Fleets preparing for the replacement of ICE vehicles for EV alternatives are looking to understand true utilization of assets to identify surplus needs and rightsizing of assets.

Many fleet managers are utilizing idle reduction tools not only to decrease fuel consumption and emissions, but as a strategy to reduce fleet costs. With budget-cuts happening all around, opportunities for scaling back unnecessary spend are top-of-mind for every fleet manager today. Luckily, idle reduction efforts are a successful approach to this challenge.

For fleet managers, reducing GHGs starts with an accurate understanding of how much their fleet emits in the first place. This is where GHG reporting comes in. Utilimarc’s GHG analytics takes data from different sources to help fleets measure and report their emissions. This could be at a higher level or down to the details of which vehicles, classes, and fuel types are contributing the most.

Fortunately for fleet managers today, BI is an easy-to-implement tool that converts data sources into new opportunities. Using these key insights, managers can cut out ineffective guesswork and instead, strategize with informed, data-backed decisions. In this article, we explore the top five reasons why every fleet striving for total optimization should be using Business Intelligence for their data analysis needs.

Industry comparisons are a powerful tool that should be integral to any fleet management strategy. By analyzing your fleet’s performance metrics against industry benchmarks, you get a more accurate, apples-to-apples comparison and ultimately, deeper insights.

The new benchmarking application features improvements for a more dynamic customer experience and deeper understanding of fleet data. With an expanded report set, increased visualizations and filter capabilities and macro-level Benchmark Study trends, the redesign delivers an in-depth data reporting experience on an intuitive and interactive platform.

The start of a new year brings a new set of objectives and reflection on last year’s goals for most fleet managers. Did your fleet performed as you hoped it would? Do you have what you need to work toward goals for 2023? Business intelligence is a great tool for helping fleets prepare for these changes and create a forward-thinking management strategy.

While we have recovered from the pandemic in many ways, there are new challenges within the supply chain that persist, adding another layer of complexity to fleet management and vehicle replacement. While managers used to plan replacement a year in advance, current lead times have increased to 2-3+ years depending on the vehicle class.

On October 11, Utilimarc released the results of their most recent survey covering 2022 Fleet Inflation rates. The survey was run in partnership with Xcel Energy, a utilities company based in Minnesota, and studied how recent inflation has affected the ways in which fleets operate and manage rising costs.

An emissions profile is a powerful tool for supporting fleet sustainability initiatives. The profile closely details a fleet or organization’s total carbon emissions within a certain period of time. This profile includes emissions from activities ranging from energy generation, fuel consumption and other daily operations.

Telematics is an essential management tool for many commercial and government fleets. Whether your chosen solution comes factory-embedded from the manufacturer or is added in after acquisition, telematics helps managers to monitor and understand their fleet assets.

BI helps fleets to futureproof by creating a reliable and repeatable management strategy that is flexible to change. With the fleet industry changing so rapidly today, this helps managers look toward long-term success, focusing on cost-reduction opportunities and sustainable resource management.

Fuel is one of the biggest capital spends for any fleet, so detailed reporting on fuel spend is always important. As fuel prices rise, however, ensuring that reports are accurate is critical to a successful fleet budget and preventing fuel fraud.

Sustainability is interwoven into futureproofing for many reasons. At its core, the idea and goal of sustainability is to carry out our actions and meet our needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations doing the same. This is essentially the same goal as futureproofing, no?

Recently, in partnership with Consumer’s Energy, we ran a survey to learn more about how fleets are changing their take-home policies (if at all), especially as we exit a pandemic and move into a new year.

CNG is an alternative fuel that has been used in fleet for decades. There are over 175,000 CNG-powered vehicles in the US today. Many are wondering, however, is investing in CNG worth it if electrification is the end goal?

Alternative fuels are on the top of many fleet managers’ minds these days. Fleets are exploring new ways to get the job done while remaining operationally efficient, cost effective and sustainable. As a result, many managers are introducing a mix of electric, hydrogen, and natural gas-powered vehicles into their fleet to work alongside traditional gas and diesel ICEVs.

