Navigating vehicle overheads

Fuel cards, roadside services and the latest GPS technology all provide opportunities for business owners to save cash and time while running their company vehicles.  

Few businesses can afford or indeed have need of a fleet manager, other than those in the transport business. So with vehicle management an ever-growing cost, despite the collapse of oil prices, companies are turning to service providers and technology to lift the burden and turn what was a chore into a productivity tool and business information source.

Fuel cards have been around for many years but now as competition in the fuel market bubbles through, innovations are causing business owners to sit up and take notice of the benefits they can enjoy in managing fleet and fuel costs.

BP, a partner retailer with AA Smartfuel Card, is a good example of this. The company is already integrating digital technology to provide business owners “with information on fuel use and spend in a quicker, easier and more accessible way, empowering them to make decisions”.

“In a fast-paced, fragmented global marketplace where SME owners already have a million and one things to worry about, it is essential to have good business tools which help make things easier and ensure the smooth running of your business,” says Jonty Mills, BP New Zealand’s communications and external affairs manager.

“A fuel card may not seem like an obvious tool, but is one that can empower SME owners to understand fuel consumption patterns and make informed and intelligent decisions, while managing their cashflow and creating a more flexible system for their staff.

“As the price of fuel fluctuates, and especially when international oil and currency markets combine in a double whammy, it’s important to drill down and really understand your fleet spend, so you can tightly control your business costs.

“Fuel cards are a type of ‘deferred payment scheme’, allowing you and your staff to fillup anytime, and delay paying for a month. Being able to control and predict what these payments will be, and when you’ll need to pay them, will give you a good oversight and handle on your monthly outgoings, and assist with cashflow management.

“Being able to control where your drivers fill-up can also help control costs,” says Mills. “We have an established fuel card product, which provides account holders with a discount based on their projected spending patterns.

“BP goes one step further, allowing customers to place a nominated purchase limit on their fuel cards. This means you can easily estimate your monthly spend. This can be invaluable for SME owners, and is also a great tool for monitoring fraud on your account and preventing unauthorised transactions.”

A complementary online service like BP Fuelcard Online also collates this data into numerous reports, adds Mills, so you can have the information at your fingertips, presented in a meaningful way. “This allows you to really drill down into your fleet spend – as vehicles can be ranked by usage and fuel consumption, by cost centre and actual expenditure versus budget.”

Additionally, this online card provides ‘how to’ documents and video tutorials to get the most out of your fuel card and your online account.

“We are working hard to deliver further innovations in this market, specifically personalised to individual customers and business owners. We also have some exciting things in the pipeline,” says Mills.

Refuelling times two
BP has over a number of years used the lure of a quality cup of coffee to top up your tank, and it is clearly working with their Wild Bean Cafés. You could call it a sub-brand – scooping the top honours in the CANSTAR Blue consumer satisfaction survey for the past two years.

“Your employees can ‘refuel themselves’ at the same time as they’re filling up their car, maximising efficiency and making their lives easier,” suggests Mills.

BP Fuelcard also allows diesel vehicle drivers to purchase their Road User Charges from 25 of its truck stops and at 66 of the company’s 360 retail sites across the country.

Reducing fuel costs with GPS tracking
Taking up the theme of businesses needing to improve efficiency and cost control being crucial to surviving and thriving is Navman Wireless’s director of sales Australasia, Steve Bowden.

“It goes without saying, fleet owners – even small ones – know how tight and competitive the market is. The good news is many SMEs are implementing GPS fleet-tracking to reduce fuel costs, through better route planning and better driver behaviour; and to improve fleet servicing and maintenance to prolong vehicle life and reduce repair costs.

“Using a GPS tracking system to get to your destination the quickest way gives drivers and dispatchers a fast, efficient way to plan their daily routes. The system allows for route optimisation (the shortest distance and the fastest time on multi-stop routes) saving time and money and ultimately improving the fuel efficiency of your fleet,” says Bowden.

He cites as an example a Christchurch plumbing firm using GPS tracking to coordinate jobs; because dispatch is aware of the locations of the staff they can see who is best-placed to attend a job and schedule jobs to avoid sending a driver from A to B, and back to A again.

