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FUEL SAVINGS Fuel Savings with GPS G Five ways GPS vehicle tracking can reduce fuel costs BY ALISON THOMAS, MARKETING COORDINATOR FOR FLEETMATICS LOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) VEHICLE tracking has rapidly gained popularity among fleet owners as the technology becomes more affordable and easier to access. In general,GPS vehicle tracking utilizes a space-based global navigation satellite system to track time and location information of fleet vehicles. This information is then trans- mitted to a remote user who can monitor vehicle location, speed, routing, idle time, engine start up and shut down, and much more. The data can be used to improve a host of fleet manage- ment operations, including the reduction of fuel costs. According to a study by the Aberdeen Groups (a research firm that studies the effects of technology) on business, fleets with GPS tracking installed experience a 13 percent reduc- tion in fuel costs on average. Here are five proven ways fleet owners can use GPS vehi- cle tracking to help reduce fuel costs. REDUCING VEHICLE SPEED According to the U.S. Environmental Protections Agency (EPA), each 5 mph driven above the posted speed limit has the net effect of costing about 20 cents more per gallon of gas.Multiply that cost across several vehicles and you have a huge source of cost leakage. Most GPS vehicle tracking solutions provide accurate speed information about each vehicle tracked.But the best GPS solutions also include alerting features that will notify you immediately when a vehicle exceeds a set speed threshold. Brenner Oil Company ofHolland,Mich. uses a fleet of 85 vehi- cles to deliver oil to residential and commercial customers throughout western Michigan.The company installed FleetMatics GPS vehicle tracking as a way to reduce fuel costs and discovered that the system helped them keep their vehicles at fuel-efficient speeds. “The speed monitoring feature of GPS has really helped to slow the drivers down and consequently has contributed to our reduced fuel costs,” said Lisa Slade, logistics coordinator at Brenner Oil. “Drivers know I watch their speed,and I even get some calling me up to ask how fast the system says they are going.” DECREASING IDLE TIMES According to Ford Motor Co., every hour of idle time is equal to 16 MARCH 2011 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com approximately 25 miles of driving.Contrary to popular belief, the EPA states that restarting an engine uses no more fuel than 30 sec- onds of idling and has very little harmful impact on vehicle components.When drivers use their vehicles as climate control, it costs businesses money. Quality GPS tracking systems notify you when a vehicle idles for excessive periods of time, wasting fuel and being nonproduc- tive.Prior to implementing a GPS tracking system,Brenner Oil had no way of knowing whether vehicles were idling or not.With GPS installed, Mrs.Slade can run a report in a few seconds that provides a detailed account of idling time for each vehicle. “The Idling Report is the one report I use the most in our GPS system.I’m looking for anyone idling more than two hours per day,” said Mrs. Slade.“If anyone is violating that, the matter is brought up in the daily meeting.”As a result of paying close attention to the Idling Report, the company has reduced idling times by 45 min- utes per vehicle per day. IMPROVED ROUTING AND DISPATCHING Since GPS tracking allows you to know the precise location of every vehicle,dispatchers can more effectively manage routing and dispatch- ing. Dispatchers can ensure vehicles take the most direct route to any job site and can get lost drivers back on track.The best GPS fleet track-