High quality data can be tricky to recognize as valuable at first glance. It isn’t a tangible asset that goes out to job sites on a daily basis. It is, however, one of the most impactful tools a fleet manager can have when it comes to spotting opportunities and tracking progress toward goals.

EVs aren’t the only vehicles that suffer from ice cold, winter conditions. ICEVs face their own challenges in the cold that weaken vehicle performance and fuel efficiency.

In order to know where fleet costs can be cut, it is essential to fully understand each vehicles’ total cost of ownership (TCO). This number is sum of all costs associated with acquiring a vehicle and keeping it operating throughout its lifecycle.

Utilimarc is proud to announce the release of a new, fully-integrated Business Intelligence Platform for fleets– creating a cohesive, singular platform for their current suite of fleet management applications. The platform bridges the gap between siloed data streams and the informative insights needed for smarter fleet management.

Business intelligence seems to be one of those buzzwords that companies throw around when talking strategy and futureproofing solutions, but many find it hard to actually define. Is it a system? A service? A strategic approach? In some ways, it is all of the above.

Take-home policies are a common consideration for fleet mangers of police departments, emergency services and taxi companies. There can be many benefits to keeping vehicles out on the road instead of parked in a company garage overnight, and can help employees save on both costs and time.

More often than not, companies cannot afford to slow down operations when a key employee is out of office. For this reason, cross-training employees is a great way to ensure that the show goes on.

There are many factors to consider when it comes to making EVs more sustainable at every life stage. When broken down from raw material extraction to vehicle disposal, is clear to see that EV’s zero-emissions claim is really only true in operation.

The term “OEM telematics” has built up quite a buzz in recent years because telematics have long been sourced from third party providers and added to vehicles after acquisition. Manufacturers are catching onto this trend, however, and are creating their own solution.

Deciding the lifecycle of a vehicle is a strategic decision that affects operational costs and a company’s bottom line. The decision could depend on the intended use of the vehicle, the terrain and environment in which it operates, and the impact of maintenance costs and downtime to business.

The reasons for our dependence on fossil fuels, not only nationally, but globally, are clear to see. Fossil fuels are cheap to produce, abundant and reliable, and ultimately, have all the infrastructure in place to make production relatively easy.

As with any major investment, the initial and ongoing costs must be weighed carefully against their ultimate value to figure out total cost of ownership. However, the metrics by which this value is measured must be clearly determined – if not, any value provided is subjective and non-quantifiable. So, how do we calculate this elusive figure called ROI?

With so many short- and long-term environmental and economic benefits of a large-scale switch to electric technology, more businesses and governments on all levels are pledging to achieve net-zero emissions in the upcoming few decades.

A 2019 study by Volvo found that more than half of the drivers surveyed were unwilling to buy EVs because they were afraid they’d run out of power before being able to charge their vehicle, while 49 percent voiced concern about the limited number of charging stations.

Most people tend to associate electric vehicles with smaller, lighter duty models that are not designed for heavier work loads. However, with Ford’s new F-150 model, they are setting themselves apart from their competitors by pushing the boundaries and setting the standard for other brands to pursue fully-electrified models that can get the tough jobs done in the future.

A fleet manager is responsible for many things, as I’m sure you already know. From replacement cycles to annual budget preparation, policy implementation to vehicle usage management and maintenance. The needs and objectives of multiple departments depend on the fleet manager executing their responsibilities well and keeping the fleet running smoothly.

This week, Utilimarc announced the signing on of new customer, Consumers Energy to their Business Intelligence Platform for fleets. Consumers was in need of additional insights and reports that all forms of end users could count on to track fleet performance and core KPIs – to ensure better service for their customers, plan for new technology adds and to ensure the optimization of their current fleet assets.