The other drain on fuel consumption is idling.

“Careful monitoring of idle times saves litres of fuel each hour. GPS tracking systems measure engine idling by lack of movement combined with sensors connected to oil pressure switches or other machine components. The resulting reports document idle start-and-end times, duration and location for each vehicle. Excessive idling may indicate that a vehicle is underutilised, and that the business is being run inefficiently,” Bowden says.

An Auckland heat-pump installation firm found drivers were leaving engines idling while eating lunch to charge their mobile phones. A quick conversation solved that problem. Driver behaviour monitoring has moved on from the vehicle having a phone number on the back and wasting time proving who was driving the vehicle at the time.
“Identifying driver behaviour which wastes fuel or is unsafe allows managers to reduce fuel costs and improve safety,” says Bowden. “GPS vehicle tracking can show behaviour such as speeding, harsh braking, high engine RPMs and other poor driving habits.

“You can use the system to analyse driver behaviour across your fleet, then set benchmarks for improvement. It also empowers you to identify areas for improvement for individual drivers and show them the impact of their behaviour on fuel consumption.”

Better maintenance and monitoring
Better maintenance scheduling has been a surprise perk of GPS tracking.

“GPS tracking systems help manage maintenance schedules, which improve vehicle performance,” says Bowden. “A poorly-serviced engine can use up to 50 percent more fuel, highlighting the importance of up-to-date maintenance and servicing. This also reduces unnecessary wear-and-tear and identifies mechanical issues before they cause unexpected downtime.

“Our system allows you to keep accurate maintenance records and to schedule preventive maintenance through pre-set alerts.”

Bowden says one Northland concrete company uses its tracking system to schedule servicing; the regular six-monthly Certificate of Fitness (CoF) checks to ensure a vehicle meets required safety standards; and registration for all their vehicles.

“That saves time as they don’t have to run around checking the individual trucks to see when they next need attention,” he says.

Snitch Inc. is another Kiwi success story linked to the use of GPS technology. It has been developing innovative technology for monitoring vehicles since 2005, with its reporting systems and fleet management reminder systems. In 2010 the company was successful in winning the Unitec Innovation in Business Award at the Westpac Waitakere Business Awards.

Snitch operations manager Peter McLean says they’ve grown a great deal since then.

“We have recently updated and upgraded the platform to incorporate the latest technology available, to ensure our customers obtain the most accurate monitoring possible.
“We have also managed to keep the system easy-to-use, for quick-to-find and no-fuss information and reports. Basically we offer 15 types of reporting which can be set up as scheduled reports, automatically emailed to you. These can be set to daily, weekly or monthly intervals.

“The reporting includes time on-site, off-road mileage, and exports raw data as a CSV report (comma separated values, which allows data to be saved in a table structure), as well as many other helpful offerings for managing your business.

“A ‘geo fencing’ capability will give alerts when vehicles are entering and exiting specified areas such as addresses, suburbs or cities. You are also able to capture time-on-site reports for any ‘geo fenced’ area; the perfect answer for any billing or customer queries,” McLean says.

Their mapping capability shows vehicles in ‘real time’, updating every 30 seconds or 200 metres.

“Our revolutionary ‘true path tracking’ feature measures live data and allows you to see the vehicle’s history in sophisticated detail and accuracy, not offered on other platforms,” adds McLean.

“The service is web-based, so no downloads onto your computer are necessary. You can access via any computer with an Internet connection, with your own secure password. This is ideal for when you are away from the office or even out of the country. Connecting via an Android and iPhone free app gives you additional visibility while on the run.”

“The focus of our development of our system has always been on keeping you in touch with your fleet, so as to reduce operating costs; provide accurate billing of field staff; and resolve customer and operational queries, accurately and promptly.”

Snitch Inc provides installation and full training throughout the country.

“We appreciate cost is a significant factor when deciding to move to GPS tracking. However, once you have experienced the advantages of encouraging accountability in your staff, the cost-saving in fuel, along with knowing where your fleet is in real-time, plus the reporting, reminders and alerts, the investment will be well-regarded and rewarding,” says McLean.