An aggressive goal
Filed under: Uncategorized
During the past week I have been researching the ways fleets use data captured from vehicles by telematics devices. One of the fleets I interviewed for the article is the private fleet of Xpedx, a division of International Paper Co. In October 2006, the 23-truck fleet based in Cincinnati, Ohio, implemented a new onboard computing solution from Xata. Immediately, transportation manager Chris Suttle began monitoring engine idle percentage, one of the largest controllable cost centers in any fleet. It was 20 percent. For any for-hire, common carrier, this would be an acceptable number. In fact, most of the fleets I have spoken with would be pleased.
One year later, the company’s idle percentage is 0.8 percent. By monitoring the idle percentage of each vehicle at each stop or facility, Xpedx has come up with acceptable tolerances for each location. As soon as any truck exceeds the idle time at a location, the fleet manager gets a warning. I found this quite fascinating, since I can’t imagine any for-hire carrier monitoring its idle times down to the route-level detail. Since Xpedx’s routes are pretty predictable–they don’t do backhauls for revenue–they can fine tune their costs. The amount of precision it takes to have a fleet average of 0.8 percent engine idle is truly amazing, however.
Fleet managers also take immediate actions to rectify safety-related problems, as reported by the Xata system, including rapid acceleration, speeding, hard braking, and engine fault codes. Once the real-time exception alerts and scheduled reports are set up to monitor the right parameters for fleet goals for drivers, the organization or customers, they never have to touch them again.
“It is not something you have to go back and manage,” Suttle says. Even so, he admits there is more information than he will ever be able to use.
The level of precision that many private fleets operate with for their routes, drivers and equipment management is truly fascinating. As I hear more strategies and results, you will be the first to know.
Leave a Reply