This is a time for implementing and communicating new standards, and an opportunity to create some lasting changes. Perhaps you could consider right-sizing your fleet so that you can have spare vehicles as customers require while identifying and disposing of under-utilized equipment.

Leasing fleets assets rather than a large purchase can be beneficial to fleets for a variety of reasons. For some, it may be that more real-world data is required before they fully take the plunge and spend a large portion of their operating budget on upgraded assets.

The Monthly Hotlist will air during the last week of every month, making sure you’re caught up on top stories, new technology launches and new initiatives that’ll surely have people talking.

As with any new technology, you have some that are excited, some on the fence and some caught up in concerns. Fleets around the world have suggested that when the technology becomes available, that they’ll electrify. But for those that haven’t yet, what might their concerns be?

Understanding your data is a crucial aspect to fleet management. It’s true when you’re growing your fleet, looking to expand, fine-tune your operations and nearly every facet of the management process. Fleet managers know that as their fleets get larger, the data they have grows exponentially – both in quantity and importance. But where does that leave them?

This week on the Fleet FYIs Podcast I’m joined again by the Executive Vice President of Operations for Quanta Services, INC., Dave Meisel, and this week, we’re taking a look at what we can look forward to in fleet this year.

If you ask any fleet manager today, they’ll tell you that the electrification of fleets is no longer simply on the horizon – it’s here. Fleets nationwide are showing an interest in electric vehicles – more than ever before. But are they really suitable for all regions of operation?

There are a lot of pros and cons to weigh out – whether or not it works for the type of work your fleet does on a daily basis, if your region is suited to hosting an electric fleet (with its current infrastructure) and whether or not your organization is willing to do a deep dive into it’s data to ensure the return on their investment is worth it.

The sustainability and electrification movement is here to stay – and one fleet manager that proves this in his day to day operations is none other than Fleet Manager of the Year award winner for 2020, Mark Stevens.

A dashboard connects all of your data streams and sources but spares you the headache of connecting each source of data yourself.

In recent years, the U.S. has been trying to make waves when it comes to being more climate friendly. When authorities in the U.K. and Europe have promised to be fully electric when it comes vehicle manufacturing by 2035, many might wonder where exactly the U.S. fits in.

Your data can tell a story – but it’s not just that it can tell one, it’s how one tells it. In larger organizations, it’s critical to be able to explain data to management at every level from multiple angles.

Building Upon its Benchmarking and Fleet Analytics Products, Utilimarc Launches the First Fully-Integrated BI Platform with AEP, Intren, United EP, and Ameren as Early Adopters.

From the days of ‘software on a shelf’ to the new, streamlined automatic updates of today – we’re covering what’s on the minds of project managers today.

This week, we’re breaking down how COVID-19 is affecting the fleet industry, and how utilization, smarter spending and a shift in mindset might be what’s next for the industry

The fleet industry is in a unique position, having seen other industries begin to adopt this technology, and now adapting it to suit their operations and management strategies.

Fleet FYIs by Utilimarc helps you on the go or behind the desk, making fleet management a little easier. You’ll be able to tune in every week for a new episode on data integration, fleet management – business intelligence style, insightful analysis and all things in between.

“The biggest challenge was making a tool that was easy for any time-constrained manager to use, but also powerful enough to provide valuable insights.”

With its fairly compact size, compartments and capabilities, it has made operating in the field extremely convenient and efficient. Utilimarc wondered if the truck is still performing strong, or if its prowess is starting to slow down.

Because of the tight budgets of most university fleets, proper management is essential. Using technology and a savvy fleet manager, today’s universities can deliver exceptional service to their students through proper utilization of their fleet vehicles.

Technology is changing the face of the modern fleet, and for fleet professionals who have complicated fleets to manage, that is good news. With these strategies, even the most complex fleet can run efficiently and effectively.

The operating costs for 4×2 in year one was $75 per 1,000 miles, while in year nine it was $265 per 1,000 miles, an increase of $190 over the nine years.