Have you ever wondered why your fleet is losing money on fuel? The constantly rising fuel cost all over the world can be blamed for this loss. But as we have no control over the fuel price, there must be a way of cutting the expenditure on fuel somehow right? This is where a fleet management system comes in.

The fleet management software is responsible for a fleet able to cope with the changing fuel prices. But before we get into the features that aid this process, let us first understand the causes of increased fuel consumption in a fleet. 

Ways a Vehicle Wastes Fuel

The fuel consumption of a vehicle is directly related to the activities of said vehicle. Higher pressure on the engine? Higher will be its fuel expenditure. Some common ways this can occur are: 

Over Speeding

Speeding a vehicle without a reason causes immense pressure on its engine. This can lead to both engine health deterioration and increased fuel utilisation. This is because when running above its optimal speed, the engine of the vehicle is forced to work faster than ideal. This operation requires extra energy. To meet this need, the vehicle burns excessive fuel and ultimately wastes fuel. Such wastage can be easily avoided by maintaining an optimal speed on the road. 

Route Deviation

Taking longer routes for covering halts in the presence of better and more efficient alternatives is a wasteful practice. This deviation can occur due to many reasons like roadblocks or weather conditions. But when the cause behind such acts is the leisure of the driver, it becomes a burdening cost that could have been easily dodged.

Idling

Idling is the act of keeping the engine of a vehicle running even when the vehicle in question is in a stationary position. This means the fuel used to keep the vehicle working goes to waste without any output. Idling can also deteriorate the engine health of a vehicle, ultimately causing it to consume more fuel as it accumulates more wear and tear.

Unnecessary Acceleration

Accelerating a vehicle without a reason can be the leading cause of fuel wastage. Acceleration consumes a significant amount of fuel. When a driver keeps on forcing the vehicle to change speed, the engine has to take the brunt of this action. Along with higher fuel consumption, such acts can also hit a fleet’s budget by increasing their vehicle turnover.

Ignored Maintenance

The health of a vehicle directly impacts its fuel consumption. An automobile in good condition will consume an ideal amount of fuel. But a vehicle with deteriorated health will be forced to burn more fuel for functioning. This can be the major cause of loss for a fleet that is responsible for not one, but hundreds of vehicles at the same time. 

How Can Fleet Management Systems Help?

The fleet management system has many solutions specially crafted to reduce the fuel consumption of the fleet The features that can help fleet businesses cut down their fuel consumption are: 

Dynamic Solutions

Solutions offered by a fleet management system are designed to help fleet businesses cut down their fuel cost. These include: 

• Fuel Management: This solution helps managers monitor their vehicle’s fuel level in real time. Managers can thus plan their tasks according to on road performance. This means drivers will pay special attention to their fuel usage.
• Route Planning: This solution allows managers to enter their required halts and sequences and it helps them come up with the best suited trip. Thus, managers can select routes that are not only faster but also more economical. 
• Driver Behaviour Monitoring: In order to optimise their driver’s on road activities, managers can use these solutions. It lets them know every time the driver over speeds, corners harshly, idles, accelerates unnecessarily, or brakes abruptly. This helps cut down their fuel consumption as engine depreciation rate is slowed down.
• Video Telematics: This solution aims to reduce any instance of distracted driving on the road. It sends managers visual evidence to managers captured via the dashcams integrated into the vehicle. It also alerts drivers of any potential risk outside of the car like coalitions. When drivers pay attention to their on-road activities, they also make a conscious effort to reduce their fuel consumption.

Servicing and Maintenance

A well-maintained vehicle is bound to consume less fuel than one that needs maintenance. For a fleet with many vehicles, this is an important aspect to look into. This is why the servicing and maintenance feature of the fleet management system allows managers to schedule their vehicles’ checkup procedures. 

Whenever a vehicle is nearing its due check-up, the system alerts the manager. This means they can get time to make necessary arrangements. This feature also means that managers can detect any fault that might be leading to either fuel wastage or leakage at an early stage.

Reports

The system generates reports highlighting the fleet’s operations. They make analyses based on the data collected over a set period of time, highlighting the pain points of a fleet. Managers can, therefore, use these reports to optimise the way their fleet functions, working on any part that is lacking. 

Fuel consumption is also a part of the collected data. The reports generated under fuel management solution deduce analysis on any fuel functioning that might be cursing them to waste fuel. 

Alerts

Every solution of the fleet management software offers managers a wide array of customisable alerts. These alerts aim to let managers know if any driver while on the road, is indulging in fuel-wasteful activities. Some of the commonly used alerts provided by the software are:

• Driving Practices: As we discussed above, the alerts generated by the driver's behaviour can help the business regulate its fleet’s fuel consumption. It stops all major damage done to the engine due to driving habits. This means that the engine incurs less damage, thus consuming less fuel.
• Route Deviation: This alert goes off every time a driver moves away from their designated path. The practice of route deviation can be harmful to a fleet trying to preserve fuel. Routes assigned to most drivers are selected in a way that ensures that the fleets do not waste any more fuel on their trips than necessary. 
• Drainage/Refill Alerts: These alerts inform managers every time a fuel tank is filled or emptied out rapidly. Thus it helps detect any drainage or act of pilferage. This helps fleets save a lot of fuel.
• Distracted Driving: The video telematics solution alerts managers every time a driver is not attentive on the road. This means the vehicle is driven ethically and thus consumes less fuel as well.

Conclusion

Your fuel consumption can be a huge factor in determining whether the fleet will be profitable or not. With constantly fluctuating fuel prices, regulating fuel consumption is the only way a fleet can keep up. This is why a fleet management system is essential for the business’s survival and productivity.

TrackoBit is the leading fleet management system that has a unique set of solutions crafted for your fleet. Not every fleet operates in the same way, and we understand that. This is why the customisable nature of this software hits the bullseye with your problems every time.