A Guide On Fuel Management Systems And How They Can Improve Fleet Efficiency

One of the investments for commercial fleets is frequently fuel. Fuel expenditure attributed for an estimated 24 percent of total fleet costs, according to fleet operators in 2019. Lowering these costs can result in significant cash reserves for your fleet, but maintaining fuel effectively can be difficult. The price of gasoline varies depending on where you live. Economic factors and shifting laws can also cause complications.

Commercial fleets, on the other hand, can decrease the load of fuel prices with fuel management systems. Systems for managing your fuel consumption and costs can help you save money on fuel. These services can pinpoint fuel consumption shortfalls by tracking your fleet’s assets and idling time.

Find out how fuel management systems make fuel monitoring and purchasing more efficient.

What Are Fuel Management Systems?

Managing and tracking fuel usage and expenses is a part of fuel management. A driver can check the fuel level to determine when to refuel, or it can be as complex as fleet-wide legitimate fuel insights. Enhancing fuel efficiency, which is an evaluation of how well a vehicle generates fuel into energy- is an objective of fuel management. Fuel economy, or the miles per gallon (MPG) a car can travel, is a standard metric for fuel-efficiency. 

The vehicles in your fleet have an impact on fuel efficiency. Law requires the latest trucks and trailers to meet specific fuel usage standards. Despite being more effective as a result, there are still strategies to raise the fuel economy of current vehicles. For instance, prudent maintenance and safer driving practices both increase fuel efficiency.

You can get specific utilization metrics and fuel statistics from fuel management systems. You can find and cut costs associated with fuel by putting in place a fuel management system.

Through the consolidation of tasks, automated fuel management systems increase efficiency. Consider receiving real-time updates for odd fleet behavior or fuel transactions. Fuel monitoring becomes an effortless component of your procedures when you receive notifications like this. You can concentrate on boosting your foundations without wasting time on laborious documentation and invoice tracking.

Smart tools are used in government organizations to track fuel management, idle time, fuel prices, PTO surveillance, electrification, and electric vehicle evolving and monitoring. 

If you are looking for a fuel card that offers an advanced tool for reporting and tracking. Check out this list of best fuel cards for small business in 2024

How Do Fuel Management Systems Work? 

The fuel management system employs GPS technology to generate various types of comparison graphs based on the distance traveled by the vehicle from point A to B. Owners of small businesses can use these charts to identify potential technology and usage pitfalls. With the help of fuel management systems, you can get precise information about your fuel usage. For instance, you can tell if your fuel usage has increased because of incorrect tire pressure/ poorly working heat burners, etc. In addition, it will give you crucial information about fuel draining, fuel fraud, and fuel overuse.

Finally, the fuel management system provides accurate data such as cost per mile, fuel fraud, and driver behavior (rush driving, overspeeding & idling). The decrease in operational expenditures is very advantageous to the fleet manager. Fortunately, fleet management software provides a thorough overview of all modes of transportation, making it easy to manage your fleet operations. 

How Can Fuel Management System Help Your Fleet? 

The fleet tracking systems lately supply streamlined data regarding the vehicle and the driver in real-time through high-speed cellular or wireless networks. The data from an inbuilt GPS, paired with accelerometer statistics, provides information about miles traveled and how the vehicle is powered.

An engine data connection to the engine control module (ECM) can calculate fuel consumption and verify the distance traveled. Telematics-based fuel management eliminates the labor-intensive and error-prone process of manually recording mileage and distance. Furthermore, because most fuel management software is cloud-connected, fuel data from the entire fleet can be aggregated and analyzed in real-time.

By looking at fuel data for all vehicles at once, it is possible to identify which are using more fuel on average than others. Some fuel management systems can compare each motor with a database of information from other tracked vehicles of the same model and year to determine whether the fuel consumption falls in line with similar machines.

Here are some of the most significant ways fuel management systems can assist you in increasing efficiency and lowering costs.

1. Lower Costs Achieved By Positive Driving Habits – Driving at the speed limit is one way of improving fuel efficiency. Fuel economy drops by $0.20 per gallon for every five MPH faster drivers go after 50 mph. Speeding frequently results in fuel waste because engines operate at the speed limit. Vehicle speeding and severe braking events can be detected using fuel management systems. 

You can use this information to comprehend and encourage safe driving throughout your fleet. Reduced idling time is another way fuel management systems can help you recognize decent driving habits and enhance fuel efficiency. Most days, long-distance trucks sit idle for six to eight hours. Wasted fuel expenses, particularly for larger fleets, can become expensive. Fleet managers can analyze fuel management data and encourage fuel conservation behavior using fuel management systems. 

