Construction fleets have high procurement and operating costs. This blog dives into how you can reduce fleet expenses to make every penny count.
In this post: 1. Conduct Inspections Regularly 2. Schedule Preventative Maintenance 3. Monitor Fuel Use 4. Sell Underutilized Assets
Conduct Inspections Regularly
Inspections are like brushing your teeth: it is a task you need to do to start and end your day, but it is often undervalued and skipped.
Skipping vehicle and equipment inspections can result in asset downtime which can cost a fleet $760 or more per vehicle per day. For construction fleets, this translates into job delays and lost business.
“Skipping vehicle and equipment inspections can result in asset downtime which can cost a fleet $760 or more per vehicle per day. For construction fleets, this translates into job delays and lost business.”
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Poorly maintained vehicles and equipment also age faster than those properly maintained. A poorly maintained vehicle needs to be replaced at least 50,000 miles before a comparable regularly maintained vehicle.
As the table below shows, common maintenance failures are less expensive to repair when planned rather than after vehicle breakdown. More here
Utilize mobile electronic reports to make the dreaded daily inspections more bearable. Your employees could save over 60% of their time spent on inspections! You can also customize electronic inspection forms to meet your construction fleet’s specific needs. Keep your workers safe while saving money and staying on top of government safety mandates.
Schedule Preventative Maintenance
Since your construction fleet has diverse assets ranging from pickup trucks to heavy-duty equipment, it can be difficult to keep track of varying maintenance schedules. Falling behind on maintenance leads to asset downtime, higher expenses and reduced profit.
Set maintenance reminders to proactively manage your assets. Regularly maintaining your assets is key to preventing unexpected failures and accidents.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 43% of vehicle accidents are related to tire failure. These accidents may have been prevented with a proper maintenance schedule.
Scheduling preventative maintenance reminders will reduce the number of construction asset accidents and failures. As a result, your fleet can reduce asset repair costs, downtime and premature asset replacement.
Monitor Fuel Use
The high expense of gasoline and diesel is ever-present for your construction equipment and vehicles. Monitoring fuel costs is the most effective way to identify inefficiencies, theft and potential savings in your fleet. You can drastically reduce fuel expenses by measuring your construction fleet’s fuel use and fuel efficiency.
Managing your assets’ fuel use enables you to identify equipment idle time and improve driving habits. You can reduce your fuel consumption on-site and while traveling between sites by controlling construction asset idle time and establishing driving behavior guidelines such as maximum speeds.
Monitoring fuel theft can also lead to fuel savings. Integrating your construction fleet management software and GPS tracking solution allows comparison between fuel transactions and actual vehicle locations. Locations are flagged if they exceed a certain distance threshold.
Sell Underutilized Assets
Track your construction fleet inventory to identify vehicles, heavy-duty assets and equipment that are underutilized. If there are assets that are underutilized now or will be in the near future, sell them. There is no need to keep equipment or assets you will not use in the future once your current construction project is complete. By selling, you will reduce maintenance costs and can invest the capital in other areas until you need to purchase new assets.
These proactive practices - conducting inspections, scheduling maintenance, monitoring fuel use and selling underutilized assets - will pay off (literally!) and result in costs savings for your construction fleet. To learn how Fleetio can help, view our features!
