Tag Archive for: tips

Clean air filter: reduction in fuel consumption

Truck and road are the perfect match. Unfortunately, road and dust, too. When managing fleets traveling on different highways, the conditions of each route need to be considered. Good scripting is essential in the logistics process, but it is not always possible to avoid places that could harm the vehicle’s health or that could bring unexpected costs.

So it is with the dirt accumulated in truck systems, the air filter is a great accumulator of this dirt. Filters are one of the most important parts of truck mechanics. The correct maintenance of the components ensures, in addition to longer service life for the engine, to avoid some problems, such as:

 

– Filter clogging

– Entry of dust, earth, and other particles into the engine’s combustion chamber

– Engine overheating

 

The last item is linked to fuel consumption, as the hotter the engine, the more performance can be harmed, thus stimulating a greater expenditure on fuel. Cleaning the air filters well brings safety and economy. However, as a fleet manager you must be aware of the conditions of all vehicles, and to take care of the filter, only specialized professionals must do the maintenance. As the filter is what helps to regulate the air intake for the fuel, cleaning and periodically changing it will also make a final difference in your fuel costs.

For each gallon of fuel burned, the engine uses up to 10,000 gallons of air; thus it is easy to understand how vital a clean air filter is to the proper operation of a car. So here we listed some benefits of changing your air filter regularly: 

 

  1. Increased fuel efficiency

One of the biggest reasons to change your air filter regularly. Some studies indicate that replacing a dirty air filter increases fuel mileage on older, carbureted cars by as much as 14 percent if the filter is so dirty it affects driveability. In addition, changing a clogged air filter can potentially increase acceleration by 6 to 11 percent on modern fuel-injected cars. Other studies claim a 10 percent increase in gas mileage and up to 15¢ per gallon fuel savings. 

  1. Prolongs engine life

Changing the air filter regularly helps prolong engine life because the air filter is designed to trap damaging dirt and debris that can damage internal engine parts such as the cylinders and pistons. Engine damage can occur from particles as small as a grain of salt and result in costly repairs. 

 

  1. Inexpensive and quick fix

An air filter is one of the least expensive maintenance components to replace and can be done by doing it yourself. It is important to make certain the replacement air filter is designed for your exact make and model of car.

In addition to taking care of filter cleaning, there are other ways to regulate and reduce fuel consumption in your fleet. One of them is with Link2Pump. We made fuel tracking and reporting simple. In the era of data and connectivity, Link2Pump empowers businesses to take control of their fuel usage. Our solution combines a web portal and a device connected to your fuel dispenser.

Link2Pump also offers an open API for seamless and free integration with 3rd party softwaresYour fuel transactions and tank inventory data in the L2P system can interface via web service with basically any software platform, such as fleet fuel cards, billing programs, fleet maintenance, telematics, and much more. You can also export to text and spreadsheet files. 

 

Our company has solutions for several industries, such as agriculture, aviation, construction, government, marinas, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and utilities. If you want to learn more about our solution and are looking for alternatives to improve the bottom line and productivity, please get in touch.

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Tips to prepare your trucks for winter

Falling temperatures, snow, and ice hitting large swaths of North America, presenting challenges for trucks and fleets. Now is the time to prepare. Here are some tips to avoid no-starts, frozen doors, and windows, engine freeze-up, and accidents. 

Battery 

Cold weather drains batteries fast. Check the age and strength of your battery.

 

Cooling system

You have to worry about cooling systems in cold weather. A comprehensive winterization check should include inspections of the radiator, belts, and hoses for potential failures. Also, check the coolant to see if it’s at the optimum freeze point.

 

Tires and brakes

Remember that driver assistance technologies like stability control and collision mitigation rely on the maintenance of complementary systems like tires and brakes to ensure performance in the field. Maintaining these systems is especially critical in winter when electronic systems may be called on more often to help mitigate crashes. Check tires for adequate tread depth and proper wear, and wheel-ends for tight bolts and cracks.

 

The fuel filter and water separator

Monitor the truck’s water separator daily and drain it when full to avoid contamination. Replacing old fuel filters also protects the engine.

