Source Ranjith Shenoy

Businesses will always look for various ways to reduce the operational cost of their transport activities. Every day, Transport Managers are put under pressure to efficiently run their vehicles without any hassle and at the same time, they are also bound to control the expenses to a larger extent. Reducing the transportation cost is not an easy job for a Transport Manager, especially for the one who supervises many vehicles under him. The best way of identifying potential cost saving factors in managing a fleet would be to find out the high cost centers. In transport management, fuel expense accounts up to 30% of overall operating cost, urging many companies to claim this as one of the major concerning factors in their budget. To reduce fuel costs, Transport Managers will often try to eliminate excessive idling, over speeding, observing drivers for harsh braking, faulty route planning, etc. But there are even other ways of optimizing the utilization of vehicles; On considering those factors, it will definitely help in controlling the operating costs of transport activities. To gather the requisite data for vehicle optimization, businesses are opting Telematics Solutions. With the advancement of fleet management technology, Transport Managers can now easily get real-time data to learn about their vehicle’s status. An effective Fleet Management Application is a one-stop solution to handle multiple transport operations of any corporate. It gives an easy access to learn the whereabouts of their fleet vehicles anytime, anywhere. With better visibility on the operations they can improve accountability, and in-turn, will be able to eliminate the questionable expenditures. But that’s not all; the data collected from a fleet management application can be used further to optimize the transport operations. This essentially assists the Transport Manager to point out / eliminate all the discrepancies in their functioning. During this process, the companies can significantly cut down on the transportation costs wherever possible. Given below are five major ways to help companies in reducing the Employee Transportation Costs and scale-up their business: 1) Optimize the Trips with an automated Routing and Scheduling engine: In-terms of Transportation, the fleet vehicles and the drivers in-charge of those are the most important assets for any company. So, the key to maximize their success and increase revenue is to optimize the routes and vehicle utilization. This can be achieved with the help of an automated Routing & Scheduling module fused with the fleet management application. Its flexibility to adjust to the day-to-day realities helps in improving proper seat utilization, optimal usage of vehicles, reducing travel time of employees etc., ultimately benefits the companies with increased productivity and maximum revenue. 2) Reduce Manpower by adopting advanced Fleet Management Technology: Manpower costs are often the largest line item for any corporate. Hence, to successfully control this, one must balance adequate resourcing with cost. The Transport manager must identify and reduce the amount of time staff spends on low-value administrative work and replace it with automated systems. Advanced fleet management technologies are enabling this balance by Automatically scheduling the activities, Promoting paperless transactions, Reducing call volume, Automating the dispatch process and Managing many more advanced tasks at low cost, helping companies to be more productive than ever before. 3) Eliminate dry runs with effective utilisation of vehicles: Fuel wastages can be extremely worrying factor for any Transport Manager, especially when there are too many unwanted dry runs. Some of the reasons responsible for dry runs are Faulty route planning, Scheduling errors, Drivers collecting trip sheets from garages, Poor optimisation of vehicles, No prior intimation of Employees’ no-show act etc. All these can be eliminated with the help of a right fleet management app. The app provides an end-to-end solution with advanced features which helps in effective utilisation of vehicles all the time. 4) Monitor vehicle & Driver behaviour using real-time data: Today, the smartphones/mobile devices are embedded with advanced motion sensors, making it easy for a Transport Manager to monitor the vehicles and can easily get information on driving behaviour of all their drivers. This assists to identify risky driving manoeuvres and to improve driver efficiency, which essentially helps in reducing the vehicle accidents, keeping a check on insurance premiums, identifying staff downtime, ensuring on-time vehicle maintenance etc. A constant look-up on the functioning, helps in taking necessary actions on-time, avoiding the damages and in-turn cost. 5) Conduct strategic assessments using insightful reports: An effective strategy on transport activities is important as it defines a business’ approach towards fleet management. Different strategies must be implemented and reviewed regularly to ensure company’s growth. An advanced fleet management app provides all the insightful analytical data required to analyse the functioning. This gives a complete understanding to right-size the fleet vehicles, develop a safety culture, adapt some fuel management techniques, improve on customer satisfaction, bring-in relevant policies and procedures for drivers to manage a sustainable & cost-effective fleet. In the era of technological advancements, it is important for any corporate to understand the cost flow of all their operations right from procurement to delivery. To beat heavy competition in market, the respective business should be the cost leader by all means. With a solid integration plan in place, the company will gain loyal customers, streamline their delivery processes, and save a lot of money. When one wants to improve the profit margin in their business by reducing the Transportation Costs, it's a great idea to consider and implement the above-mentioned ways. These measures will definitely curb the unnecessary expenses and results in effective management of transport activities. For more information on how to reduce significant costs in Employee Transport Management, kindly write to us on info@suntelematics.com or visit our website www.suntelematics.com