Optimized Routing Generates Huge Impact – Video Post

Optimized Routing can be the game changer your company is looking for.

Enjoy our two part discussion about optimized routing with Sean Stenson. Each part runs about 15 minutes. We asked Sean some tough questions to get you the answers you are looking for. Learn how automating your routing process can be a game changer.

Call Fleetistics today to arrange a consultation and demo.

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6 Ways DashCam Investment Pays Off

DashCam Investment Can Reduce Insurance Cost in Many Ways

It is no mystery that video footage will have a major impact in the event your driver is involved in an accident. Four of the six ways on our list are clearly related to managing risk and reducing insurance related costs.

1. Some commercial insurers offer a direct discount for having dahscams. Dash cams reduce overall risk and streamline the claims process resulting in lower premiums.

2. Protection from false claims against your drivers. Many damage claims are based on one persons word against another. DashCam recordings of events can shut that down in a hurry.

3. Protection from staged crash claims is another benefit. Commercial trucks are often the targets of criminals staging crashes or personal injury incidents because commercial pockets tend to be deeper than individuals, and some commercial trucks follow a predictable routine. DashCam footage proves what really happened.

4. Having video footage speeds up the claims process resulting in less vehicle down time, quicker reimbursement, and less time spent testifying. All of these present additional ROI.

DashCam Investment Contributes to Accident Prevention

5. DashCams help you to prevent future collisions by identifying & correcting distracted driving behavior through event triggered video captures. Fewer accidents also mean fewer premium increases, but that is just the beginning. The cost of an accident adds up fast. Bent metal, damaged goods, vehicle down time, employee down time and injury related costs, services/stops missed, and potential litigation top the list. It is not uncommon for the final cost of a commercial vehicle collision to exceed $100,000.

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CrewChief - dashcam

DashCam Investment for Improved Supervision

6. Often overlooked by management is Driving Attitude. Why? Because they have no way to know unless they ride with the driver, OR, have dashcams. Honestly, in cab footage can be uncomfortable to view, but it offers insight into much more than if a driver is smoking in the vehicle or using his cell phone. A driver with a great attitude looks a lot different on camera than a driver with a bad attitude. When I see video of a driver who is calm and collected, smiling, sometimes singing along with the radio, I think yes, he enjoys his job and I want a driver like that to deliver my goods and services. When I see video of a driver who looks angry with the world or makes inappropriate hand gestures at others, even the one who is rocking out – more focused on the music playing than the job at hand, I think wow, hope they never send that one to my door.

What Are the Signs?

From a business perspective, knowing who to encourage is just as important as knowing who to counsel. And there is scientific data to support that attitude affects driving behavior. According to Science Direct, “Hazard response times and eye tracking data suggest sadness can have a negative impact on driving behavior.” Your odds of getting in a collision are 10 times higher?when you’re angry or sad, according to Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute. Notice in the video below from our CrewChief DashCam, the driver’s expression during the harsh braking event as it starts and the hard turning event at about 20 seconds.

We can all relate to the fact that driving while upset or angry will bring out aggressive driving habits. We are not suggesting that you spend a lot of time evaluating in cab driver footage, but noticing the body language that indicates attitude during your routine review of event triggered video could help you to identify drivers that need some coaching or encouragement. Over time a Manager can learn a lot about a drivers strengths and weaknesses by viewing the in cab video. Also, if you are concerned there might be issues with a driver, a quick review of in cab footage may give you some perspective regarding those concerns.

How Will Your DashCam Investment Pay Off?

DashCams certainly provide the measurable dollar ROI, but they can also be used to capture the more elusive human ROI. By better understanding through video things like job satisfaction, driver loyalty, anger issues, depression, and customer satisfaction skills, management can get to know employees that they have little personal contact with. That may be the greatest ROI of all.

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Instant Pot Meals on 18 Wheels

Instant Pot Cooking on the Road

Instant Pot cooking would not seem to be an appropriate post for a fleet management blog, but all is not what it seems to be. Before we are done we will touch on driver safety, morale, health, giving back to the community, and return on investment.

