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9 Secrets to Reducing your Fleet Expenses
As a fleet owner, your day-to-day costs can quickly add up. What you don’t know is there are further hidden, expensive...
Read moreWhether it’s due to changing weather conditions, dwindling daylight hours or perhaps the end of the summer holidays, the autumnal season often sees an uptick in traffic on our roads.
And tailbacks are much more than a mere inconvenience. Delays caused by traffic can lead to service interruption, damage to reputation, increased fuel consumption and unhappy customers. So much so that congestion is estimated to cost the UK economy billions of pounds every year.
While there is nothing you can do to reduce the number of vehicles along your routes, you can take plenty of steps to keep your business moving, whatever the traffic conditions. Here are five of the most effective.
1. Combat congestion
The easiest way to combat the impact of road congestion is to avoid it wherever possible. Of course, this is not always easily done, but intelligent routing can certainly help. With fleet management technology, you can plan every route accounting for traffic and road conditions.
With a live map view and near real-time vehicle location data, you can also reroute vehicles as required to account for congestion and other delays. Add a digital tachograph solution to the mix, and you can plan driver rest breaks for periods of high congestion. This way, your drivers do not waste hours on the road covering little ground.
2. Make better plans
As the roads get busier, the last thing any fleet manager wants is drivers travelling here, there and everywhere between depots and customer sites – racking up unnecessary miles in the process. Once again, smart routing can help you make every mile count by planning site visits based on location, customer requirements, load and vehicle type and much more.
With an intelligent algorithm plotting your day’s routes, you can be confident that each driver is getting from A to B to C efficiently. So, while the occasional delay may be inevitable, optimised routing can help stop an inconvenience from becoming a significant service interruption.
3. Master proactive maintenance
When up against delays, demanding customers and rising costs, you need every part of your fleet working as it should be. And that means keeping vehicles out on the road for as long as possible.
Taking proactive steps with your maintenance schedules can help you to achieve this aim. With a fleet management solution, you can set reminders based on mileage, time and engine on hours to make sure parts are replaced in line with manufacturer recommendations. This approach also helps to reduce the chances of overlooking regular servicing and repairs.
With more vehicles in peak condition, serving your customers as they should be, you’re much better placed to mitigate the impact of delays on the road.
4. Customer service
If you can’t avoid or minimise delays, keeping your customers in the loop is the next best option. By monitoring the status and location of every driver in your fleet with a comprehensive GPS solution, you can provide accurate and timely ETAs.
Many fleets allow customers to access this information for themselves, so they can track drivers and deliveries from the depot to the door. Offering greater transparency into your service and proactive warning of delays and interruptions helps to manage expectations and reduce dissatisfaction.
5. Improve driver behaviour
If your drivers have to sit in traffic, at the very least, you can help them do so efficiently and environmentally friendly. Idling is a leading cause of increased fuel consumption, not to mention unnecessary emissions. But with the help of fleet management technology, you can be sure your drivers are keeping it in check.
By monitoring the time spent idling by each driver, you can quickly take action when you spot inefficient behaviours. With this information to hand, you can reward your best-performing drivers and incentivise others to improve. As idling reduces across your fleet, so too will fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and excess wear and tear on your vehicles.
Don’t let traffic hold you back
Whether it’s road congestion, rising fuel prices or evolving customer requirements, plenty is out of your control as a fleet manager. But while you may not be able to avoid any of the above entirely, you can certainly keep your business moving in spite of such setbacks.
Verizon Connect has a suite of applications designed to help you run your operation safely, efficiently and profitably – whatever you may be up against. Visit our solutions page to find out more. Or book a free demo to see our fleet management technology in action.
