fuel economy and prolong the life of your vehicles. By improving your fuel consumption using premium fleet management technology, you can save a gallon of gas per vehicle per day to get the results you need to secure your return on investments (ROI).
ELIMINATE EXCESSIVE IDLING TO IMPROVE FUEL SPEND
In certain circumstances, idling is an acceptable and unavoidable behavior. This includes waiting at a traffic light, running equipment via power take-off (PTO), and operating machinery like cement trucks. However, when your drivers start the engine to warm up or cool off the cabin before their route or keep it running between deliveries, it is excessive idling – and it can be damaging to your bottom line.
As cited by the 2015 Work Truck Electrification and Idle Management Study conducted by the National Trucking Equipment Association, “more than half of all fleets…exceeded one hour of idling per day.” And according to the U.S. Department of Energy website FuelEconomy.Gov, “idling can use a quarter to a half-gallon of fuel per hour” – causing fuel consumption to skyrocket. Along with astronomical costs at the pump, idling also puts undue wear and tear on the vehicles that, “…can increase maintenance costs by almost $2,000 per year and shorten the life of the engine” according to the American Trucking Association as reported by EPA New England. And in certain states excessive idling is illegal, leaving businesses vulnerable to being ticketed and paying unnecessary fees.
With GPS fleet tracking technology, you can gather the data needed to eliminate excessive idling to optimize your fleets’ time on the job, reduce fuel spending, and extend the life of your vehicles.
When it comes to your fuel spend, the old adage you can’t manage what you can’t measure applies. With NexTraq Idle Reports, you can identify the drivers and vehicles that are engaging in excessive idling. By receiving detailed data measuring these behaviors, you will be alerted to unnecessary idling and wasteful spending right away. With this information, you can coach your drivers on efficient practices to improve your fuel economy, encourage driver accountability, and lengthen the lifespan of your vehicles.
Even with comprehensive reporting, staying in the know can be complicated when overseeing an entire fleet of vehicles. With NexTraq Idle Reports, you can customize your metrics and have them delivered straight to your inbox. Tailor your reports to notify you when specific drivers or vehicles idle over a certain number of minutes so you can correct these behaviors before they exceed your budget.
Easy to monitor and operate, GPS fleet tracking services offer highly effective solutions to reduce fuel spending so you can save one gallon of gas per vehicle per day.
MONITOR FUEL SPENDING WITH FUEL CARD INTEGRATION
With so many vehicles on the road, it can be difficult to discern where your drivers have been, when they have used their fuel cards, and how much they have spent. And while you want to believe in the honesty and integrity of your team, there may be individuals that intentionally misuse their fuel cards to make personal purchases, which can have catastrophic consequences on your business if it goes undetected. Using GPS fleet tracking technology, you can prevent wasteful spending, recognize fraudulent activity, and protect your profits with fuel card integration.
The most effective way to manage your fuel economy is to gain a better understanding of the specifics related to your drivers’ fuel spending practices. With NexTraq Fuel Purchase History Reports, you will receive comprehensive data detailing authorized and unauthorized fuel-related purchases that have been made by fleet, driver, and vehicle. This enables you to evaluate the information and recognize patterns of questionable fuel spending so you can eliminate extraneous expenses and improve your margins.
When drivers commit slippage, they misuse company money to make personal purchases and report it as a fuel expense. If you feel uncertain about the activities of your drivers or suspect they are engaging in slippage, you can encourage and enforce transparency by assigning drivers their own fuel cards. By designating a fuel card with a unique pin number to each of your drivers, you can record the time and location of their every transaction. You will know exactly when and where the fuel card was used, what was purchased, and the amount of money that was spent. When paired with point of interest (POI) mapping features to track activities, these fuel cards help to discourage fraudulent spending and encourages driver accountability to protect your business.
To optimize your fuel card use, NexTraq partners with the top fleet fuel card services in North America and Canada for your convenience. By integrating transaction data from more than 24 different fuel cards including Comdata, Fuelman (FleetCor®), and WEX, every fuel card on the market is covered to make the integration process simpler than ever before.