 

Cabin Air Filter

Cabin air filters often get neglected on late model cars and trucks. You may not consider this important maintenance, but a clogged cabin air filter can dramatically reduce airflow through your car’s heater, stressing the blower motor and overheating the blower motor resistor.

 

Fuel efficiency

Remove accessories that can increase wind resistance: a large roof-top cargo box can reduce fuel economy by 2% to 8% in city driving, and 6% to 17% on the highway, reports FuelEconomy.gov.

 

Try to park in a warm place: your engine will stay slightly warmer in the garage than it would if you park outside in the elements. There are two major benefits to this: it will reduce the time needed for your engine to warm to a fuel-efficient temperature, and it will save you from needing to use a defrosting feature in your vehicle that can lead to getting fewer miles per gallon.

 

Monitor your tire pressure: To ensure that your vehicle is getting the maximum fuel economy possible, keep a close eye on your tire pressure. Winter temperatures can cause changes in tire pressure and those changes can hurt your fuel efficiency.

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Trucker Health Must Improve

Many truck drivers end up caring a lot about the integrity of the loads they carry or the truck itself, but they forget the most important thing: their health. More than 50% of truck drivers are obese, compared to 26.7% of all U.S. adults. Similarly, diabetes is 50% more common in truckers than in the general population, and 54% of truckers smoke, compared to just 21% overall. These health issues can put drivers at greater risk of disease, increase their medical bills, hinder their quality of life and even endanger their lives.

Many of these health trends result from the industry’s long hours, little flexibility and limited options. Consequently, the trucking industry must change to promote healthier lifestyles. Here we list some examples of what can be done. 

 

Provide Health Information Resources

Trucking companies and truck stops should offer resources to teach truckers how to improve their eating, exercise and other health habits. Information alone won’t solve the sector’s health issues, but it provides a starting point. Without it, becoming healthier is far more challenging.

 

Make Schedules More Flexible

One of the reasons so many truckers face health issues is because of their schedules. Since truckers work long hours, they may not have the time to exercise regularly. More flexible schedules would help give drivers the time they need to become more physically active.

 

Reward Healthy Behavior

Trucking companies can encourage healthier lifestyle choices by rewarding them. A sense of competition, or even just the thought of a prize, can convince drivers who may not otherwise be interested in health programs. Companies can create a tier system where drivers who meet different goals receive increasing awards.

Drivers can also do their part by including some of these items in their daily routine:

 

  1. Stay Hydrated
  2. Eat Fruits & Vegetables
  3. Avoid Stimulants
  4. Eat light
  5. Eat less junk food 
  6. Sleep and rest
  7. Get exercise

 

Healthier truckers will spend less on medical bills, have a higher quality of life and live longer. While health may be a matter of personal choices, trucking companies can help improve the safety of their employees by promoting better options.

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Connection puts the driver at its center

The promise of capturing vehicle data and turning it into profitable new services and business models has driven significant investments in the commercial vehicle telematics space by truck manufacturers and suppliers.

 

However, despite significant investments in IT platforms, vehicle technology, and service innovations, we have not yet reached the maximum. We still have spaces to make more progress. 

 

With all the sensors that can be placed on vehicles and the large amount of data that can be collected, it is necessary to implement a data collection strategy. Players need to understand which services create value from a fleet or owner-operator perspective, how this translates into a dataset to be collected, how sufficient data quality can be ensured to define baselines, and which sensors can be effectively deployed to collect the relevant data.

 

What you need now is to find the right engagement model, collaborate on service design, and potentially co-create services together with customers. All of this is to protect the core business around predictive maintenance and dealer integration, for example in service activities.

 

From a fleet perspective, the central element that enables fleet productivity and profits continue to be the driver. Driver availability and escalating driver costs are top-of-mind for many fleets globally.

 

Making the job of a driver more attractive is a key challenge. Ways to address this are increasing cabin comfort and convenience, leveraging the right communication technology in the vehicle, and providing the right environment in terms of software and app support to drivers both from work as well as a leisure perspective. Telematics plays a role in all these areas.

 

Starting from a safety and security perspective, traffic accidents involving trucks are a major issue for all road participants. Technology that documents a crash, such as via a video camera that tracks the environment and the driver, can provide vital evidence in legal trials. Beyond this application, a basic breakdown service that communicates the severity and location of the crash as well as informing the emergency services is a clear benefit.

