Savings expected through newly activated GSA telematics solutions

The United States General Services Administration (GSA) Fleet team recently activated more than 19,000 new telematics devices in its vehicles on factory-installed devices. In doing so, GSA reports it avoided approximately $1.45 million in installation costs. As the agency continues to expand its telematics program, it expects to save a minimum $775,000 annually in avoided installation costs for new vehicle acquisitions.

“This is the single largest increase in the history of GSA’s Fleet Telematics Program,” said Office of Travel, Transportation and Logistics Assistant Commissioner Crystal Philcox. “It brings the total number of telematics-enabled GSA Fleet leased vehicles to over 60,000.”

The vehicles were already equipped with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) integrated telematics; however, not all features were activated. This OEM solution is a burden-free, shared government service for GSA Fleet and its leasing customers. It provides comprehensive fleet management data and automated mileage reporting.

Telematics gathers data in real time and reflects actual vehicle usage. Usage details include trip duration, idling time, fuel use, and other data elements needed for inventory management. Telematics data can also be an essential component in determining which vehicles are suitable for electrification by analyzing their use in greater detail.

How to fleet’s telematics data to analyze and validate business expenses

Let’s understand how telematics are changing fleet management systems. Whether you have a trucking, delivery, commercial or government fleet, operating it is going to cost money. But like most businesses, you likely budget and forecast those expenses as a part of your standard operations. 

By using fleet management software, you can now have connected vehicle data which in turn can help you calculate actual operating expenses which can then be compared to your budget. Comparing the numbers will help fleet managers determine areas where they can effectively cut costs, increase productivity, identify outlier expenses and eradicate them and achieve overall fleet savings.

Telematics solution provides great insights into driver behavior and attitude. These insights help fleet managers observe driver performance and also keep an eye out for collision data. When a vehicle collision occurs, it is important to know why and how, but also be able to gather essential information for insurance and potential litigation purposes.

You can also track fleet fuel efficiency

Fuel consumption is a major expense in fleet management, and time spent idling is costing you money. According to the U.S Department of Energy, an idling vehicle could cost at minimum one gallon of fuel per hour. If you do the math, you can calculate that one hour of idling per week could cost your company up to $65 per truck per year, assuming an average price of $2.50 per gallon. Fuel consumption is also impacted by load, accessories (such as refrigeration), and ambient temperature. Every vehicle in your fleet idling for even an hour a week could be costing your business thousands of dollars a year.

A fuel management system can help fleet owners who effectively use telematics to reduce fuel costs by as much as 14%. Integrating fleet management into your vehicles will help you monitor and report on idling, allowing you to adjust policies for when a driver should turn off the ignition, and coach drivers to save you money. Telematics also helps with driver coaching, which eventually translates into fleet savings.