Idling increases fuel consumption and operational costs.
Despite what you may have heard, turning off your car or truck and then restarting it does not burn more fuel than leaving it running.
Some drivers leave their vehicles idling without even thinking about it. For example, an employee waits in their car for a coworker at a local coffee shop, the engine humming in the background.
Fleet idling can be very costly to business operations due to wasted fuel, accumulated vehicle maintenance costs, and significant fines in some countries, regions, and cities. Targeting this area can help you significantly reduce costs, fuel consumption, and emissions.
Fortunately, GPS-enabled devices from Geotab provide a number of solutions to help you better manage and eliminate idling throughout your fleets. Here are three tips you can use:
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Set up a true idling rule and notification
Fleet managers can set software-based rules to identify excessive idling events and vehicles to understand where coaching, maintenance, or other corrective actions should be taken. Fleet managers can identify any exceptions generated from these rules with email and text message notifications to help improve idling numbers.
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Driver coaching tools for idling
Driver feedback helps reduce idling events by notifying drivers when idling occurs to adjust their behaviour immediately. Coaching through gamification has proven effective for many areas of fleet management, including discouraging idling, speeding, and distracted driving. International pest control and home services company Orkin cut its idling by 8.4%, saving an estimated $50,000 during a three-month driver contest.
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Track idling and fuel consumption trends with custom reporting
The Exception Details report, included by default within each MyGeotab database, shows when, where, and for how long true idling or wasted time events occurred. Using rules that differentiate between operational and non-operational idling makes it possible to calculate a breakdown of time spent within each category. Some report customization can provide a scoring element that ranks vehicles and drivers on their performance.
With fuel prices at recent all-time highs and set to be even more expensive into the summer months, it is important for you to take any measure you can to help manage your fuel costs accordingly. By limiting idling periods within your fleet you can help optimize your fuel usage and keep your costs manageable.
If you would like to learn more about how GPS to GO, an authorized Geotab reseller, can help you manage fuel costs or reduce idling times, click here to get started with a complimentary quote!
