Seasonal maintenance tips as the cold weather rolls in

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The time to start thinking about the seasonal checks you need to make to prepare your trucks for the winter months is now. The extreme winter conditions only exacerbate underlying problems that may go unnoticed up to a light comes on, and your truck is sidelined.

Regular and precise maintenance will save you a lot of time, money, and hassle in the long-run so here are some seasonal preparation tips to keep in mind as the cold comes trucking in.

Check tires and tire pressure

We know that the air in tires expands and contracts as the outside temperature fluctuates. Freezing temperatures can obviously make this worse than normal, so it is important to maintain proper inflation on the tires for them to function safely and not cause excess wear. If you have tires with wearing tread, this can cause slippery driving conditions as well. Having correctly inflated tires, and running winter tires in good condition, will help prevent breakdowns and accidents.

Prevent corrosion

The mix of chemicals and salt used to clear the snowy roads on top of the frigid temps can take a toll on your truck’s performance. Corrosion affects every fleet and can ruin your components if the connections are not secure and water tight. By utilizing high-quality parts meant to withstand the harsh demands of winter and prevent moisture, your truck’s uptime is more likely to increase. Using proper lubrication will additionally prevent breakdowns caused by increased friction and corrosion.

Check the battery

The battery is no exception to needing special care in cold weather. It is imperative to make sure the battery is not past its expiration date, so you know it is capable of holding a good charge. You may want to consider keeping a good voltage tester on board. It is important to keep the battery in a fully charged state and the terminals free of corrosion, which can slow or prevent a charge and leave you with a dead battery.

Keep your fuel tank at least half full

Some truckers typically usually get only filling enough fuel for each trip, however, in the winter there are benefits to keeping more fuel in the tank, such as condensation build-up that will add unwanted water into your tank. Even if you have a water separator for fuel going into your tank, condensation build-up can still allow water to get in there after the fact.

Don’t idle trucks

It’s a popular strategy, but starting a cold truck and letting it idle is not only ineffective, but also damaging to your engine. If you need to warm a truck that’s been sitting overnight, drive it around the yard or parking lot. This will exercise the truck more efficiently, allowing it to warm the engine, transmission, differential, and suspension evenly.

Whether you’re running (or driving) one or 100 trucks, maintaining a good routine relies on easy communication between your drivers, fleet managers and operations teams. It’s always a good idea to share seasonal safety messages that remind drivers of any unique conditions. Combine this with regular, thorough vehicle inspections, and it can help keep your fleet in top shape across the colder winter months.

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What to expect from public fleets in the future

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With new vehicle advancements being rolled out every year, the current fleet industry is nothing like its predecessors. Telematics, EVs, and a fresh demand for parts has kept the industry moving at an unprecedented pace. To get a better grasp of the current state of the fleet industry, leaders in the field discuss what we can expect in the future.

As the world is working to bounce back from a multi-year pandemic, the fleet industry has noticed a direct hit to the supply chain for not only parts but vehicles. Industry experts have specifically noticed a shortage of a key component for fleets: microchips. The shortage doesn’t just stem from a single instance. Instead, coming out of the pandemic shutdowns, a reduction in vehicle production that was later met with a skyrocketing increase in demand, and that has all led to shortages.

But looking at the industry’s supply chain from a management side, fleets need to plan ahead with purchasing as prices go up and vendors close down. If there is one takeaway from trying to understand the future of vehicles, it’s that telematics will bring the industry into the next century. Able to provide vehicle insight and diagnostics that were previously inaccessible, telematics have created a way to better plan for the next generation of vehicles while better understanding the fleets of today.

From knowing how many miles a vehicle has traveled, to knowing the cost of travel and being able to plan repairs, telematics seems to fit with the natural progression of vehicles and a trend toward more electric components.

Telematics systems are a way to continually learn about the vehicles being driven. It’s with this learning process that he hopes fleets will succeed.

The whole idea is to try to manage your costs. And it comes down to a very basic thing. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. And that’s what they help you do.

Vehicle fuel consumption, for example, on average represents about 20% of total municipal energy usage for towns. And a good first step in reducing municipal fleet fuel consumption is to understand where and when fuel consumption is occurring.  This information can help municipal officials, staff, and volunteers to identify major sources of fuel consumption, and decide where to focus fuel usage reduction efforts.

Link2Pump service can be very useful in this area, as we offer solutions such as:

— instant tracking of fuel expenditures by department

— real-time tracking and reporting by vehicle, driver, division and more

— no fuel misuse, our system can prevent drivers from accidentally filling gas into diesel powered vehicles

If you want to learn more about our solution and are searching for alternatives to manage your municipal fleet, please get in touch.

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What Are the Benefits of a Fuel Management System?

Fuel is the biggest expenditure for efficient fleet management. A custom fuel management system is the perfect solution to understand gas consumption within your fleet.

Many fleet managers are incorporating fuel management systems into their daily operations. Leveraging telematics technology offers valuable insights into fuel usage and allows you to optimize this asset across the board.

