How do you become a class leader in the trucking industry? You must be a trend setter. No matter what size your fleet is, you need to be ready to adopt new technologies and methodologies to help you succeed in a crowded and challenging marketplace. By focusing on the right performance indicators and using telematics solutions to make sense of the data, trucking companies turn from good to great.
But once you have invested in a solution and established your fleet goals, what are the next steps? Running a trucking company isn’t easy. You need to know whether you are effectively running your business. If you are not using key performance indicators to measure your organization, you might not be running an effective program.
Improve What You Measure
Have you ever heard of the adage that you can only improve what you measure? There is a lot of truth to that saying. If you aren’t collecting actionable data on your operation, you won’t get effective results. When you are establishing your key performance indicators, you need to make sure they are:
- Well-defined
- Quantifiable
- Properly communicated
- Goal specific
- Line of business applicable
Obviously, what you measure can differ based on fleet size and industry type. Every motor carrier faces their own challenges. KPIs can differ based on everything from fleet size to industry type and more. Still, there are certain data points that every fleet should measure, regardless of size. Let’s take a closer look at the universal indicators every trucking company should be looking at.
Measure Speeding
Obviously, speeding can be incredibly dangerous, especially when one is driving a tractor trailer. And even more, not only is it very dangerous but it also decreases fuel economy, which has a negative impact on your bottom line. If you look at data provided by a reputable fuel statistics organization, gas mileage begins to drop precipitously at speeds over 50 miles per hour.
You can generally assume that for every 5 miles per hour driven over 50, you are burning up an extra 20 cents per gallon. If instead you monitor fleet performance and reduce incidents of speeding, you can save on average between 7% and 14% on your fleet fuel bill.
But let’s talk for a moment about more than your fuel bill. There are lives at stake here and it is without a doubt that excess speed increases the risk of accident-related injuries. Research has found that nearly a third of all fatal crashes involve at least one speeding driver. The last thing you want is for one of your truck drivers to be one of them. The best way to curb fatal or injurious crashes is to decrease instances of speeding within your fleet.
Stop Harsh Braking and Acceleration
When truck drivers brake harshly, this could be a symbol of them engaging in unsafe behaviors. Just consider that harsh braking on a regular basis basically means your truck driver is frequently barely avoiding accidents. Unsafe driving like this can be a major problem.
When truck drivers apply regular and unnecessary force to the brakes it will only increase wear and tear on the pads, tires, and other braking components. It is also important to remember that harsh braking and aggressive acceleration often go together. Why? Because you usually don’t have one without the other.
Fortunately, with the proper telematics set up and KPIs in place, your system will notify you whenever a vehicle’s brake or accelerator are jammed. Without having a technology like this place you are going to be flying blind when it comes to the actions of your truck drivers while they are out there on the road. By measuring harsh braking and aggressive acceleration together, you can identify truck drivers who need more coaching.
When a Crash Occurs
One of the worst things any fleet manager wants to hear is that a crash as occurred on his or her watch. Depending on the severity of the accident, it could put smaller trucking companies out of business. The fact is crashes of almost any kind post a major threat to your fleet. Whether it be through litigation or resultant downtime, your fleet suffers.
And here’s the thing, when a crash happens, you need to know exactly what happened, when, why, and who was involved. When you establish what causes the accident you can make a proper determination as to whether your truck driver is at fault or not. If it is the fault of the driver, it is incumbent on you to provide them with the training they need to prevent the accident from happening again.
And if your truck driver is not at fault in the accident, you want to make sure you have the data to back it up. With nuclear verdicts and high insurance costs on everyone’s mind, you need to be armed with enough information to keep a plaintiff’s attorney at bay. You do that by investing in technology and properly setting up your KPIs.
Getting Better Fuel Economy
Fuel economy is often one of the most vexing aspects of running a trucking company. First you must understand the basic fuel economy equation. At its heart, fuel economy simply refers to the relationship between the distance a vehicle travels and the amount of fuel that is used per unit of travel. Generally, trucking companies measure fuel use in a couple of ways.
- The volume of fuel it takes to travel a certain distance.
- The distance travelled per volume of the fuel that’s been consumed.
Fuel economy often interrelates with the other factors on this list. Because when a truck driver speeds, they are burning more fuel. Wen they undergo rapid acceleration, they burn more fuel. Everything from excessive idling to driving through hilly terrain and braking harshly, it all has an impact on fuel economy.
There is a direct relation between:
- Monitoring fleet data
- Fuel savings
- Reduction in speed incidents
Watching for Underutilized Miles
There is something worse than when your cup runneth empty; it’s when your miles runneth empty. Empty or underutilized miles refers to situations where commercial motor vehicles are operating without carrying freight or passengers. These are referred to as empty miles.
It is easy to understand the concept of empty miles. If a tractor completes a delivery 300 miles away and then drives back from that delivery empty, those are considered empty miles. They are miles that have not generated income and if anything, they incur costs. Obviously, empty miles are a big waste of time, fuel, and money, yet they can also be a safety hazard.
If a big rig is driving around with an empty trailer, it is more susceptible to swaying or tipping over. This problem is exacerbated in bad weather. In the end, no good comes out of underutilized miles. You want to make sure you are practicing proper route optimization to keep your trailers filled.
Keep Fleet Utilization High
If you want to find the true measure of your fleet’s efficiency, you’ve got to take a hard look at fleet asset utilization. There are several factors you must evaluate when assessing fleet utilization. The first, and most important, is the volume a commercial motor vehicle can carry compared to what it is currently carrying.
You also want to take a close look at driver hours of service that have not been fully allocated. Also, are there customer service requirements you must keep in mind, such as specific time windows for deliveries. How long are your vehicles normally detained and how many stops en-route do they usually take?
Maintenance can also impact fleet utilization. Are you ensuring your vehicles are properly maintained? Is preventative maintenance at the top of your shop’s priority list? If your trucks sit idle because they are broken down, expect to see your fleet asset utilization metrics take a deep dive.
HOS and Unassigned Mileage
The final metrics you have to keep a close eye on if you want to make sure you run a well-oiled trucking company are hours of service violations and unassigned mileage. According to FMCSA guidelines, operators of commercial motor vehicles and private motor carriers have a limited amount of daily and weekly working hours they can log.
With the ELD mandate in full force, there is no excuse for trucking companies to not be ensuring their truck drivers properly log and regulate their time. Not only does ensuring HOS compliance protect the companies bottom line, it makes for a safer fleet.
Finally, you want to pay close attention to unassigned mileage. In the age of the ELD, it is up to the trucking company to ensure their tuck drivers are not logging unassigned miles. You want to make sure your vehicles are never being misused or improperly utilized.
No matter what type of business you run, there is always data to consider. Metrics and benchmarks must be set and aligned to ensure