Don’t leave money at the fuel pump!
Lower fuel costs and reduce emissions by improving driving behavior
Article by Andy Cozens, Global Director of Sales for Bus and Coach Solutions at GreenRoad
You invest in fuel-efficient coaches, have checked out alternative fuels, and keep your engines in tip-top shape for best performance. But did you know that you can reduce your fuel bills by up to 8% by helping your drivers tune up their driving performance?
Your drivers have a huge impact on your bottom line that goes way beyond just wages. Specific driving behaviors and maneuvers cost your company dearly in fuel consumption, collisions, insurance premiums, wear and tear on vehicles, and, importantly, reputation. Idling and personal use of company vehicles and fuel can also take a sizeable bite out of your bottom line.
Most importantly, with up to 90% of accidents caused by drivers, improving driving behavior can save the lives and limbs of your drivers, passengers and others with whom they share the road.
Safe driving is socially and environmentally responsible as well as fuel efficient. By reducing risky behaviors such as sharp breaking, rapid acceleration, and high-speed driving, your company can establish real environmental bona fide by decreasing emissions by up to 33%, lengthening vehicle lives, and reducing fuel use.
To be successful, changing driver behavior must be a structured process that has buy-in from your drivers and is based on reliable data and insights that both they and their managers can act on.
GreenRoad Driver Behavior System was purpose-built to facilitate deep, lasting change, incorporating real-time in-vehicle feedback, advanced fleet analytics, and reporting. Effective educational tools help drivers internalize safer, more efficient driving behaviors.
A non-intrusive, 2-inch LED dashboard display alerts drivers in real time if they are driving safely (green light), taking a slight risk (amber), or performing a dangerous maneuver (red). The online GreenRoad Central portal offers each driver full transparency into data collected about his on-road behavior. A single clear Safety Score summarizes overall performance for fast benchmarking. Easy-to-use dashboards and in-depth reports help him identify problematic areas that he needs to work on and provide tangible evidence that reinforces improvement.
Fleet and operation managers must balance a huge number of factors to make sure that passengers are safely transported to their destinations comfortably, on time, and on budget. Customizable GreenRoad alerts for safety issues, excessive idling, and out-of-range vehicles enable management by exception without adding additional report-checking to managers’ to-do lists.
Significantly lowering fuel costs for your fleet is simpler than you think and does not require costly capital investment. In fact, the key is sitting right in the driver’s seat of your buses and coaches! Empowering your drivers to develop safe, environmentally sound, and cost-saving driving behaviors is a win-win proposition that benefits your company, its drivers, passengers, and the community at large.
