A Guide to Route Planning and Fleet Management

Transcription

1 A Guide to Route Planning and Fleet Management This guide shows how vehicle tracking systems can deliver fuel savings of up to 10% by helping to improve driver and vehicle productivity. VER01 TRAN RP_0409

2 summary Good route planning is essential for effective fleet management. There are many ways to plan your routes, from simply reading a map to using satellite navigation devices and vehicle tracking systems. In this section we ll cover some basic route planning tips, and look in some detail at the technology available to help you. To get the best results from your vehicle tracking system investment, integrate its reports into your energy management systems and meetings. If the reports don t suit, ask your supplier to tailor them to your needs. BENEFITS Route optimisation across fixed routes can deliver significant benefits for fleets: Reduced distance travelled. Reduced fuel usage. Improved driver productivity. Reduced stress and overtime for employees. ROUTE PLANNING TIPS Plan your loads efficiently for some loads one large lorry may be more economical than two small lorries Evaluate existing routes to check that they are still the most efficient. Get feedback from drivers, and keep on your toes don t fall into the pattern of just using the same old routes. Use web-based services like Google, or the AA for routing and traffic news. Tune into a local radio station for traffic information to avoid congestion. Don t forget routes that avoid rush hour traffic can reduce idling. Avoid short journeys a cold engine uses almost twice as much fuel. You can buy databases of Irish addresses, and there are many route optimisation services. Try this site for PON coding, an alternative system to post coding: 1

3 SATELLITE NAVIGATION Satellite Navigation (Sat Nav) will give you the best route from door to door. Location, speed and direction are displayed in your vehicle. Unlike vehicle tracking, there is no link to the office. The device uses these pre-installed maps and GPS information to calculate location and route. Benefits: Reduces costs, choosing shorter routes and saving driver time. Minimises the chance of getting lost. Reduces driver stress, increasing safety and focus on the road. The latest Sat Nav systems use up to date maps of Ireland, but new roads and estates may still be unmapped. VEHICLE TRACKING Vehicle tracking allows you to see where your vehicles are and what they are doing. You can monitor and control your vehicles in terms of driver productivity, running costs and fuel consumption. Information is displayed as maps on your computer screen, showing real-time journeys, historical journeys and reports of vehicle and driver activities. Vehicle tracking helps you manage your business and your customers needs efficiently. If you know where your vehicles are, you can warn the drivers about road works, minimise unnecessary detours and request extra pick-ups. How can VEHICLE TRACKING help your business? Fleet management maps show real-time locations of your vehicles: Management of fuel efficiency. Risk Management. Vehicle and/or vehicle load security. Adherence to working time directives. 2

4 How does VEHICLE TRACKING work? Reports are viewed on a PC in your office, but how does the information get there? The black box you buy is fitted to your vehicle. This listens to US Military satellites via GPS. From this information the black box works out where it is, its speed and direction. This information is used to compute idling, driving hours, speeding and other alerts. Communications methods vary, but usually the information is sent by mobile phone (at an additional cost) to a computer where it is stored. At intervals this computer will calculate your reports and make them ready for you to read, print or . GPS SMS/GPRS/3G WEB Black Box on Truck 3

5 Look for these features when buying your Vehicle Tracking System: Timesheet reports for drivers and vehicles showing start and finish times, length of trips and each leg of a trip, speeds, over-speeds and idling times, allowing you to check routes in detail. Remote odometer readings, saving multiple vehicle checks. However, sometimes remote readings and on-site readings can vary slightly. Information on the use of cruise control and air conditioning, available in some packages. Broadly, vehicle Tracking Systems can be categorised into three categories: basic mid-range high-end Three wire (Power, Earth, Ignition) Three wire + PTO (PTO: Power Take Off tracks an electrical device in the vehicle e.g. activating a gritter, using air conditioning, etc) FMS (J1939) (FMS: Several major truck manufacturers are allowing third parties access to top-level vehicle data via J1939) Low cost Medium to high cost High cost A B C Location Heading Speed Idling Alerts reports All features in category A, plus additionally: Panic button Driver messaging Detailed Management reporting All features in category B, plus additionally: Odometer Reading Vehicle Speed Engine Rpm Braking Performance Engine Temperature Fuel usage in litres Gear selected Number of gear changes Sweet spot usage Cruise control usage SAMPLE OF Irish Suppliers of vehicle tracking systems Trakm8: Tramigo: Fleetmatics: Minorplanet: utrack: Bluetree R:COM: 4

6 TRIP COMPUTERS If your fleet is relatively modern, the vehicles will probably have these on-board computers in their dashboards. Look for a large LCD type screen or an outside temperature gauge, if in doubt consult vehicle manual. Key Features for Fuel Saving: Systems vary, but some trip computers can record: average speed fuel consumption distance travelled real-time fuel use cruise control use total idling times. CONCLUSION No matter whether you use a map, computer software or Sat Nav, planning ahead will reduce stress and save you money and time. For more information refer to SEI s other Transport Energy Guides, visit Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland Glas Naíon, Baile Átha Cliath 9, Eireann T F info@sei.ie 5