When it comes to running a business, every penny saved counts. That’s why it makes sense to look at every aspect of your business and see where you can save money. In this guide, we’ll show you how to cut costs on your fleet vehicle expenses by looking at different ways in which you can manage the vehicles that are used for work.
Take A Look At Your Current Fleet
The first step to managing your fleet is to take a look at what you have. A good place to start is by reviewing your current fleet. How many vehicles do you currently own? What type of vehicles do they consist of? What is the average mileage per vehicle and average costs per vehicle? Do you have any vehicles that are underutilised, or could be sold off for better usage elsewhere in your business?
What Type Of Vehicles Do You Need?
“The first step in calculating your ideal fleet size is to determine what type of vehicle you need.”
The most common vehicle types used in the industry include:
- Commercial passenger cars like taxi rentals (sedans, vans and SUVs)
- Light trucks (pick-up trucks with small bed size)
- Vans (with or without windows)
- Medium-duty trucks (all-purpose cargo vans that can carry larger loads
Once you’ve made this decision, it’s time to consider the age of each vehicle in your fleet. Typically speaking, newer vehicles are more efficient than older ones because they have more modern features like better aerodynamics and lower rolling resistance tires. These features allow them to use less fuel per mile driven—and that saves money over time!
Route Optimisation And Customer-based Scheduling
Route optimisation can help you choose the best route that in turn saves time, money and labour costs.
Customer-based scheduling helps in minimal delays elevates task completion speeds and helps in generating more revenue, at lower operational costs.
Driver behaviour monitoring also helps in saving more for your business. When a driver doesn’t speed unnecessarily and doesn’t indulge in rash driving, or excessive idling, all this amounts to better savings for the fleet business.
Fuel Efficiency
If you’re looking to reduce your fleet costs, it’s important to know the numbers. Fuel efficiency is the ratio of gallons burned per kilometre driven. That is, how many kilometres can be travelled with a given amount of fuel. In other words, it’s how efficiently your vehicles use their fuel.
Fuel consumption is another term used interchangeably with “fuel efficiency.” While they both refer to how much fuel is used per distance travelled, they’re slightly different—consumption refers specifically to the amount of time each vehicle requires for refuelling, whereas efficiency takes into account not just the time required but also how far a vehicle travels per litre of fuel consumed during that period.
The two terms aren’t exactly opposite or opposed; rather than one being better than another at what they do individually, together they form an equation where one plus one equals three: more kilometres per litre means less money spent on fuel—and therefore less money spent overall on running your fleet!
Investing In A Fleet Management Software
If you’re looking to save on fleet costs, there’s no better place to start than with a fleet management software. This is an application that automatically logs data about your vehicles and makes it easier for you to manage everything from maintenance schedules to driver behaviour. Here’s how it works:
The thing that makes a fleet management software so useful is its ability to collect information about your vehicle and then present it back in a way that helps you make informed decisions. You can see where each vehicle has been driven, when they were driven there, and whether the driver arrived on time (or at all).
The software will also tell you which vehicles require servicing and what needs repairing now or soon—all this information is presented in an easy-to-read format where no detail goes unnoticed.
Getting Better Insurance Premiums
To get better insurance premiums, you need to reduce the risk of accidents and damages to your fleet. This means taking steps to reduce the chances of accidents occurring in the first place.
Examples of how you can reduce risk include:
- Driver training programs for new drivers – whether they’re new hires or promoted from within your company, it’s important that all drivers receive sufficient training on how to drive safely. This will help them avoid risky behaviours such as texting while driving or speeding through intersections.
- Preventative maintenance programs – having regular maintenance checks done on vehicles can prevent issues like worn tires before they become too dangerous for drivers or passengers in case an accident occurs.
Utilising Driver And Vehicle Monitoring Systems
Driver and vehicle monitoring systems are used to identify driver behaviour and vehicle performance. This allows fleet managers to spot any issues early, allowing them to take preventative measures before they become major problems. Some of these systems can also assist with driver training, allowing drivers to be assessed on their skills and abilities.
Driver behavioural analysis provides information on the actions that cause accidents or near-misses in order to help understand how each individual driver performs in certain situations. This can include information on speed, distances between vehicles and braking times as well as other important factors such as how close you drive alongside other vehicles or whether your eyesight is impaired by glare from headlights at night time driving conditions (see below).
Monitoring systems have been shown to improve vehicle maintenance significantly by highlighting specific wear points before they become critical issues which could result in a breakdown whilst out on the road leading up towards an accident situation – making both yourself safe from harm but also protecting those around you too!
Data Analysis And Reporting
Data analysis is crucial to understanding where your fleet spends its time and money. If a driver spends a lot of time on the road, you might want to analyze whether you are spending too much on tires or if there are other ways to save money.
Here’s how you can start analyzing your data:
- Collecting information about vehicle usage: When you start collecting data about vehicle usage, it will help you understand where your vehicles are going and how much they are used at certain times. For example, if one of your drivers often drives between two points during rush hour traffic in Los Angeles but never during off-peak hours, this could mean that they need an alternate route or better way of getting around traffic congestion.
- Categorizing the information by type: It’s also important that all of the information collected has been categorized correctly so that it makes sense when presented as part of an analysis report later on down the line! This may involve some trial-and-error before coming up with something usable so don’t be afraid if things don’t work out first time around!
Automating Fleet Vehicle Maintenance
Automating vehicle maintenance is a great way to save money on fleet costs. Automation means that you can set up an automatic system for your vehicles to perform regular maintenance or inspections, rather than having to rely on employees and managers doing it manually. A well-maintained vehicle breaks down lesser, tends to consume lesser fuel and stays operational with limited idling times. All this amounts to more savings for the fleet business, as expected.
To Conclude…
By implementing some or all of the above tips, you can reduce your fleet costs and maximise your profits. The key is finding a good balance between cost savings and quality of service for your customers.
