Microlise Can Help Your Fleet Save Fuel
24 October 2007
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Increased world demand for oil coupled with the introduction of higher duty rates has continued to push up prices for bulk diesel fuel contracts to over 82 pence per litre and some pump prices to over £1. For all companies involved in distribution of goods or managing a fleet of
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vehicles the increased cost could result in higher prices or reduced margins.
While Microlise fully agree with the lobby to reduce the taxation burden of fuel duty on our economy, fleet operators should not ignore the other alternative solutions available for dramatically reducing fuel consumption within the fleet.
Vehicle tracking and telematics solutions available from Microlise allows operators to measure and modify the behaviour of their drivers through training to give significant fuels savings by eliminating idling, harsh braking and ensuring the correct use of gears and cruise control.
This is borne out in companies like MAN ERF UK Limited who use a vehicle monitoring system developed with Microlise. David Midgley, General Manager for Fleet Management Solutions commented, "Over the years at MAN we have seen many examples of customers cutting their fuel costs through the use of our Fleet Management vehicle reporting systems and our ProfiDrive driver training programs. On average we see a 14% improvement in fuel economy when correct driving techniques are used, By monitoring driver performance through our Trucknology website these savings can be maintained so that increased fuel prices do not have to lead to increased fuel spend"
Richard Conneely, Head of Transport Solutions at Wincanton also commented, "Wincanton are continually seeking ways to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the business. A significant proportion of our annual budget is dedicated to fuel and we are always looking for methods to improve fuel consumption, efficiency and to reduce the total amount of miles travelled. Wincanton have been working with Microlise to introduce new & innovative systems that help us to monitor our efficiency and performance. We have measured over 6% improvement in driver productivity and fuel consumption has shown immediate improvements of 4% on our vehicles fitted with telematics.
To help with this, the latest version of KPI Reports available within the Microlise portfolio of solutions provides Fleet Managers with an invaluable tool to dramatically reduce fuel consumption within their vehicle fleet. A sophisticated fuel consumption report is available which not only ranks individual or groups of drivers against the average fuel consumption for the organisation, but also shows longer term trends to indicate if individual performance is improving or declining. The report automatically determines how much of a route is urban or highway based on average speed and results can be viewed on groups of drivers (e.g. vehicle type, route type or branch location) or on individual drivers. The results clearly highlight any anomalies from the norm which can then be further investigated for either repair of vehicle fault or driver performance training.