 

Driver health tech tracking heart rates, stress levels, and glucose levels can contribute to improved road safety as well. In emergencies, such as a heart attack, the vehicle can take over and execute a safe emergency stop.

 

On driver welfare, interior memory settings are used to adjust factors such as seating or mirror positions to meet driver needs. Radio stations and apps can be pre-selected according to driver preferences. Condition-based or predictive maintenance enhances uptime which is good for fleet managers but also for drivers who are paid per mile driven.

 

Predictive maintenance, statistical analysis of workshop activities, and their integration in the workflow have the potential to generate profits either via increased revenue or via reduced cost.

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How does a fuel management system work?

How does a fuel management system work?

Fuel is one of the top 3 expenses in any fleet’s cost structure. Tracking and reporting where it is being spent can be challenging and time-consuming. So how do you stay on top of it? 

Link2Pump offers a simple solution that automates the entire fueling and tracking process. This way, you will always know where every drop of fuel is going, keep your inventory under control and do much more to drive fuel efficiency and performance to your fleet. 

 

But how it works? 

The Link2Pump Pedestal unit connects to your fuel dispenser, protecting your fuel from unauthorized use. The operator will be prompted for key information, like a driver, vehicle number, and mileage. Only then the L2P unit activates the pump. While the operator fills up the tank, L2P records the gallons being pumped and uploads all fueling data to your online account once the transaction is over fueling data is available in real-time and you can see and manage it from any device. Cloud backup guarantees zero chance of data loss.

Link2Pump also offers an open API for seamless and free integration with 3rd party software. Your fuel transactions and tank inventory data in the L2P system can interface via web service with basically any software platform, such as fleet fuel cards, billing programs, fleet maintenance, telematics, and much more. You can also export to text and spreadsheet files.

Our unique lifetime warranty protects your investment and eliminates unexpected expenses. We offer a hassle-free parts replacement policy, where servicing is simple and easy and can be done quickly by the customer, reducing down-time to a minimum.

Take your data off the paper and into the cloud and drive your business forward with Link2Pump. If you want to learn more about our solution and are looking for alternatives to improve bottom line and productivity, please get in touch.

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Equipment finance industry confidence improves in July

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation released the July 2021 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). The index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $900 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 72.9, an increase from the June index of 71.3.

Some of the results are: 
  • When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 58.6% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 42.3% in June. 41.4% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 57.7% the previous month. None believe business conditions will worsen, unchanged from June.

 

  • 55.2% of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, up from 51.9% in June. 41.4% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, a decrease from 48.2% the previous month. 3.5% believe demand will decline, up from none in June.

 

  • 27.6% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” an increase from 22.2% the previous month. 72.4% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” down from 77.8% in June. None evaluate it as “poor,” unchanged from last month.

 

  • 48.3% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 51.9% in June. 51.7% indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, an increase from 48.2% last month. None believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, unchanged from the previous month.
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5 ways to enhance fleet efficiency

Fleet management is a task that initially may seem easy, but in practice, it presents great complexity. Good fleet management is not only related to taking care of the entry and exit of vehicles. Good fleet management must understand the entire operation, maximizing the availability of vehicles to perform services, reducing costs with tires, fines, maintenance, fuel, and ensuring driver satisfaction.

It is a strategic activity for fleet companies and, therefore, it needs to achieve good results to ensure the company’s competitiveness and the quality of the service provided. However, with so many processes and information to deal with, how to organize fleet management to make it more efficient?

This is a big challenge for the manager and we are going to present 5 tips here that can help you with this task.

Train the drivers

Drivers have a huge role to play in fleet operations. Driver training is a popular practice adopted by companies around the world to improve efficiency. It ensures that a driver is fully capable enough to handle all kinds of situations while driving. 

With a well-trained and experienced workforce, businesses can save a lot of expense. It includes fuel costs and vehicle maintenance charges. In addition to that, a skillful driver can avoid accidents, saving companies from a lot of operational and financial problems.

