How A Fleet Can Green Without Alternative Fuels

Fleet managers and local governments across the country are being tasked with finding ways to do their part in improving their carbon footprint.

The push for city operations to be more environmentally conscious has led to a national rise in energy efficiencies and an overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The city of Houston has been a recent beacon of success in these efforts and the Mayor Annise Parker has recently pledged to cut the city's emissions by an additional 10%. Houston currently ranks first among U.S. cities for its purchases of green electrical energy and ranks third for the size of its hybrid car fleet, according to the mayor's office. "Our achievement is impressive," the mayor said, "but we must not stop there."

And while implementing a new line of  vehicles that are either electric or use alternative fuels may be the ideal end-game, it’s not always the most practical method for fleet owners and government agencies. The cost alone of upgrading a city or company's fleet to green vehicles could pose as a massive budget constraint. 

Instead, many private and public sector fleets are turning to strategies that produce carbon emission savings that are able to help keep operating costs down while also promoting a positive impact on the environment. Investing in fuel efficiency solutions is becoming one of the most significant decisions a fleet manager can make and many are turning to innovative GPS tracking software platforms to achieve this. With such software, fleet managers are able to optimize their fleet's driving behavior, create efficient real-time travel routes, monitor idle-time, fuel use, and overall reduce fuel consumption.

Engine idling has long been a big culprit of carbon emissions and it is continually hurting the environment as well as a company or city's bottom line. For larger vehicles, an additional 10% in idle time equates to losing a percentage point in fuel economy savings.
Because of this fleet managers are adopting telematics software providing GPS-enabled alerts for excessive idling for both the driver and the manager.

A recent survey of commercial fleets deploying Teletrac's GPS tracking software showed a fuel savings of up to 30%. Teletrac has devoted a large part of the company's technology innovation to developing greater solutions for fleets to track, monitor and ultimately cut fuel use. Teletrac has fuel efficiency in its DNA, as they continue to focus on delivering technology for fleets to shrink the percentage of engine idle time, minimizing negligent driver behavior, eliminating out of route miles and avoiding high traffic dilemmas.

“We are exclusively a contract carrier and watch fuel expenses very, very closely. Our safety and fuel departments run Teletrac reports every morning detailing idling vs. driving time for each truck. We use these reports to coach drivers on ways to optimize fuel. Reducing excessive fuel burn is saving us millions of dollars.” — R.S. Walker Transport

GPS tracking solutions for the sake of monitoring driver behavior has been another popular trend amongst fleet managers looking to improve their carbon footprint. GPS tracking software gives fleet managers the ability to monitor driver performance in regard to speeding, acceleration, braking, and other factors that can have an impact on excessive fuel use. Many fleets have also adopted driver scorecarding programs based from the data they receive from such software.