A Q&A with Santa, and Fleet Manager Mrs Claus, of North Pole Inc
When margins are tight, running an efficient fleet is an essential way to boost your company's bottom line. And thanks to recent advances made in vehicle telematics you can have the information you need to help maximise fleet efficiency.
Vehicle telematics systems now provide a wealth of data about each vehicle in your fleet and the drivers using them; it's amongst this data that you'll find areas of inefficiency and opportunities to reduce costs.
So how do you take this data and turn it into tangible results?
Well, we've put together some practical advice - that you could implement today - to help you take the data from your vehicle telematics system and make sure you see greater efficiencies and stronger business results.
Benchmarking & Setting Targets
Benchmarking is the process of comparing your company against others, across sectors and locations, to gain information on performance, practices, and measures that will help you take action to improve your company's own performance. Comparing yourself against industry benchmarks will give you an idea of where you really stand compared to your industry peers as well as a sense of the scale of potential improvements.
While there are a number of companies that will provide sector specific benchmarking information a good place to start for any logistics company is the Welsh Government's Freight Best Practice website. Formerly run by the DfT this site has a wealth of information about benchmarking.
Improving Driver Performance
When it comes to your fleet, driver behaviour is among the biggest cost management challenges that you'll face. That's because other than the type of vehicle used, the driver is the single biggest factor affecting both fuel costs and wear & tear of the vehicle.
But with the right telematic system, you can easily measure, for every vehicle and every driver, the factors which directly affect fuel consumption and wear & tear. Using this data you can identify opportunities for improvement as and when they happen and correct any bad habits.
Sharing this information with your drivers during their debrief is an essential part of improving their behaviour. By using the driver's actual data you can ensure your debriefs are not only relevant to that driver but truly focussed on the areas of weakness on which the driver needs to focus.
Many businesses are already integrating their drivers' telematics data to help make their on-going driver training programmes more effective. Companies such as DSV, are driving improvements in driver safety and the their fleet's impact on the environment by combining traditional training methods and the latest telematics technology. DSV's UK Transport Manager Dave Smith says this approach has made their drivers "become far more positive about the use of telematics, recognising the benefits it can deliver to themselves as well as to the business."
Some of the latest developments in telematics have taken traditional training from the classroom and placed it in the vehicle cab. Systems such as our PPO 200 give instant feedback to drivers through heads up training aids.
What's more, the PPO-200 continually learns vehicle and driver behaviour, delivering feedback based on the knowledge it has gained. A traf???c light system indicates performance against each metric, keeping drivers aware of their performance, helping even the most experienced drivers improve their driving behaviour and achieve greater fuel efficiency,
Drive Performance with League Tables
Formulating incentive schemes that encourage efficient driving and reward top performers is a great way to gain commitment and motivate your drivers to change.
And one of the most effective schemes are driver league tables. By using tools like our Driver Scorecard Reports to create friendly competition amongst your drivers is an incredibly powerful approach.
Hopefully these three tips will help your business get the most out of its vehicle telematics system