According to a survey by eyefortransport, almost half of businesses considered that the biggest benefit of adopting fleet tracking technologies was the improvement of fuel and route management. What makes these technologies so effective in these areas of activity? The collection and the analysis of the “big data” such as mileage, route speeds, fuel usage and delivery times are responsible for these impressive improvements.
By identifying the most important metric for tracking your vehicles, you can improve your business in the areas you are the most interested in such as safety, operation costs and delivery times.
Routing Data
By knowing your driver, your truck and your delivery location, you may be able to determine the most efficient route to take your driver from A to B. You may even be able to figure out which of the alternative routes is the most effective during the morning rush hour by comparison to the mid-afternoon. The problem appears when you start adding more drivers, trucks and routes, as the analysis of all incoming data can easily eat up a very large part of your time. All these incoming informational streams that enter a single system are defined as “big data.”
Your GPS tracking system is able to track the routes of all your drivers from point A to point B and to gather various types of data: fuel consumption, idle time, speed and delivery time, among many others. When analyzing this data, you may determine the shortest, the fastest or the most economic route from A to B.
This information can help you plan the routes for each day in the way that works best for your company. You may want to make the most deliveries possible, to save as much fuel as possible, or to find the best mix between the two. This calculation implies the use of many other factors such as the time of day.
This also enables you to plan and test new routes, in order to compare them with the already existing ones.
Driver Records
According to this company in Schenectady, NY-based Transfinder, GPS fleet tracking software can do a lot more than tracking the movement and the routes of your fleet; it can also allow you to monitor, schedule and assess your drivers in a very effective manner.
Time and attendance: The system can determine the time when your drivers start and end their delivery routes, and how long they are sitting idle, sleeping or simply pulling over. You can compare the collected data to your drivers’ timesheets, in order to determine how accurately they report their hours. You can then adjust your processes in order to ensure accurate pay for all your employees. This will enable your business to avoid losing money to time fraud.
Driver efficiency: You can use this data to find out who are your most productive drivers. This type of assessment is very difficult to do is the absence of the big data provided by your tracking software. You shouldn’t make a confusion between the efficiency of your drivers and the efficiency of their assigned routes. Your software can help you identify your drivers’ performance with an excellent accuracy, regardless their assigned routes.
Fuel Usage
As mentioned above, monitoring the fuel usage is important, especially when you have to face the rising of gas prices. Your fuel economy is influenced by several factors: the physical efficiency of your trucks, the driving style of your employees, and the quality of your selected routes. Each of these elements will have an impact on your overall fuel usage and costs.
These being said, improving your route planning processes and the behavior of your drivers can help you save money on fuel. When your fuel economy doesn’t increase despite your efforts, you should have your vehicle’s assessed for maintenance and repairs. This is how your fleet tracking software can help improving or even replacing your CMMS software tool.
The fleet tracking software uses extensive data. It is impossible to attempt the same type of analyses by using manual spreadsheets, unless your fleet consists of one single vehicle. Make sure your software identifies the right route, driver and fuel consumption, in order to improve the processes of your business.
