Top 5 Strategies for Saving Money and Strengthening Your Fleet ROI

Digital Solutions for Fuel Management and a Healthy Fleet ROI

The cost of operations in the trucking industry can be overwhelming, but as technology is advancing, the industry is adopting digital solutions in cutting cost and maintaining a healthy fleet ROI. That said, let’s look at the statistics.

In 2015, trucks moved 10.49 billion tons, or 70.1%, of all domestic freight.
Freight trucking collected $726.4 billion in revenues, accounting for 81.5% of all freight transportation spending in 2015.
There were 3.63 million Class 8 trucks in operation in 2015.
The industry employs more than 3 million truck drivers.

Clearly with numbers like these, it is apparent how enormous the industry is and although the revenue generated is in the billions, the cost of operations can be a hindrance to the fleet’s ROI unless it is very carefully managed. According to recent industry study, the cost associated with running a fleet falls into 5 categories. Addressing each of these categories is critical in not only saving money, but also making money.

Fleet analysis and data analytics
Fuel (cost) management
Maintenance programs and safety
Vehicle acquisition and resale
Vehicle lifecycle optimization

It goes without saying that managing the cost of vehicle acquisition and resale can be one of the best ways to cut costs and stay on top of performance. Maintenance and vehicle lifecycle optimization are key in maintaining safety, which is also one of the most effective ways to save through efficiencies. With fuel costs coming in at 34.2% the cost of operations, it might seem like the most cost-effective approach to managing the fleet ROI is in fuel cost management – that is not the case. Monitoring fleet data through fleet analysis is where the strongest ROI can be developed. Fuel management and fleet analysis combined can strengthen your financial supply chain in ways never before possible.

Fuel Management Through Credit Cards

Fuel is the second largest variable expense (after depreciation) in the trucking industry and based on the fluctuating nature of the industry, it is an expense that is hard to control. Even when fuel prices are stable, it is important to implement stringent fuel management strategies, and as part of that strategy technology has made it possible to manage costs through transparency and efficiencies offered in a single credit card. Regardless of the fleet size, there is a fleet card that will optimize your fuel expenses. EFS offers 3 cards that can keep your fleet expenses under control in order to capture a higher return.

Fleet One EDGE Card:

1-25 trucks and offers the following:

Largest nationwide fuel discount network at over 3,600 sites – average savings of 12 cents per gallon
No fuel transaction fees in network
Universal acceptance at over 8,000 truck stops nationwide
Nationwide discounts on major tire brands – save an average of $40 per tire
Thousands of additional savings on wireless, equipment, maintenance, parts, breakdown, hotels, and more
Credit to fund your operations and financing solutions to help you grow

EFS Fleet Card:

25+ vehicles and offers the following:

The EFS Card is designed to meet the demands of business, as well as those of employees or independent contractors. More security and control. Set purchase limits in real-time and customize at the individual card level with distinct card prompts that validate before authorizing the transaction at the point of purchase. The EFS Card consolidates transactions on a single card, giving one data point to manage and control purchases, payroll, settlement, cash advances, and more.

Purchase and financial controls
Consolidated transactions on a single card
Authorization controls
Card-level programming
Fraud prevention tools
Real-time online account reconciliation
24/7 online and mobile access
Seamless system integration with leading third-party software providers

Mastercard Fleet Card:

Dual network, single card solution for any size fleet

The EFS Mastercard^® Fleet Card is the single card, dual network solution that leverages EFS’s superior controls for fuel purchasing, combined with Mastercard’s wide acceptance network for non-fuel purchases such as T&E expenses, emergency repairs, and more.

Accepted wherever Mastercard is accepted for Purchasing and/or T&E expenses
Cash price for fuel in the EFS truck stop merchant network
Superior purchasing controls
MCC/TCC Categories/Velocity Limits in Mastercard network
Level III+ data

Fleet Analysis through Data Analytics Capture Efficiencies in Spending

Fleet cards are just the beginning when it comes to addressing a more profitable and secure fleet ROI. EFS is leading the way in leveraging Data Analytics for responsive fleet optimization. The EFS tools and systems make it possible to successfully capture data that can validate and authenticate spending. An online Fuel Audit and reconciliation tool leverages big data to provide KPI tracking and purchase reporting, along with real-time and historical pricing analysis to take control of, and better manage fuel spend. You can save valuable time auditing and reconciling fuel spend to ensure you are receiving your negotiated discounts with our powerful real-time reporting and analysis. Advantages include:

Daily Fuel Reconciliation
Fuel Price Verification
Individual Transaction Verification
Executive Management Reporting
Mobile Fuel Price Discovery and Optimization Tools

EFS also uses data to evaluate how capacity is doing in the marketplace and benchmark volume against peer groups. Carrier TrendSource^SM leverages big data to show how freight volumes are trending, and in turn, how that correlates to volume. This powerful tool provides portfolio analysis to benchmark against peer groups, create actionable insights, and it emphasizes data visualization and dashboards to spot trends and exceptions across a wide variety of performance metrics. This kind of monitoring will provide the following:

Realize added security around purchase validations
Know your performance relative to your peer performance
Make more informed decisions around fuel spend
Ensure you are receiving negotiated discounts

When it comes to monitoring spend, fleet managers across the nation have more tools at their fingertips than ever before. With the ability to see transactions in real time and the data to show trends in all aspects of the industry, it is no wonder that the fleet ROI is optimistic. And if these tools and systems are applied consistently and effectively, that ROI will only grow.

Resources:

https://www.loaddelivered.com/articles/3-trucking-industry-innovations-you-need-to-know-about/

https://www.orionfi.com/7-ways-to-save-money-running-your-fleet/

http://www.fleetowner.com/blog/service-innovation-may-trump-product-development-trucking

http://www.fleetfinancials.com/article/story/2014/02/10-ways-to-reduce-fleet-costs.aspx