Improve Fuel Management

The tracking solutions offer an excellent fuel management feature that caters to all the fueling needs. It monitors the fuel levels of the vehicles in real-time, providing useful insights about consumption trends. Also, companies that manage the cost of fuel well spend up to 30% less than companies that do not control the expense.

Use Mobile Application

It is essential to stay connected to the team all the time. The managers should be aware of the operations whether they are in the office or not. To monitor operations on the go, a mobile app can be used. With the help of the app, they can have all the main features of the management software on their mobile device. It helps the managers to keep doing their job from any remote location, ensuring smooth operational flow.

Keep Vehicles Well Maintained

Along with your drivers, your vehicles are your most important asset. Keeping them well maintained and regularly serviced prolongs their useful life and helps avoid expensive downtime. Having all the data at your fingertips lets you keep close control over their condition, allowing faults to be dealt with before they become major issues.

Improve Team Communications

Your fleet drivers are an invaluable asset, so treat them with respect and keep them fully informed. In addition to regular training, it’s important to give them the necessary information to do their work to the very best of their abilities.

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How Often Should You Conduct Safety Training?

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Companies that value well-trained employees often have ongoing training programs in place. Ongoing does not mean continuous, so how often should you provide ongoing training to employees?

Certain safety training topics have to be refreshed or retrained on a set schedule. In most cases, safety or other training courses that result in or require certification will only be valid for a certain length of time before retraining is required. It is always a good idea to take note of what safety training expires and when so that you can ensure that all employees are properly trained and certified.

When you first train a new employee, they will take security messages seriously, but without any follow-up training, they will probably incorporate some unsafe habits. That puts you, them, and everyone on the road with them at risk. You need to make safety training a regular part of driving for your company.

If you want to protect your people and reduce accidents, safety training must be a continuous process. It’s not just an onboarding event.

An effective safety training program:

  • Uses monthly safety meetings to reduce your biggest loss-leaders
  • Delivers important safety messages daily
  • Features larger training events throughout the year

Organize monthly safety meetings to reduce your biggest loss leaders. Make safety training a part of everyday work life with daily safety tips and briefings to start the day. Host larger training events a few times a year to dig into complex safety issues.

Preventive training aims precisely at correcting bad behaviors, conscious or not, that lead to risk. And it is not just the company that has had a serious or fatal accident that should seek training – ideally, the risk is identified to avoid the accident.

This is where the safety culture comes in: a set of good practices that are shared with employees. Uniform training and guidance among those responsible for work safety and drivers help foster this type of culture.

More than that, training manages to put the risky habits into context, making the act of driving more conscious than unconscious – that is, avoiding recklessness and distraction.

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Tools you must have for contractor fleet management

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Fleet management is a complex activity. It involves legal obligations, costs, payment of fines, expenses with maintenance, purchase, team management, and much more. If you need to be more efficient, you should have softwares and technologies that will help you with these tasks. With the right tools in place, you can save time and money. Also, if you choose cloud-based software, you can manage from anywhere on any device!

Fleet Maintenance Software

A fleet maintenance software will help you avoid unexpected fleet vehicle and equipment breakdowns. You can track your vehicles and assets data to maximize value and minimize costs. With cloud data storage, you can manage vehicle information and track vehicle maintenance history from anywhere. Preventive maintenance schedules will also help you save time and money. 

GPS Tracking Software

GPS can be very helpful in a fleet management system. A good GPS tool can help increase the productivity of drivers, speed delivery times, bring efficiency levels high, and give businesses a pool of data that they can study to ensure operations are in best shape. GPS-based fleets are two times more successful than those without.

When you save time, you increase your productivity. Instead of drivers spending time waiting for traffic to move, they can, for example, make multiple deliveries. Not only will your customers be happy with the fast service, but your drivers and employees will be able to get more work done, saving you both labor and transport time.

Fuel Management Solution

With automated supply, the logistics become much more agile: times are shortened and you no longer depend on external factors that reduce business efficiency. In addition to being able to be placed in strategic locations, a fuel management solution allows the entire fueling process, including vehicle identification and odometer reading, to be completed very quickly.