I first heard about Randy from a co-worker that belongs to a Facebook group that he is active in. His story peaked my interest so I contacted him to learn more. He quickly agreed to do an interview. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Introducing Randy

Randy drives a 2020 Peterbilt for Western Distributing in Colorado. He used to prepare his meals using a lunch box oven as many truckers do. That, and fast food are what truckers are often stuck with due to the demands of their work. He could not make pasta or rice, and the lunch box oven is not the greatest way to prepare vegetables. He was very limited in what he could prepare in it and found himself bored with the limited menu. Meals took a long time to prepare and were not very appetizing.

Randy's Kitchen
Randy Garza

Typical Lunchbox Ovens Used by Truckers

typical lunch box oven

All of that changed when his sister gave him an early Christmas gift in Colorado around November 25th of last year, his first Instant Pot. He picked up an inverter in Las Vegas, installed the inverter in Guymon, OK, and finally used his Instant Pot around December 2nd or 3rd. The first meal he cooked was spaghetti, something that just can’t be done in a lunch box oven.

Now he uses it daily and has added more Instant Pot products to his in cab home. He can cook just about anything with his collection that includes the dual lid for air frying, another 3 quart Instant Pot, an Instant Vortex Plus and an Ace Nova blender.

Instant Pot Meals on 18 Wheels
Instant Pot Meals on 18 Wheels
Instant Pot Meals on 18 Wheels

Real Meals on 18 Wheels

Randy told me he eats healthier and life is easier with the Instant Pot appliances. He can cook almost anything on the road. His favorite is making pancakes on saute. He stocks up on produce every few days and meat weekly. The hardest part he says is parking his tractor-trailer at the grocery store.

Instant Pot products have saved him time and money while expanding his diet to include pretty much anything at all. He can pressure cook, air fry, bake, steam, roast, saute, and even make soup. With so many homeless people on the road, he gets great satisfaction doing little things like baking a cake or providing a meal for a homeless person in need.

Instant Pot Meals on 18 Wheels
Instant Pot Meals on 18 Wheels
Instant Pot Meals on 18 Wheels

Healthier Drivers are Safer Drivers

What impresses me most is Randy’s desire to change the way people eat. He believes that when drivers eat healthier and get a wider variety of fresh foods, they will be stronger, happier and more alert, making the road a healthier and more comfortable workplace for truckers and a safer place for all of us.
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Gasoline Prices Rising – Are you Prepared?

Gasoline Prices Up 15% From Last Month

According to Kiplinger.com gasoline prices will continue to rise slowly, but steadily in 2021. This view is supported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration and other authorities on the subject. Thankfully no one is projecting the extreme prices we had from 2008 to 2014, possibly because of demand being low during the pandemic, but they are definitely going to rise from the low prices we have become used to. As this post was written, the national average for regular was $2.40 per gal and diesel $2.64, up 15 cents per gallon from this time last month. An end to the pandemic which we all hope for will likely increase demand pushing prices higher faster.

Back to Fuel Savings Basics

In 2020, with gasoline prices as low as we have seen since 2004, and so many other concerns about keeping employees safe during the pandemic at the forefront, reducing fuel spend was just not our focus. In 2021 we will need to get back to basics when it comes to keeping an eye out for fuel waste.

Many consumer sites like AAA offer tips for consumers on how to save fuel. Back in 2007 when gasoline prices spiked over $3.00 per gallon, businessfleet.com published a great list of 20 ways for fleets to save fuel. Here is their list with some brief explanations. To get the full details and statistics that support their conclusions, you can read their post here.

