FEATURES OF FUEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS THAT HELP DECREASE FUEL CONSUMPTION
We can’t control the fuel price, as it is impacted by many factors such as environmental or geopolitical events, fuel duty or VAT, just to name a few. However we can control machinery and vehicles fuel efficiency, the routes that are taken or the drivers’ behavior. Modern technology has evolved and today companies with large vehicles fleets have some solutions they should take into consideration when trying to decrease their fuel costs. Fuel management systems employ various methods and technologies to monitor, track, measure, and manage the use of fuel. They enable important data collection that can show fleet managers how the fuel is used and, the most important, what actions they should take in order to increase fuel efficiency results. When considering an effective fuel management system, companies should look after some advanced technical features such as:
Vehicle tracking The vehicle tracking feature is usually GPS-based and provides information on vehicle location, direction and speed. Managers can see the real-time location of each vehicle of their fleet on a map. The information received through this feature is essential to understand and change drivers’ behavior or to re-evaluate the efficiency of the routes that are taken to specific destinations. Efficient routing means less time spent on the road and less fuel consumed.
Mechanical diagnostics It is obvious that a vehicle’s fuel consumption depends on its mechanical features. Thus, mechanical diagnostics features should provide fleet managers with information about mileage, amount of fuel in the main tank, engine alerts, battery status or tire pressure for each vehicle. For instance, poorly inflated tires impact vehicles’ fuel consumption, while reduced air pressure increases rolling resistance.
Driver management This feature should allow fleet managers to access important information about mobile employees including driving behavior, speed, and fuel consumption to reach a destination. Aggressive driving such as speeding, rapid acceleration and hard braking wastes fuel. By readjusting employees’ driving style the company can save money on both fuel and car maintenance. Fleet managers can use this feature’s data to determine which employees need further coaching for fuel consumption improvement.
Fleet lifecycle Decision models are the mechanisms that fleet owners use to decide whether they should replace a particular vehicle or equipment unit. Depending on each company’s characteristics, managers can select specific indicators that can be analyzed through the fleet lifecycle feature in order to decide the best time to replace a vehicle. This is a way to compare the operating costs of a vehicle, along with its fuel consumption impact, for the whole of its life. The key to successfully managing lifecycle components is replacing a vehicle at the optimal time. What you have to keep in mind is that fuel efficiency solutions have a great impact on your company’s budget and its further development due to cost savings opportunities and better decision-making processes supported by accurate and comprehensive data gathering.
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