The main advantages of installing your own fueling point are:

  • Fuel quality assurance, reducing the risk of fraud and ensuring that the entire fleet can have the same performance;
  • Elimination of the costs of moving machinery/vehicles to the gas station;
  • Practicality and speed of supply, since it will have the availability of supply 24 hours;
  • Fuel tax refund; 
  • Centralization and rationalization of consumption control.

Technology is a very important part of the fleet industry. If you are looking for a fuel management partner that is a complete high-tech solution to control commercial fleets fueling, contact us.

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5 tips for fleet equipment maintenance management

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Fleet maintenance is the process of keeping your vehicles operating in a good enough condition so that they are safe, reliable, and can stay on the road longer. Developing a preventative maintenance program is an important part of managing a fleet and helps businesses reduce operating costs and improve vehicle inspection outcomes, among other benefits.

Without a proactive approach to fleet maintenance, you risk compromising your employees’ safety and paying for costly emergency repairs and unplanned downtime. That’s why the health of your vehicles is a good overall indicator of the health of your business.

1 – Preventive maintenance

There are three types of fleet maintenance:

Corrective maintenance: Made when the defect has worsened and needs repairs, and aims to restore the vehicle’s normal use condition;

Predictive maintenance: The purpose of predictive maintenance, as the name suggests, is to predict when a failure may occur, based on wear, vibration, noise, heating, or other indicators, depending on the type of equipment, machine or vehicle in question, this avoids unnecessary downtime and breaks that would harm productivity;

Preventive maintenance: This type of maintenance aims to reduce excessive expenses with the fleet, as it is based on scheduling stops in advance for adjustments, lubrication, and replacement of components. Its cost is usually between 30% to 40% lower than the other modalities, in addition to increasing the time between maintenance, increasing safety, and reducing the probability of problems on the road.

To use these benefits, it is necessary to draw up a maintenance plan: in an agenda, or a fleet management software, point out which vehicles and components will be overhauled and the respective dates. Do it in a way that meets the need for maintenance of each type of vehicle, in addition to not leaving the fleet without enough units to operate and meet the demand of the company and its customers.

2 – Know the vehicles of your fleet

Know all the specifications of each vehicle in the fleet, this will help to structure the fleet maintenance plan mentioned above, as you will know the ideal parts, the exact moment, and how to maintain each one. Some of the most important information about each vehicle is:

  • maintenance recommended by the manufacturer;
  • frequency of filter and lubricant changes;
  • performance characteristics and load capacity;
  • wear ratio per load weight;
  • characteristics of your travel routes, such as roads in poor condition.
3 – Get qualified labor for fleet maintenance

As important for companies as investing in good quality vehicles, tires, parts, and components, the investment made must be preserved through the use of qualified labor for its driving and maintenance. 

The more specialized and competent the mechanic, the higher the quality of the maintenance provided, which will result in savings in maintenance, longer life of the truck, fewer stops due to breakages, and consequently, profitability on the fleet will be higher.

Besides, hire conscientious and responsible professionals who know how to take proper care when driving the vehicle, this helps to reduce wear and prevent possible accidents.

4 – Invest in fleet management and maintenance software

The use of fleet control spreadsheets, parts stock control spreadsheets, and maintenance control spreadsheets, in general, is often quite complicated and unreliable, in addition to the fact that preparing and feeding these documents is time-consuming for employees. Also, an ineffective control causes unnecessary parts to be purchased, maintenance periods go out of control, mathematical failures occur, data may be lost, among other problems.

These complications can be overcome with the simple implementation of fleet management and maintenance software, the program automates the entire bureaucratic process, issues maintenance alerts according to the launched fleet maintenance plans, issues more detailed and comprehensive reports, help to eliminate human error, reduces the need for typing and rework and allows employees to spend more time on their core activities.

With Link2Pump you can take control over everything related to fueling, improving delivery planning and fuel distribution, and also with a lifetime warranty. We offer a hassle-free parts replacement policy, where servicing is simple and easy and can be done quickly by the customer, reducing downtime to a minimum. 

5 – Track equipment maintenance expenses

A good fleet manager knows how to work together with the financial sector and the company management to create a budget plan that will allow you to define the limits of each type of spending on your fleet, so that on a day-to-day basis you can identify possible deviations and excesses, and work to heal them, preventing them from compromising the company’s profitability.

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