With GPS fleet tracking services, you can utilize your fuel cards to improve your fuel economy and deter fraudulent spending to optimize your fuel spend.
ENHANCE FUEL ECONOMY WITH ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
Along with fuel consumption costs, vehicle maintenance is one of the most significant expenses related to operating a fleet. If your vehicles are not routinely inspected and properly cared for, they will not run as efficiently as they are capable of, which will drastically impact fuel economy and increase fuel spend. With GPS fleet tracking technology, you can create automated alerts and smart schedules to streamline maintenance and keep your vehicles in peak condition to enhance your fuel economy.
As reported by the U.S. Department of Energy website FuelEconomy.Gov, “you can improve your gas mileage…up to 3%…by keeping your tires properly inflated to the proper pressure.” But as a fleet manager, you will not always know if there is trouble with the tire pressure or other parts of the vehicles unless you are notified by your drivers.
With NexTraq® Vehicle Maintenance Module, you can ensure your fleet receives the routine maintenance it needs with automated alerts that are based on diagnostic (DTC) codes, so you know immediately when there is an issue with one of your vehicles. When used with NexTraq® Vehicle Inspection, you can improve safety and uptime for your fleet with simplified daily inspections based on DVIR requirements by the FMCSA to prioritize maintenance and repairs.
With the simple Set-Up Wizards, you can configure Service Requests and Service Reminders based on suggested manufacture maintenance, specific dates, periods of time, mileage, and more. With an easily customizable dashboard, you can choose from a preset list of 17 common maintenance and service activities or create specific categories that matter the most to your fleet. Paired with the NexTraq® View App™, you can create custom forms, receive detailed maintenance reports and stay informed straight from your smartphone to ensure the vehicles in your fleet are always ready to hit the open road.
By taking the guesswork out of maintenance, you can extend the life of your vehicles and improve your fuel economy to save money on repairs and lower your fuel spend.
UNDERSTAND FUEL SPENDING WITH REAL-TIME REPORTING
To enhance the fuel consumption of your fleet, you need comprehensive insights into your fuel economy and the behaviors of your drivers. When equipped with this information, you can identify wasteful patterns in your fuel spend and inefficiencies in driver behavior. Using GPS fleet tracking services, you can measure fuel efficiency, manage IFTA expenses, and monitor driving behaviors to optimize fleet operations and fuel spend.
You can’t implement effective fuel consumption strategies until you understand what you are currently spending. With NexTraq Fuel Purchase History Reports you can review and evaluate comprehensive metrics outlining fuel purchases by fleet, driver, and vehicle. This data can also help you calculate the average fuel economy for your fleet based on the miles per gallon and the expected distance for jobs. Should the anticipated fuel spend not add up to what is happening on the road, you can use this information to reevaluate strategies and implement coaching conversations to improve your fuel economy.
While monitoring your fuel consumption is critical to improving your fuel spend, you must also consider your tax expenses if your fleet routinely travels over state lines. With NexTraq IFTA Reporting, you can easily navigate this complicated international taxing system by receiving the automated quarterly reports you need to stay on track. As part of the free fuel card integration program, you will receive easily accessible reports that provide a detailed analysis of when and where your drivers purchased fuel in each jurisdiction to keep your business compliant with mandatory regulations and simplify the auditing process.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy website FuelEconomy.Gov, “aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) can lower your gas mileage by roughly 15% to 30% percent…” When your drivers speed and corner too quickly, it increases your fuel spend. As a result, you need effective solutions to identify and reduce unsafe driving practices. With NexTraq Posted Speed Alert, you will receive instant notifications on your laptop, smartphone or tablet when your drivers exceed the speed limit. To help curb aggressive driving behaviors, pair this with NexTraq® Driver Awareness™ to program in-cab alerts that trip when drivers accelerate or brake too harshly to ensure they comply with company safety policies.
With over 40 real-time reports available to help you manage your fleet, you can track every mile your vehicles travel to optimize fuel consumption and improve your fuel spend.
