Why is fuel management so important for fleet owners?

Improve the fuel efficiency of your fleet and reduce operational costs

Fuel management is a critical business process and highly valuable for fleets. We continue to see a growing number of fleets embracing telematics as a way to help improve the operational efficiency of their business. Telematics can allow fleet operators to monitor driver behaviour, help drivers reduce fuel consumption by maximising their efficiency and tracking excessive idle time, and provide dynamic routing to optimise productivity which reduces overall fuel expenditures. Here we’ll outline  several ways that a fuel management system can help significantly improve the fuel efficiency of your fleet.

Fuel consumption

Fuel consumption is one of the key metrics for businesses to measure that it is operating efficiently. This can be calculated by using a combination of engine-reported fuel data, imported fuel card data, and the GPS-calculated travel distance. A telematics device can be installed in a vehicle in order to calculate the fuel used during a trip, giving fleets a better idea of how much fuel each vehicle is consuming over the course of a shift.

Identify fuel level

From what we have seen in the Southeast Asian markets, the lack of fuel consumption data from a wide range of vehicles is common. Vehicles may not support the total fuel used diagnostic since not all engine computers provide this information needed to calculate all fuel consumption and fill-ups. Based on our installed base, more than 50% of the vehicles fall into this category. This has inevitably become a pain point for businesses. Fleet operators do not have visibility into trends on fuel usage and fill-ups. Geotab's fuel gauge tap-in harness that can solve this critical problem by providing insights to the fuel level using fuel fill-ups transaction records. This solution is compatible with a range of vehicles now and will continue to expand further. 

Fuel theft prevention

Fuel theft continues to be a major concern for fleets. With the ability to provide fuel data insights, business owners or fleet managers can timely identify any discrepancies or unusual patterns that may indicate theft. With regular monitoring of fuel consumption and a reliable fuel tracking system, reducing fuel costs can simply be achieved by preventing fuel theft.

Improve driver behaviour

One of the key contributors to increased fuel consumption is due to unwanted driving behaviours, such as excessive speeding, rapid acceleration, harsh braking, cornering and unnecessary idling. Geotab telematics solution provides data and promotes fuel-efficient driving behaviours with driver coaching tools from the Geotab Marketplace. 

Route planning and optimisation

Congestion and traffic in cities does take a significant toll on fleet operations and will continue to be a major pain point as more people go to live and work there. With a route planning tool, you can achieve maximum productivity by saving on travel time and reducing fuel consumption by using the “Optimise” button to make your route more efficient. To meet the diverse needs of our customers, Geotab’s Marketplace Partners offer a wide range of dispatch and routing solutions that extend the routing and optimization solution.

Fleet management software

By connecting to the Geotab platform, you have visibility into trends on fuel consumption and fill-ups, plus access to critical engine data for proactive vehicle maintenance. You can set fuel management rules and notifications to proactively manage fuel-inefficient behaviours, identify areas of fuel wastage and take corrective actions to address the problem.

Fuel is a major operating cost for fleets. With insights into your fleet performance, it allows you to make better planning decisions to be more sustainable and reduce fuel costs. The overall business operating cost will be reduced, from lower fuel costs to reduced maintenance bills, improved vehicle health and greater service productivity.

Want to learn more? Find out more about our fuel management solution by scheduling a demo.