Private fleet operators today are under pressure like never before to control prices. A nationwide shortage of drivers has made it difficult to find experienced employees. While at the exact same time, economic growth has increased the requirement. Because of this, companies are often understaffed. This combination of factors means managers are being forced to pay more for qualified drivers. Add rising gas costs, and it is easy to see why prices are on the increase.
Executives understand that something has to be done to control transport spend, but most have already pulled the reins in tight. They are now searching for new ways to deal with the problem. For businesses that operate in large volume local pickup and delivery environments, the response may be fleet management. Great investments always pay for themselves, and with fleet management applications, payback can come fast. Think about a typical situation for a distributor with 30 trucks. On most days, all vehicles are in use, each making about 18 stops daily, and travel 100 miles. Average fuel consumption is just seven mph. Drivers are paid 15 per hour, plus time and a half for overtime. On any given day, about one-third of those excursions run over eight hours.
With diesel at 2.90 a gallon, this provider is spending over 6,200 per week on fuel. This works out to over 30,000 each year. That is just another 87,500 each year. A savings of 117,000 is Substantial, and should be sufficient to warrant investigating fleet market program. But the most innovative fleet management systems go one step further, taking vehicles off the street. Generally, a fully optimized strategy requires fewer trucks, or even on all days, at least some. Simply reducing fleet requirements by a single vehicle twice a week generates a savings of 322 as well as reducing risk. That is just another 16,700 dollars per year, for a total of over 133,500. These are conservative numbers. Savings for a 30 vehicle fleet could be well over 150,000.
