How to lower fuel costs with data and fleet management

In a recent benchmarking report from Fleetio analyzing 1 million fleet assets, fuel was purported to make up 50% of fleets’ operating budgets. That means getting a handle on your fuel costs can go a long way in controlling overall costs. The best way to do this is by collecting the right data so you can determine if and where instances of fuel cost inflation are in your operation, as well as the issues’ root causes and how to fix them. 

Some sources of inflated fuel spend include:

• Vehicle and equipment idle time
• Poor preventive maintenance practices
• Unaddressed repairs
• Inefficient routing and driver behavior
• Fuel theft 

Tracking fuel data with telematics

Telematics provides fuel-related data in real time through GPS tracking and on-board diagnostics, making it easier to pinpoint sources of inflated fuel spend. Telematics data points to help manage fuel include:

• Diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs): Whether it’s a faulty O2 sensor, worn timing components, or just a loose fuel cap, monitoring DTCs related to fuel economy can help you determine and correct asset issues early to keep your fleet operating efficiently while reducing fuel spend.
• Fuel economy and consumption: When tracking fuel consumption, it’s good practice to establish the asset’s baseline fuel economy for comparison. By comparing an asset’s baseline fuel economy against its consumption, you can determine how closely it’s performing to expectations. If the asset’s fuel economy drops below baseline, you may have an issue that needs addressing.
• Fueling location: You can use fueling location data to determine if drivers are fueling up outside their routes. There may be cases when a driver goes an extra mile or two for cheaper fuel, in which case you can pull in route data to see if the extra distance is worth the savings at the pump.

In-depth insights from fleet management software

Fleet management solutions and optimization platforms can provide a more robust picture of your fleet’s health and fuel usage. These solutions provide telematics and fuel card integrations for a consolidated source of data that allows you to cross reference an asset’s fuel spend against its inspection and maintenance compliance rates, service histories, and fuel consumption patterns. You can also surface key information like:

• Fuel spend as it relates to daily operations, including fuel used while on jobsites
• Fuel spend by operator to determine asset or fuel card misuse
• Fuel spend by asset to determine potential mechanical issues and replacement cycles

While there are different ways to accumulate fuel data for your fleet, the method you choose will help determine the amount of data you can collect, how it’s collected, and how it interplays with the rest of your fleet data to help you improve operating costs and get better control of fuel spend.