20 Ways to Save Fuel

  1. Avoid Excess Idling – you get 0 mpg at idle.
  2. Get a Fleet Fuel Card – control what drivers can buy, monitor for fuel theft, and identify top spenders for further review.
  3. Clean Out the Truck and Eliminate Unnecessary Weight – less weight improves mpg.
  4. Keep Tires Inflated to the Correct Pressure – underinflated tires reduce mpg.
  5. Use Cruise Control During Highway Driving – fewer changes in speed increase mpg.
  6. Don’t Buy Premium Fuel unless the vehicle requires it.
  7. Drive the Posted Speed Limit – speeding reduces mpg.
  8. Monitor Preventive Maintenance Schedules – basics like air filters and oil viscosity affect mpg.
  9. Make Drivers Energy Conscious – help them to be more efficient drivers.
  10. Use A/C Sparingly – using A/C only when needed and vents when it is cooler outside saves fuel.
  11. Park in the Shade – keeps interior cooler and prevents fuel evaporation.
  12. Encourage Carpooling when possible.
  13. Make Your Vehicle More Aerodynamic – avoid anything that creates wind drag.
  14. Purchase Fuel-Efficient Vehicles
  15. Anticipate Traffic Flow – accelerate and decelerate smoothly
  16. Avoid Aggressive Driving
  17. Avoid Uphill Speed Increases
  18. Check the Web for the Best Fuel Deals – check out GasBuddy.com
  19. Fill Up in Mild Weather – get more fuel density for your dollars at cooler times rather than the heat of the day.
  20. Use a wholesale club or grocery store – Costco, Sam’s Club or BJ’s

Fleetistics WEX Fuel Card Integrated with My Fleetistics for Higher Visibility

Fleetistics Fuel Card by WEX

The bottom line is it is time to get back to a fuel savings mindset. Fleet management technology is designed to give you the insight you need into your fuel spend and much, much more. Contact Fleetistics for more ideas on increasing visibility and lowering overall fleet costs.

Optimizing Routes to Increase ROI

Are You Optimizing Routes?

In the world of transporting and delivering goods and services, some companies pay more attention to optimizing routes than others. Those that invest time and energy into route optimization have found that it pays off in spades. Even emergency service providers that cannot plan their routes in advance, can benefit from optimizing each new service call based on shortest route and current road conditions.

Improve Route Efficiency Up to 40%!

Never Too Small To Be Efficient

Whether you have a fleet of 5 vehicles all doing the same job or a fleet of hundreds with multiple specialties and special purpose vehicles, there is a routing and scheduling application available to meet your needs. Route optimization has gained so much traction that one of our premier GPS platforms offers out of the box integration with 9 or more route optimization specialty providers.

Manual routing and optimizing is time consuming, frustrating and a lot of hard work. Once done, any number of things can change making the entire route that you planned so carefully mediocre at best. What if you could easily change and transmit a revised route, knowing that the best optimization choices have been made? That would be a game changer!

Route Organization

Optimizing Routes Made Easy

Imagine uploading tomorrows work orders into a system that can tell you how many trucks are needed, what jobs to assign to what vehicles, and what routes to follow based on the parameters you pre-set in the app. Imagine the time saved on manually planning those routes alone. Then consider these potential savings:

  • Reduce fuel and labor costs by as much as 30%
  • Dispatch drivers using convenient tablet and smart phone apps.
  • Integrate with platforms alerting drivers to traffic, collisions, and other changing road conditions.
  • Increase your dispatcher’s visibility of completed and pending stops improving customer service.
  • Efficiently plan and schedule time sensitive deliveries.
  • Reduce carbon emissions by driving more efficient routes.
  • Gain a competitive edge.
Route Optimization Tool

Increasing Demand for Local Deliveries

In the past year, social distancing has changed the way we buy, sell, and ultimately receive goods and services. We now rely on delivery of things we used to go to the store and pick up ourselves. Companies that provide reliable service, on time delivery, and a way for customers to see where their orders or service providers are and when they will arrive are rising to the top. Integrated routing and scheduling apps are the foundation their systems are built upon.

If you are not optimizing your routes, now is the time to start. Contact us today to review your options and select an app for trial. You’ll be glad you did.