Proper fleet management can help cut fleet costs

One of the top priorities for businesses and fleet managers is to reduce the operational costs of day-to-day activities. To achieve this, more and more companies are choosing      a GPS fleet management solution that allows them to collect vehicle activity information and analyse it to help reduce costs. 

The latest Fleet Technology Trends Report Australia and New Zealand 2024 reveals how companies that have implemented a GPS tracking solution have managed to reduce costs in strategic areas of day-to-day operations such as:

• Fuel consumption
• Accidents
• Labour
• Vehicle maintenance
• Insurance.

In fact, across all industries, GPS tracking users decreased fuel costs by an average of 15%. Users also saw an average decrease of 17% in accident costs and a decrease in overall labour costs of 16%. (1)

Also, users decreased vehicle maintenance costs by an average of 16%. Furthermore, participants across all industries saw an average decrease of 17% in insurance costs.(2)

Download the Fleet Technology Trends Report Australia and New Zealand 2024 to learn more about how good fleet management can help reduce fleet costs in the Top 5 industries.

How proper fleet management can reduce fuel costs

-Driver behaviour impacts your fuel consumption: Monitoring driver behaviour in your team is crucial. The reasons for this are clear: firstly, because of safety and secondly due to fuel efficiency. Several studies have shown the effects of aggressive driving, which includes frequent rapid acceleration and hard braking. Driving like this can increase fuel consumption by approximately 40%. (3)

-Engine idling time matters: Engine idling consumes fuel. It is therefore crucial to notice when this is happening and educate the driver to prevent it from occurring again. Also, “idling can use up to 2 litres of fuel per hour, emitting over 5.26kg of CO2.” (4) Monitoring and reducing idling can help you save fuel and reduce premature engine wear and tear.

-Fuel efficiency for your fuel economy: Measure how much poor fuel efficiency is costing you or help identify vehicles experiencing fuel efficiency issues. Efficiency is displayed as an overall positive or negative cost based on estimated fuel consumption and mileage attained. Poor fuel efficiency can really impact a business.

-Fuel lost by your fleet: Check the amount of fuel lost by your fleet.  With the help of a company fleet management solution, you can check whether the location of the fuel station actually matches up to the vehicle’s location at the time of purchase. And you can compare if the amount of fuel purchased exceeded the tank’s capacity. If there are any irregularities, you will be able to identify them and take action.

Proper fleet management can help reduce accident costs

-The safety score of your drivers matters: Use the Safety Score in your fleet management solution to check your drivers. This is a number between 0 and 100 that determines how safe a driver is on a daily basis. Bad driving habits lower this score. 

The score is calculated based on various factors, including the number of moderate and severe events like:

• Harsh accelerating
• Hard braking 
• Harsh cornering

Fleet managers can analyse a driver’s behaviour and determine where the areas of improvement are, promote a safe driving culture and boost efficient driving across the team.

-Speeding is unsafe for your drivers and vehicles: Speeding is a key      cause of road accidents. In fact, “driver speed was a factor in 32% of fatal crashes, 20% of serious injury crashes and 16% of minor injury crashes in New Zealand between 2019 and 2021”. (5) Set up alerts in your company fleet management solution to know when speeding occured and take action to promote a safe driving culture across your team. 

Proper fleet management can reduce labour costs

-Overview of completed tasks: Remotely monitor your team to know when they arrive at the customer’s destination or are setting off to the next place as well as the time spent completing a task or service, and have a clear overview of what’s going on.

-Route optimisation for your team: Optimise your team’s routes to make the journeys quick and safe so you can better organise your team’s work time so they attend to more customers and spend less time on the road. According to our latest research, 49% of businesses have improved productivity since implementing a GPS tracking solution.

Download the Fleet Technology Trends Report Australia and New Zealand 2024 to learn more about how good fleet management can help improve team productivity.

Proper fleet management can help improve vehicle maintenance

-Control predictive maintenance of your fleet: This type of maintenance relies on predicting when equipment or assets will need servicing based on a set of predetermined parameters. These parameters are continuously monitored via sensors. Near real-time data provided by the sensors trigger an alert that maintenance is needed when a specific parameter, or condition, has been met. With this information, fleet managers can take action and plan the required maintenance, avoiding any spontaneous disruptions. 

-Schedule preventive maintenance for all your fleet vehicles: Plan an effective regular-schedule process for routine updates (oil changes, tyre rotations, engine check-ups) of all your vehicles. This type of maintenance is crucial for managing the health of all fleet vehicles.

Proper fleet management can lower insurance costs

Pay less vehicle insurance: Implementing a GPS tracking solution can help you get lower insurance for your vehicles. Many insurance companies appreciate that your company uses this kind of technology and will quote you a lower insurance price.  

According to the Fleet Technology Trends Report Australia and New Zealand, participants across all industries saw an average 17% decrease in insurance costs since implementing a GPS fleet management solution in their company. 

Find out how telematics can help your business. Download the Fleet Technology Trends Report Australia and New Zealand.

Sources: 

(1-2) New FTR AU- NZ 2024

(3) https://sgi.sk.ca/documents/37148/138037/drivers_handbook.pdf/cdd760de-a90c-401e-9a5e-f2d60b4041e2

(4) https://changing-transport.org/strategies-reduce-unnecessary-engine-idling/

(5) https://www.transport.govt.nz/statistics-and-insights/safety-annual-statistics/sheet/speed