Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

inbound

What if everyone took full advantage of fleet telematics?

New report quantifies the potential savings from use of fleet optimization technology and provides useful benchmarks for fleets of all sizes.

How much money could be saved if the commercial fleets in the United States and Canada that are currently using fleet optimization software achieved optimal results from that technology? A whole lot: The annual savings in fuel usage alone for the 12.6 percent of fleets that currently use fleet telematics could exceed $2 billion, and an average 20-percent decline in drivers' hours on the road could produce a whopping $35 billion reduction in payroll costs—more than $14,000 per vehicle.

These are just two examples of the eye-popping numbers in the first "FleetBeat" report produced by Fleetmatics, a developer of on-board telematics solutions that provide visibility into vehicle location, fuel use, speed, and mileage. The report estimates the impact, by market segment, that fleet management software could have on such areas as fleet utilization, service/delivery stop performance, service radius, fuel consumption, and payroll, if every fleet of five or more vehicles that is using this type of technology achieved the same results as Fleetmatics' optimized customers.


The numbers cited above are somewhat skewed, since they include everything from the local plumber driving a Dodge van around town to heavy-duty highway trucks. And, of course, as a vendor of optimization software, Fleetmatics has an obvious stake in the results of the analysis. But the detailed report is carefully researched, and the benchmarks are based on five years of data from customers and third-party sources, including research firms and federal governments. Here are just a few samples of the average improvements Fleetmatics says its "optimized" customers have achieved in for-hire trucking and "specialty" transport, which includes private fleets:

  • Overall service delivery performance (from inception of the technology to the present). Local and longer-haul for-hire trucking: 21 percent; specialty transport: 8 percent
  • Service radius increase. For-hire trucking (local): 102 miles; for-hire trucking (except local): 146 miles; specialty transport: 103 miles
  • Payroll reductions due to decrease in payroll hours. For-hire trucking (local): $20,005 annually; for-hire trucking (except local): $20,005; specialty transport: $16,236
  • Reduction in idle times. For-hire trucking (local): -9 percent change; for-hire trucking (except local): -13 percent change; specialty transport: -3 percent change

The full report, which includes breakdowns by industry vertical, season, and region, is available free at www.fleetmatics.com/fleetbeatreport.

Editor's note: The original version of this article incorrectly said the potential savings cited in the first paragraph could be achieved if all commercial fleets in the United States and Canada implemented fleet optimization software.

The Latest

More Stories

photo of containers at port of montreal

Port of Montreal says activities are back to normal following 2024 strike

Container traffic is finally back to typical levels at the port of Montreal, two months after dockworkers returned to work following a strike, port officials said Thursday.

Canada’s federal government had mandated binding arbitration between workers and employers through the country’s Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) in November, following labor strikes on both coasts that shut down major facilities like the ports of Vancouver and Montreal.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

autonomous tugger vehicle
Lift Trucks, Personnel & Burden Carriers

Cyngn delivers autonomous tuggers to wheel maker COATS

photo of a cargo ship cruising

Project44 tallies supply chain impacts of a turbulent 2024

Following a year in which global logistics networks were buffeted by labor strikes, natural disasters, regional political violence, and economic turbulence, the supply chain visibility provider Project44 has compiled the impact of each of those events in a new study.

The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.

Keep ReadingShow less
diagram of transportation modes

Shippeo gains $30 million backing for its transportation visibility platform

The French transportation visibility provider Shippeo today said it has raised $30 million in financial backing, saying the money will support its accelerated expansion across North America and APAC, while driving enhancements to its “Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform” product.

The funding round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, with participation from existing investors: Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good and Yamaha Motor Ventures. With this round, Shippeo’s total funding exceeds $140 million.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cover image for the white paper, "The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: expectations for 2025."

CSCMP releases new white paper looking at potential supply chain impact of incoming Trump administration

Donald Trump has been clear that he plans to hit the ground running after his inauguration on January 20, launching ambitious plans that could have significant repercussions for global supply chains.

With a new white paper—"The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: Expectations for 2025”—the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) seeks to provide some guidance on what companies can expect for the first year of the second Trump Administration.

Keep ReadingShow less
grocery supply chain workers

ReposiTrak and Upshop link platforms to enable food traceability

ReposiTrak, a global food traceability network operator, will partner with Upshop, a provider of store operations technology for food retailers, to create an end-to-end grocery traceability solution that reaches from the supply chain to the retail store, the firms said today.

The partnership creates a data connection between suppliers and the retail store. It works by integrating Salt Lake City-based ReposiTrak’s network of thousands of suppliers and their traceability shipment data with Austin, Texas-based Upshop’s network of more than 450 retailers and their retail stores.

Keep ReadingShow less