TRACK FUEL CONSUMPTION WITH AUTOMATED ALERTS
Staying in the know while managing an entire fleet of vehicles can be extremely challenging. Since you can’t be everywhere at once, NexTraq automated alerts will deliver every relevant detail about your fuel consumption straight to your inbox, so you will have the actionable insights you need to make the best decisions for your fuel spend and your business.
Even when you are effectively managing the prices at the pump, you may still find you are having trouble lowering the expenses related to your fuel consumption. With NexTraq Daily Activity Report, you can pinpoint the location and status of each of your vehicles and gain a glimpse into factors that are driving your fuel spend. You can use these metrics to identify patterns of wasteful spending and set relevant alerts to enhance your fuel economy.
If your drivers are engaging in excessive idling, you can create alerts in tandem with NexTraq Idle Reports to identify and stop unnecessary idling in its tracks. If excessive speeding and harsh cornering are the culprits, set appropriate speed limit notifications with NexTraq Posted Speed Alert to coach your drivers on the ways safe driving saves money and lowers fuel consumption. And with NexTraq Engine Diagnostics, you can create alerts for when the Check Engine light comes on to keep your vehicles operating in ways that optimize your fuel economy.
With over 30 alerts available, you can tailor your notifications to your business so you can improve your fuel consumption and bolster your bottom line.
OPTIMIZE ROUTING TO DECREASE FUEL SPENDING
When you work in the delivery or service industries, you have multiple vehicles on the road making several stops each day. In some instances, drivers may need to suddenly change their routes to accommodate new job requests. But without proper planning and dispatch practices, drivers are in danger of putting unnecessary mileage on the vehicles while burning excess fuel through ineffective navigation, which will increase your fuel consumption costs.
With the NexTraq® Connect™ mobile app, you can track your drivers throughout the day and monitor when they are leaving designated areas and worksites to prevent unnecessary idling and fuel consumption. With simple one-click functionality, you can plan the routes for your drivers to improve navigation and prevent them from running into gridlock traffic and inconvenient delays.
While driving from job to job throughout the workday, your drivers will inevitably need to stop to fill up their fuel tanks. But when there are several stations around to stop and fuel up, they will likely choose the closest location for the sake of convenience. Without keeping a close eye on the fuel prices, they run the risk of refueling at a place where the costs are more than double that of other locations nearby.
To prevent this type of wasteful fuel spending, NexTraq GPS fleet technology will monitor drivers and dispatch them to gas stations and truck stops with the lowest gas prices to ensure you are making the best choices to enhance your profitability and fuel economy.
With enhanced NexTraq geofencing and mapping features, multi-stop routing is made easy so you can optimize driver productivity, enhance your fuel spend, and increase the revenue of your business.
REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT WITH SUSTAINABLE FUEL SOLUTIONS
As the owner or operator of a fleet, if you are not effectively monitoring and managing your fuel consumption, it does so much more than just affect your business. It can also have an unfortunate impact on the environment. As sustainable initiatives are on the rise, businesses are being called upon to do their part by committing to practices that will decrease harmful emissions and cut down on their carbon footprints. With GPS fleet tracking services, you can eliminate idling to lower your fuel consumption and reduce your environmental impact.
When your vehicles idle for extended periods of time, it not only drives your fuel spend, but it also causes unnecessary emissions. As reported by North Carolina Environmental Quality, “an idling vehicle releases harmful chemicals, gases and particle pollution (“soot”) into the air, contributing to ozone, regional haze and global climate change.” By controlling and eliminating these harmful idling behaviors, you are burning less fuel, which will decrease your emissions while enhancing your fuel economy.
By investing in GPS fleet tracking technology, you are not just improving your fuel spend and fleet operations. You are committing to prioritizing sustainable solutions that are building a better tomorrow. It is a win-win for your business and the environment!
SUMMARY AND NEXT STEPS
While you can’t control the rise in gas prices, NexTraq GPS fleet tracking services empower your business with the superior solutions it needs to decrease your fuel consumption and improve driving practices to enhance your fuel spend and the success of your business. To learn more about GPS fleet tracking technology, click LEARN MORE below.