May 2008, Work Truck - Feature
Fleets Search for Effective Anti-Idling Solutions
By Joe Bohn
Market Includes Larger Providers
Along with small- and medium-sized GPS providers, numerous other companies provide wireless vehicle management and GPS services for large fleets.
They include companies such as XATA Corp., Minneapolis; Cadec Global LLC, Manchester, N.H.; Tripmaster Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas; and QUALCOMM Corp., San Diego.
XATA Corp., for example, services more 62,000 trucks, including large fleets such as Sysco Food Service, based in Houston, and Safeway Inc., in Pleasanton, Calif.
Along with marketing its services directly to customers, XATA also offers them through Reading, Pa.-based Penske Truck Leasing.
“One of the most difficult things for XATA and similar-size vendors is the expense of a direct sales force calling on smaller customers,” said Tom Flies, senior vice president of product management for XATA.
“Penske resells our product. They package it,” Flies added.
Penske handles installation of XATA technology in its lease vehicles and also performs maintenance and service on the XATA system for its customers. “It’s a one-stop shop,” Flies said.
This handheld device from XATA allows companies to monitor fuel and access their drivers’ log digitally.
Typically, larger companies such as XATA offer advantages in working with the varied assortment of vehicles in a large fleet operation, and they “provide various resources to help optimize the fleet’s operations,” Flies added.
He also cited the company’s expertise with electronic compliance regulations, such as Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations for hours of service, and its ability to break down data into detailed vehicle and driver performance reports.
“We don’t just report straight idling time, for example, but percentages on who was driving the vehicle during a specific time frame. And, instead of total miles per gallon on a trip, we track what speeds the vehicle was driven, whether cruise control was used or, with a manual transmission, what the shifting pattern was,” he explained.
“We really break the data down for a fleet so they can more effectively pinpoint their fuel economy,” Flies added.
In general, the company charges a per-vehicle installation fee. And because vehicle data is normally fed through a cellular network, the fleet also pays a monthly cell phone bill.
Essentially, the system uses a computer/GPS system, mounted on the truck roof and connected to the engine’s J1708 electrical bus with a cable, which sends information through the wireless network. Satellite is used where cell phone transmission isn’t available.
XATA then feeds the data to the fleet operator’s Internet Web site.
Large Fleets Try GPS Systems
Among major fleet operators, Kirk Herniman, manager, equipment and leasing for Integrated Electrical Services in Houston, is still awaiting potential fuel-saving possibilities from the GPS tracking system the company has begun using. The systems are supplied by @Road, a division of Trimble.
Integrated Electrical Services, with more than 2,000 trucks, began installing GPS systems in the past year. Its operations include more than 30 companies around the country. So far, the company has installed GPS systems in about 120 trucks.
Integrated started using GPS tracking primarily “to assist in dispatching and improving the efficiency of work crews,” said Herniman.
“Its other benefits (such as control of excessive idling, speeding) are secondary,” said Herniman. “But this is another important use: we’re definitely looking at it as a way to reduce idling and fuel costs,” he explained.
“Drivers on their own wouldn’t think they were idling excessively, even if they were sitting in their trucks, running the engines, and eating their lunch. The only way to correct the problem is to find it. We can find it using a GPS-type system,” Herniman said.
Over the past year, Verizon Inc., headquartered in Piscataway, N.J., has been successful in avoiding fuel costs by curbing unnecessary engine idling, said Dominick Harrison, manager, fleet operations.
But the company still has a potential to save a lot more, he added.
“We think there’s about a $20 million cost to unnecessary idling,” Harrison noted, citing a targeted 3-percent reduction for 2008 in the 53 million gallons of fuel used by the company’s vehicles. Most are light- and medium-duty trucks.
Verizon has been using a combination of GPS tracking and employee education efforts to curb unnecessary engine idling.
GPS tracking systems have been installed in about 25 percent of its trucks. Some GPS systems have the ability to shut off an idling truck’s engine by remote control, and the company has considered that, Harrison said.
But safety issues have made the company leery of pursuing that course. “You don’t want to turn off a truck’s engine if it’s off-road in an emergency situation with its beacon light on,” said Harrison, citing an example of potential dangers.
Along with using GPS for the past year, Verizon has been conducting intensive driver group education through its internal Web site, e-mails, and staff meetings, emphasizing the impact unnecessary idling has on fuel costs and the environment.
“Some people are more concerned with fuel costs; others care more about the environment. But it really goes back to the driver education and finding out why drivers are leaving the trucks idling,” said Harrison.
“A lot of it is related to weather conditions. In the South, oftentimes they’re running the air conditioning. In the wintertime, they need the heat,” he added.
Harrison has also looked at how to educate the supervisor too. “The GPS system alerts the supervisor that this vehicle has been idling in the same spot for an hour, and he can call the driver,” he said. “We’ve also looked at a reward program. If we target a 5-percent reduction in fuel use, how to make it worth the employees’ effort when they achieve that reduction goal?” WT