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How Big Data is Decreasing Fleet Losses

04 Sep 2017, Posted by McPherson Oil in Industry Information

Retail Fuel Services Managers Reviewing Data on Tablet | McPherson OilAs technology improves each year, it is a no brainer that fleet efficiency is higher than ever. This information provides insights about the underlying issues and trends that are affecting retail fuel services operations. Unfortunately, it usually moves at a speed that is difficult to analyze in a short period of time. Luckily, there are several new fleet management tools that can help you focus on applying these insights in practical ways.  

Right Vehicle. Right Route. Every Time.  

Remember the days when fleet managers could make their driver’s routes in advance? Modern fleets rely heavily on the real-time analysis of big data to optimize thousands of drivers at once. In addition to the benefits of efficiency, it also increases accuracy as well.  

Prevent Fraud and Abuse 

One of the most significant sources of annual loss for fleet managers is fuel theft and fraud. This loss often goes unnoticed because identifying and preventing this from happening requires more resources than most fleet managers have. However, big data can help fleet managers stop unauthorized transactions without needing additional resources.  

Decrease Manual Entries 

One advantage of retail fuel card services is that the purchase data can automatically be imported into your backend software. No manual entry is required by you or your team. Because of this, administrative tasks like driver log checks and invoice remittance are sped up.  

Many fleet managers rave that this feature alone has saved their teams dozens, even hundreds of hours each month. They no longer have to be entered via spreadsheets and paper receipts.  

Reduce Overall Cost  

Fleet analytics programs empower you to better understand the trends that affect your fleet’s performance. For example, you can calculate your fleet’s average fuel spend and compare it to today’s, this week’s, and next week’s potential numbers. If you note that your driver’s fuel costs are increasing, then you can look and see what influences are causing the higher fuel prices.  

Analytics help you take ownership of your vehicles. It allows you to customize maintenance schedules to ensure safety standards and helps you know when to repair, retire, or upgrade vehicles. By doing so, you may be able to reduce fleet capital costs and maintenance expenditures.  

Simplify Accountability 

Possibly one of big data’s greatest advantages is the ability to facilitate accountability across a fleet. Fleet analytics software translates big data into reports that all you to track mileage and fuel costs by driver, location, or division.  

This allows you to be able to compare yearly reports and performance records across the board. You can easily track your fleet’s growth goals in a matter of minutes.  Exception reporting enables you to quickly assess where inappropriate driver behavior so you can isolate certain features.  

To be successful in today’s ever-changing industry, you can’t ignore big data. McPherson Oil has been serving customers with comprehensive fuel distribution and petroleum management for over forty years. We help you maximize savings on the resources your business needs to keep running. Contact us or call 888-802-7500 today to learn more about our products and fuel services.