Fuel Consumption Monitoring For Improved Driver Loyalty

With revolutionary escalations in the trucking business along with new added technologies and ideas, much has changed over the past decade in the truck industry. Fuel consumption monitoring is one such technique which has revolutionized the fleet management system and has made it more easier and efficient. If you are a fleet owner or in the trucking business then this article is a must read for you!

Santosh Transportation Company is a well reputed fleet agency of southwest India with its main hold especially over Kerala and Tamil Nadu. With a successful business of over 30+ years and 2 generations heading the business, all is going very well for the truck business. Mr. Santosh a veteran of the transportation business takes pride in his achievements and strategies which might be a little old but has proven to be working for the company. Lately due to increase in commerce, a lot of labor work has been consigned to the workers and especially the truck drivers. From delivering shipments 24/7 to keeping track of each and every paperwork it has become difficult for them to handle so many receipts and keep track of shipments and other documentation.

One fine day, as the drivers were sending their readings regarding fuel consumption and other reports, one of the fleet owners saw a discrepancy in the amount of fuel used as compared to the shipment distance. With the sudden rise in fuel costs this mistake was not ignored and taken up-to higher officials who in no time started blaming the truck driver and questioned his honesty without even listening to his part. This created a distressed condition and the truck drivers went on a strike against the fleet officials. With no drivers on call the business went down for over a week and now something had to be done to procure any further loss. 

A high-level meeting was called and after a lot of deliberation it was decided to introduce a ‘fuel consumption monitoring system’ in the working. Within a short span of time software was installed, drivers were trained and fleet owners were given access to each and every truck under their assistance. This proved to be beneficial to both the fleet agency as well as the workers and drivers who now didn’t have to maintain records or spreadsheets for their fuel data; it automatically was sent to their fleet owners. Lesser discrepancies were reported as all the data was computer-based. This not only saved a lot of labor work but also created a healthy and positive work environment in the fleet agency.

Advantage of Fuel Consumption Monitoring

What happened with the fleet agency of Santosh Transportation Company was rectified and avoided in the future with the help of a fuel consumption monitoring system. Following are some advantages of incorporating a fuel consumption system in your fleet. 

1. It assists in providing reliable information on fuel costs, detects fuel wastage, helps to reduce costs through route optimization, and to improve the efficiency of drivers.
2. Most importantly, fuel monitoring helps in building trust by making sure that the drivers are trusted with their services. 
3. It digitalises every aspect of the shipments and directly sends information to the fleet owner so that it is their knowledge about fuel levels
4. Accurate fuel consumption monitoring obtains additional competitive advantages. In addition, measurement of fuel consumption eliminates fuel manipulations 
5. Fuel Consumption monitoring will promote preventative maintenance which will not only help in keeping the vehicle up to date but also will prevent any surprise breakdowns of fuel engine or other parts.

Hence, the fuel consumption monitoring system has proved to be a must in every fleet business as it provides transparency in fuel level measurements. Which eliminates needless fights between fleet owners and drivers, record fuel consumption, fuel-related expenses and can also identify security issues within your fleet to implement solutions. 

In an opposite scenario, if a driver is identified driving beyond speed limit, harsh braking resulting in fuel-wasting behavior, or idling then fuel tracking will report this data to the fleet owners who can educate the truck drivers regarding the same so that in future the same does not happen.