Whether a gallon of fuel costs $4, $2 or somewhere in between, it’s most likely going to represent your largest equipment-related expense. Because of that, it only makes sense to do everything possible to control what is charged against fuel in your fleet. In times past, drivers, who would need to purchase fuel before returning to a controlled distribution location, were often given cash and told to bring in receipts to cover what was spent. Who could tell how many truck stop lunches were included in those receipts? Thankfully, those days are pretty much gone.

Tires are valuable and costly assets. An effective tire maintenance program can result in reduced tire costs. Some of the best resources for utility fleets are available from suppliers.

For fleets interested in using alternatives to petroleum-based lubricants, biodegradable, nontoxic, ecologically friendly products for vehicles and equipment are available. These bio-based solutions offer excellent performance in a variety of applications and can be used as a replacement for conventional petroleum oils.

Nicor Gas
Nicor Gas, headquartered in Naperville, Ill., is one of the nation's largest gas distribution companies. Owned by Nicor Inc., a holding company, Nicor Gas serves 2 million customers in a service territory that encompasses most of the northern third of Illinois, excluding Chicago.

“We look at environmental compliance as an opportunity for continuous improvement,” said Jeff Price, manager, fleet operations at Nicor Gas. “We are always seeking out best practices and applying them whenever feasible. For example, as shop equipment becomes dated, we look at the environmental benefits as well as the functionality of replacement technologies.”

Improving communication and access to information during service events leads to less downtime.

Whether you outsource some or all of your fleet’s maintenance and repair work or handle everything in-house, an efficient and accurate exchange of pertinent information is vital to success. One solution that is steadily growing in use among fleets is the Web-based Decisiv Service Management Platform.

The Decisiv platform was designed to connect fleet managers with internal and external service locations. “The platform pulls together historically separate silos of information and places them within a single Web portal,” explained Dick Hyatt, president of Decisiv. “With the platform, fleet, service location, mobile service and call center personnel can all share information and effectively communicate throughout a service event. The result is the ability to save hours per service event, getting trucks back in service faster.”

Introduced three years ago, the Goodyear fleetHQ Solution Center combines emergency road services with a portfolio of business solutions. Included are online information systems providing 24/7 access to service in progress, retread history, repair data and tire purchase history.

GM FleetTrac offers fleet managers an opportunity to dramatically simplify the vehicle maintenance process. The new solution from General Motors offers the convenience, flexibility and reduced administrative costs of a system that consolidates vehicle maintenance invoices, documents vehicle repair history and minimizes the repair authorization process.

The UFP editorial team is hard at work preparing relevant content for UTILITY FLEET PROFESSIONALS.  Please check back as our article base grows.