Managing any fleet is challenging. When you make the most of a fleet of hybrid electric vehicles, or HEVs, you face new challenges for your fleet. Fortunately, GPS fleet management and tracking can help with many of these challenges to help you oversee your evolving fleet management needs. Here’s what you need to know about GPS tracking for HEVs.

What are Hybrid Electric Vehicles?

Hybrid electric vehicles are vehicles that are powered by gasoline and electricity. The braking system in the car serves to recharge the battery, a process called regenerative braking. These vehicles do not need to be “plugged in” to recharge which sets them apart from the other electric vehicles on the market.

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If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, you should consider one that has active safety systems. These days, manufacturers are creating vehicles with systems that could help you mitigate or avoid an accident in all different types of situations like backing out in a busy parking lot, changing lanes into an undetected vehicle in your blind spot or closing in on another vehicle too fast.

Some main active safety systems are:

1. Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB): Detects possible accidents while traveling forward, offers forward crash warning and applies the brakes automatically to lessen or avoid the severity of the crash. Certain systems also include object or pedestrian detection.
2. Forward crash Warning (FCW): Detects impending crashes while traveling forward and will alert the driver. Certain systems include object or pedestrian detection.
3. High-Speed Automatic Emergency Braking (HAEB): The brakes are applied automatically to decrease the severity of crash when traveling at highway speeds.
4. City Automatic Emergency Braking (CAEB): The brakes are applied automatically to reduce the severity of a crash or prevent a crash when traveling at city speed.
5. Lane Departure Warning (LDW): Monitors the position of your vehicle within the driving lane and will alert the driver as the vehicle crosses or approaches lane markers.
6. Pedestrian Detection (PD): Detects pedestrians, then will provide a warning as well as trigger emergency braking automatically, if needed. Certain systems can also detect cyclists.
7. Lane Keeping Assistance (LKA): Helps to keep the vehicle within t
8. he driving lane by assisting with steering.
9. Blind Spot Warning (BSW): Will detect any vehicles to rear in adjacent lanes while you drive and alert you to their presence.
10. Rear Automatic Emergency Braking (REAR AEB): Will detect possible crash while traveling in reverse and apply the brakes automatically to lessen the severity of or avoid impact. Certain systems offer object or pedestrian detection.
11. Rear Cross Traffic Warning (RCTW): Will detect vehicles approaching from the rear and side of your vehicle while traveling in reverse and will alert you.

Each manufacturer will have their own offering of these active safety systems and their own terms. To help interpret each manufacturer’s offerings, Consumer Reports compiled a table showing the available advanced systems and features with certain common names.

You might not realize this, but GPS tracking could also be a safety feature, especially with teenage drivers with harsh braking and speeding alerts. GPS tracking can also benefit fleet management as well since it alerts fleet managers of poor fleet driving behaviors, which include the same harsh braking and speeding, along with excessive idling.

According to AAA, you’ll find no relief at the gas pumps these days. Prices of gas are rising continuously across the United States. In fact, $2.77 a gallon is the national average price for gas which went up five cents since last week. The average about a year ago was $2.39 a gallon and the average in New York State is about $2.83 a gallon; also up five cents from the following week. AAA says the rising gas prices are because of increasing crude prices, a tightening of gas supplies,  and an increase in gas demand.

Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy analyst, debated that the pump price is skyrocketing because of not just increased demand, but also because the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) isn’t opening the spigot.

How Fleets Can Reduce Fuel Costs

Today, most truck fleets aren’t using a fuel purchase optimization system, despite diesel rising past $3.00 a gallon in certain locations. Believe it or not, saving just a few more pennies on fuel each day here and there can really quickly add up. There are also steps you can take as a fleet manager to help reduce fuel costs, including:

1. Teach and Enforce Fuel-Efficient Driving Behaviors

When it comes to fuel efficiency, your driver’s driving behaviors cost more than you might realize. Safe drivers following the road rules who don’t speed and avoid aggressive driving behavior will save your fleet business a lot of money in terms of fuel costs. It might take some time to ingrain these good driving behaviors that will net the biggest savings. But it worth doing it.

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