CCJ

December 2014

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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50 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 C onsidering the amount of fuel burned by commercial vehicles, modest gains in fuel economy can add up quickly to benefit the bottom line. But despite the best efforts by truck and engine manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers to optimize fuel economy, studies show that as much as 30 percent of mpg is controlled directly by drivers. Today's advanced trucks and engines generate an enormous amount of data from various electronic control modules and sensors. Mobile fleet management sys- tems are used widely by commercial and private fleets to capture this data and create various reports and alerts regarding the performance of their vehicles and drivers. Fleet managers traditionally reviewed this information before giving drivers feedback on what they could have done differently to increase fuel efficiency. Today, this after-the-fact approach is changing with the adoption of new applications that put drivers on the front line of visibility. Many of these technologies act as a virtual driver coach to give drivers instant feedback at the moment it can help make a difference. Several technology providers now offer applications and are plan- ning more soon-to-be-released features designed to improve fuel efficiency by interfacing directly with drivers. s 0EDAL#OACH is an application de- signed to give instant feedback to drivers regarding the optimal amount of throttle input. The user interface is a digital gauge with a needle that measures the fuel flow rate to the engine. The bottom third of the gauge has a green zone that represents the fueling target – the appropriate amount of fuel for the truck at any given moment. The green zone turns to yellow in the middle and red along the top third. The objective is to keep the needle in the green; a meter on the app tracks every mile the driver is successful. The PedalCoach algorithm calculates the fueling target instantaneously from ECM data, taking into account equipment specifications, topography, temperature, weight and other factors. PedalCoach typically is deployed on smart devices and mounted in the cab for drivers to see as they scan their mirrors. Within a few seconds after completing a trip, PedalCoach displays a score – the percentage of time the driver was "green." The app also sends data to cloud servers. LinkeDrive, the company that developed PedalCoach, also offers its Data online management portal where fleet managers can view more in-depth fuel efficiency information on drivers and assets. The PedalCoach system isn't designed to provide people with data to act upon later, says Jeff Baer, founder and chief executive officer of LinkeDrive. "Any technology can do that," Baer says. Instead, PedalCoach uses a "human-cen- tric" approach by providing instant feedback to help drivers train themselves to accelerate more gently and preserve momentum, he says. It's possible that drivers may ignore the app, and experience has shown that they have to be engaged by more than an app to sustain fuel savings, Baer says. He believes that PedalCoach is more effective when tied to a fuel incentive plan, and NEW APPS HELP DRIVERS, FLEETS IMPROVE FUEL EFFICIENCY The PedalCoach application is designed to give instantaneous feedback to drivers for the optimal amount of throttle input. BY AARON HUFF

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