7 Ways Trucking Fleets Can Cut Costs in 2018
10 Jan 2018Cutting costs is a top priority for many fleets as a new year begins — and 2018 is no exception. The more you can cut costs without sacrificing service, the bigger your profits will be at the end of the year. Below are seven changes you can make that will help you cut costs for your fleet throughout 2018 and beyond.
- Improve Vehicle Maintenance
For many fleets, vehicle maintenance is not the priority it should be. While you do take care of necessary maintenance when required, you may allow a few thousand miles to pass before you get around to it. Staying on top of maintenance will keep your fleet vehicles operating optimally conserving fuel and reducing many preventable breakdowns. Proper maintenance can also extend the lives of vehicles in your fleet saving you more money in the long-term.
- Reduce Driver Idling Times
Many fleet operators believe that fuel wasted idling isn’t the big of a deal. According to the State of Indiana, this is not the case at all. In fact, not only does idling increase vehicle maintenance needs and costs, but the current estimates are that unnecessary idling accounts for more than one billion gallons of wasted diesel each year, which amounts to more than three billion dollars annually in unnecessary fuel costs.
- Use GPS Fleet Management and fleet tracking Systems
GPS fleet management and GPS fleet tracking can help you plan more efficient routes, reduce fuel costs, and ensure that your business needs are being met (deliveries, pickups, etc.) with greater degrees of efficiency saving your company an incredible amount of money each year.
- Track and Analyze Spending
In order to effectively cut your costs in 2018, you need to know where the bulk of your money is being spent and where cuts can be made. This requires diligent tracking of expenses and earnings so that you can make appropriate cuts, consolidations, and a few important operational decisions based on facts and hard numbers.
- Increase Employee Accountability
Your drivers play vital roles in the expenses your company faces. From the way they drive, adherence to assigned routes, and even time spent taking care of personal business on your clock, when you hold drivers accountable, they take a more vested interest in staying on task and on target.
- Encourage Fuel Efficiency
This is another behavioral thing, to a degree, for drivers, but one that is necessary for business productivity and cutting costs. Encourage drivers to stick to the most optimal speeds for maximum fuel efficiency, to avoid aggressive driving, and to pay attention to things like idling times, proper tire inflation, and other issues that affect fuel costs. Incentivize if you must, the savings will make up for a few bonuses along the way and instill good habits in all your drivers.
- Reduce Miles Travelled
The bottom line is that the more miles you travel, the more fuel it takes to get there. Look for ways to consolidate routes, make fewer deliveries, and reduce redundancy in coverage. This will help you cut costs in more ways than you realize throughout 2018.
These seven changes can make a dramatic difference for your bottom line in 2018. Try them out today and see what a change it makes for your trucking fleet.
Give us a call here at LiveViewGPS if you have questions about how GPS fleet tracking can cut your fleet costs in 2018. 1-888-544-0494
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