Fuel is primarily the biggest expense while running a fleet business and even though fluctuating fuel prices might not be worrisome for most companies in this sector, tracking fuel usage and ways to lower and optimise fuel consumption is something that the fleet manager or a fleet business should prioritise over everything else.
How Much Does Fuel Eat Into Your Regular Fleet Expenditure?
With a majority of expense to keep a fleet business afloat assigned to fuel usage, every business should gain means to control and visualise fuel usage data and ways to optimise and reduce fuel consumption on a regular basis.
The Challenge Of Collecting Fuel Usage Data Manually
Back in the day, collecting fuel usage data for fleet vehicles used to be all about monitoring the number of kilometres travelled by the vehicle and comparing it to the number of fuel receipts produced. This good old method has its fair share of problems by being time-consuming and also being susceptible to human error. The human error part can be highlighted in drivers or fleet managers crunching down numbers on a sheet incorrectly from time to time.
“Such errors lead to miscalculations in forecasting fuel usage, especially when a business is trying to allocate resources based on in-house budgeting.”
Both overestimating or underestimating the allocated budget for fuel usage can lead to a negative impact on the bottom line in the long haul of things. To overcome such a scenario, the implementation of a fleet management system is essential and imperative for any fleet business.
A fleet management system can also educate a fleet manager about vehicle health, track excessive engine idling, harsh driving and regular routes taken.
When all these factors are weighed in and analysed together, all this data can be used to deduce a solution in which fuel consumption can be optimised for active fleet vehicles. A vehicle tracker with real-time GPS tracking can allow fleet managers to regulate driver behaviour through automated alerts and customised notifications.
For instance, if a fleet manager sets a threshold for driving 10 kms\hour over the speed limit for more than a minute, an automated notification is sent to the fleet manager when this condition is met, with regards to a driver who is exceeding the speed limit or driving harshly while on the road.
Using this data, the driver can be educated about safer driving techniques and how more fuel can be conserved by changing the driving style. All this amounts to huge fuel savings in the long run.
Keeping Fuel Usage In Check By Using Fleet Management Software
Fuel usage data is essential to boost profits and achieve more savings. By implementing fleet management software, a fleet manager or business can gain accurate insights to have more control on daily operations and fleet running costs.
Linxio is partnered with a leading Australian fuel card provider, which is one of the most widely accepted fuel-fleet card providers in Australia to offer exclusive discounts and partner benefits. The Linxio fuel card comes with a discount on your fuel purchases, discounted administration fees, and direct integration with the Linxio software platform, allowing you to keep a centralised source for all fleet data.
With the right fleet management solution, your business is always prepared to take up tasks in random succession, make strategic changes on the go and implement solutions that generate a positive impact on your bottom line.
With technologies like real-time vehicle location updates, fuel usage tracking, temperature monitoring, custom alerts and constant customer communication, your business can do more in less time and in turn boost the overall efficiency, productivity and profitability of the business.
With Linxio, maintaining your fleet vehicles is easier through our future-ready telematics solutions that offer real-time GPS tracking, geofencing alerts and notifications, digitised logbooks and better driver communication.
Discover more by giving us a call or get a 30 day free trial on all our fleet solutions.
