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Sept-28_Fleet-Intelligence-KPIs
RouteiqueSep 28, 2022 2:33:36 PM5 min read

KPIs to Track With Fleet Intelligence Technology

Fleet KPIs to Track With Fleet Intelligence Software

Nearly ten years ago, Field Technologies Online noted “You can't improve what you don't measure. Yet, that is exactly what fleets are trying to do these days”.

While technology has improved significantly over the past several years, some fleets are still operating without the visibility they need to succeed, as you’ll see in the detailed quotes throughout this article.

Why is visibility into your fleet important? 

A fleet telematic system enables you to collect all of the data you need, and helps you:

  • Ensure efficiency
  • Enhance safety
  • Boost workflow management
  • Visualize and troubleshoot what is happening on road
    • A  Routeique feature that many clients like is the war room map. It is a helpful tool for troubleshooting. 

Here are a few of the KPIs you should consider tracking, along with some of our most important tips.

 

Efficiency

Fleet telematics can help ensure your fleet is operating efficiently. By keeping track of metrics such as cost per mile, revenue per truck mile, and fuel use, you can keep your fleet efficient. 

Monitoring Costs

Controlling costs is a key aspect of any fleet or supply chain management professional’s priority list. 

With the right tools, it’s easy to capture data on costs per truck and per mile, to spot opportunities for improvement. 

Cost Per Mile

Cost per mile is measured by dividing your total expenses by the total miles your fleet drives. This enables you to compare your operation to industry benchmarks and ensure that you are improving over time.

Lowering Cost Per Mile

Two of the biggest factors in costs per truck and per mile are fuel and driver expenses. While it’s essential to keep paying competitively to attract talented drivers, especially as there are shortages in many markets, fuel costs can often be lowered with the help of route optimization tools.   

Revenue Per Truck and Per Mile

The calculations per truck and per mile are relatively simple, and when you gather the data thanks to fleet telematics, keeping on top of them is easy.

  • Revenue per truck = total monthly revenue / your number of trucks
  • Revenue per mile = total monthly revenue / miles driven
 
 
Wasted Miles 

By tracking the miles that your fleet is driving, and comparing them to the optimized routes, to spot inefficiencies that you can spot and improve over time.  

Reducing Wasted Miles

Much like fuel costs, wasted miles can be lowered with route optimization tools. 

 

Empty Miles/Deadhead Miles

Empty miles are when your trick is on the road, but not earning any revenue. In many cases, this is because a truck was carrying a load in one direction but not the other. 

In addition to cost issues, and the wear and tear on vehicles, some sources have also noted that there are issues surrounding safety that can be of concern: “empty trailers are difficult to manage at the best of times, however, in crosswinds they are susceptible to being blown over.”

Reducing Empty Miles Or Deadhead Miles

Truckers can check load boards, or seek jobs that offer compensation for deadhead miles. However, more broadly, technology can be used to bundle shipments and reduce deadhead miles.

 

Vehicle Time On-Site

One question that many of our clients at Routeique have is about how they can monitor time that their customers spend at each stop. We always tell our clients that fleet telematics gives them insights into where their trucks are spending time on the road and at customer locations. 

Reducing Vehicle Time On Site 

It is possible to reduce vehicle time on site by reorganizing your routes based on customer availability time. This information can be input into a Route Optimization System, to be taken into account when routes are optimized. 

On the other hand, if waits at your customer location are unavoidable, you should ensure that your business and your team are being compensated fairly for their time. In this case, you should It is not just cost saving but it is revenue boosting because it is a service one can charge for. 

Fleet Utilization 

In December 2020, Freightwaves reported that as much “as 20% of the North American trailer fleet sits unused at any given time.”

As Geotab has noted, “Being aware of what usage is trending in your fleet will help you answer: ‘Is your fleet being used to its fullest potential?’”

In addition to viewing asset utilization and fleet utilization reports, you can also track KPIs like:

  • Days driven
  • Drive time
  • Mileage

These can help you determine whether you are using your fleet as effectively as possible: you want to avoid spikes in utilization for just one vehicle, which could indicate a disproportionate allotment of work. 

Similarly, asset utilization allows you to identify how to rotate vehicles and get the most out of your fleet.

Increasing Fleet Utilization

If your fleet utilization isn’t where it should be, you may need to take a multi-pronged approach, including diver training, effectively matching available loads, optimizing maintenance, and more. 

Safety

 

Driver Habits and Driver Safety

In a recent article, Supply and Demand Chain Executive notes that “500,000 trucking accidents occur each year in the United States, with about 5,000 per year resulting in death. Supply chain executives must prioritize the safety of both their vehicles and drivers to reduce accidents and keep goods and services moving smoothly across distribution networks.”

Telematics is key for this. They can allow you to monitor driver habits like speed, braking, and more. This helps to determine if your drivers are driving safely. 

Enhancing Driver Habits

On one hand, it is possible that negative driver habits can be remedied by training, but it’s also possible that there is a deeper cause underlying any problems. For example, there might be too many stops on a route, forcing drivers to speed. 

Vehicle Status and Failures

As we covered in past blogs, our sensors allow for the capture of diagnostic information from the vehicle’s Engine Control Unit through the J1949 Can BUS, which enables you to monitor.

This could be monitored by:

  • Number of failures
  • Failure rate
  • Time without failures

Limiting Vehicle Failures

To limit vehicle failures you can monitor your fleet stats, and ensure that your vehicles are monitored and repaired regularly.

Beyond Fleet Tracking: Product Integrity And More

In many of our other blogs, we’ve outlined how IoT can help create a smart cold chain and ensure product integrity. For more specific information on how IoT tools can help you track your cold chain, check out our blog on cold chain KPIs.

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