Fleet managers can correctly determine wasteful or unusual activity by assessing adjustments over time with fuel and trend reports using vehicle-specific data on stalling and driving behavior. Fleet managers can also use fuel management data to distinguish drivers who require mentoring. Coaching can take various forms. You could, for example, set up alerts when specific driving behaviors are detected. Fleet managers can choose what’s best for their fleet thanks to this versatility.

2. Improved Fuel Efficiency – It is difficult to rely on drivers to track their vehicle’s maintenance and address problems on the road. Samsara fleet management solutions remove the uncertainty from upkeep. Fuel consumption decreases when vehicles are operating at peak efficiency. You can get alerts of engine fault codes using real-time diagnostic alerts. Your fleet will function at its highest capacity with regular engine maintenance.

Engines run more efficiently and require less maintenance when cleaned and supported. As a result, engine health is a good predictor of fuel efficiency. The fuel economy also increases by performing additional non-engine maintenance. For example, ensuring that a vehicle’s tires are properly inflated and aligned reduces rolling resistance. As a result, a vehicle’s fuel efficiency and fuel costs instantly increase. 

3. Reduce Waste Generated By Fuel Theft – Another cost that fuel management systems help to reduce is fuel theft. When drivers or robbers substitute card readers at gas stations with a skimmer that encapsulates card information, fraudulent fuel skimming occurs. The money accumulates in a fictitious account without any fuel purchase during what appears to be a typical gas pump transaction. The ability to track a vehicle’s location at all times makes it possible to compare its location to the positions of gas stations. 

How does it function? Assume you obtain a fee while none of your verified vehicles are present. Fuel Reports provide data that overturn unauthorized charges. The verification of these fraudulent purchases in the past could be challenging or time-consuming. Telematics can also track fuel theft in other cases. For example, fuel management systems can notify you when fuel amounts drop dramatically in a short period. Fleet managers will then be able to identify any fuel theft attempts in real-time. 

4. Support Viability And Promote Savings Through Electrification – Automated fuel management systems increase the efficiency of your fleet. When fuel management is improved, you will reduce your fleet’s environmental impact and increase customer loyalty. Customers are concerned about the carbon emissions of their purchases, so operating a green fleet may improve customer retention.

Sustainability is not only a financial concern; it’s also a humane one. One way to show your customers and employees that you care about the future of your society is through environmental stewardship. Because of the significant fuel savings and decreased reliance on variable fuel costs, some fleet managers have begun implementing a partly electric fleet. 

Electric vehicles are the way of the future. The electric vehicle charging stations sector will grow to $30.41 billion by 2024, allowing more paths to support electric vehicles. 

5. Streamlined Fuel Tax Reporting – Utilizing fuel management systems makes it simple to control your fuel usage. Under the International Fuel Tax Agreement, fleets with sizable vehicles in the United States and Canada must file quarterly tax returns (IFTA). For these returns, you must include the mileage driven by the motors in your fleet in each state and thorough documentation. It can be a time-consuming manual process to collect and rectify. 

Fleets can increase productivity and save money with fuel management systems. However, they also enable fleet management to concentrate on their vehicles, drivers, and prospects rather than getting bogged down in fuel prices and IFTA reporting. You can enhance your fuel management when you have real-time stats on what’s going on in your fleet.

Why Having A Fuel Monitoring System Matters? 

Telematics provides up-to-date information on how your cars and operators perform, lowering fuel costs and increasing productivity. The most advanced systems entail video telematics data to help you recognize driver behavior and incidents more accurately in detail. Reporting software is a common feature of fleet management systems. There are a lot of fleet management systems available online. You can read our article on the 8 best fleet management systems to ensure smooth processes. It offers detailed data on the fleet’s overall fuel efficiency and identifies which drivers and vehicles are consuming too much fuel in a flash. 

You can monitor and measure the operation of your fleet when you have the correct data from fleet fuel systems. You can ensure spending your fuel dollars wisely by identifying vehicles requiring service and drivers requiring coaching. 

Fuel costs do not have to be a source of concern. Utilizing a fuel management system to improve fuel efficiency can save you time, eliminate costs, reduce your carbon footprint, and improve driver behavior. With these advantages, you can save money today and save for electrification or more fuel-efficient vehicles tomorrow. With lower fuel costs, it is possible to incorporate real change.