A fuel management system enables fleet managers to track fuel usage patterns across their fleet. Without a fuel management system in place, managers often find themselves overspending on fuel and repairs, and drivers may run out of fuel as the result of a misguided fuel meter or taking trips without optimized routes.

With automated supply, the logistics become much more agile: times are shortened, and you no longer depend on external factors that reduce business efficiency. In addition to being able to be placed in strategic locations, a fuel management solution allows the entire fueling process, including vehicle identification and odometer reading, to be completed quickly.

Another important point is to avoid and reduce fraud. Companies tend to lose a lot of money in the risk management process. A software system solves this issue by ascertaining that the right vehicle is fueled at the correct time and place. Indeed, managers can monitor their fleet conveniently and at all times.

Moreover, small issues can become serious ones if not repaired in a timely manner. For example: 

— Flat or under-inflated tires can reduce mileage by up to 30%

— Engine problems reduce mileage by 4% on average

— Faulty oxygen sensors cut up to 40% off mileage

— Brake drag can also affect driver safety and fuel consumption.

A fuel tracking system can track anomalies in your fleet’s fuel consumption, which can be either indicative of potential maintenance issues or the result of driving behavior.

Having a properly developed fuel management system can help mitigate these risks and expenses, not only by giving you a window into your fleet’s performance, but by protecting your drivers and overall fleet performance.

Fleet management software gives you a more comprehensive picture of your fleet’s operations. When you have this well-rounded view of your fleet, you can expand it more efficiently. By understanding your current fleet, you can find opportunities to bring in more jobs.

So, to sum up, the main advantages of installing your own fueling point are:

  • Fuel quality assurance, reducing the risk of fraud and ensuring that the entire fleet can have the same performance;
  • Elimination of the costs of moving machinery/vehicles to the gas station;
  • Practicality and speed of supply, since it will have the availability of supply 24 hours;
  • Fuel tax refund; 
  • Centralization and rationalization of consumption control. 

If you’re looking to install a fleet management system for your team’s vehicles, get in touch.

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Fuel Tax Credit Extended for Propane Autogas Vehicles

The Propane Education & Research Council’s Alternative Fuel Tax Credit was recently passed by the U.S. Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, 2022. PERC said it encourages fleet operators to take advantage of the tax credit.

Propane autogas fleet operators who apply for the tax credit will be able to claim a credit for every gasoline gallon equivalent of propane autogas purchased, or about 37 cents per gallon, according to PERC. The bill not only extends the credits through Dec. 31, 2024, but fleet owners can also apply for credits retroactively for any fuel purchases made in 2022. Tax-exempt entities that use propane autogas from an on-site fueling station for a vehicle fleet also qualify for the incentive.

Thousands of fleets across the country rely on propane autogas every day for environmental sustainability, and these credits provide another opportunity for fleets to ensure they’re also realizing financial sustainability.

The new law also retroactively extends the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit, which allows operators to claim up to 30% or $30,000 of the cost of installing qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property, including propane autogas refueling equipment.

Tax refunds can reduce fuel costs

Tax refunds can reduce fuel costs, but still, many companies lose a lot of money each year by not accurately filing for fuel tax refunds. You can surely save your company a great deal with Link2Pump managing process.

Fleet managers often fail to accurately file for all the on-road taxes for the diesel fuel that is used to power tax-exempt processes of non-road everyday equipment, including concrete mixers, dump trucks and other construction site machinery.

Link2Pump can easily track and reconcile all information required for filing fuel tax refund claims with a one-click report. It is easy to save money with our service. The best part is that facilitating the tax refunds process is one of the many features of our equipment, and you don’t have to pay anything extra for it.

If you want to learn more about our solution and are looking for alternatives to improve bottom line and productivity, please, get in touch.

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How Trucking is Tackling the Diesel Technician Shortage

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The professionals needed to repair heavy-duty trucks and commercial vehicles require a set of skills distinct from the “grease monkeys” of 40 years ago. It’s time the industry pivots to reflect this change, say those closest to the issue.

The industry faces a looming question: How will it train enough technicians on alternative-fuel engines, battery-electric vehicles, fuel-cell-electric vehicles, and the latest smart-screen dashboards? The need for new skills and knowledge has caused schools to upgrade their curricula. But how can fleets help address this critical issue?

There are no easy or concrete answers. But what is certain is that you want to train techs on innovative technologies now, so we have technicians who can work on them later.

Schools have enough students in the pipeline today, but not necessarily students mastering skills the diesel industry needs. Educational gaps can take some blame for this. However, fleets working in silos versus partnering with educational facilities share responsibility, too.

Heightening concerns are issues surrounding the industry’s need for technicians tomorrow and the educational pipeline of today. According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for 2020-2030, demand for diesel technicians will continue to rise, albeit slightly slower than before, at about 1% a year. This growth will generate a need for 25,000 new diesel positions by 2030.

But that’s not accounting for the technicians that will be needed to replace those leaving the industry — 163,000 positions by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a giant spike in technicians changing careers, leaving the workforce or retiring early. There’s no question that the technician shortage has grown more acute in the last decade.

TechForce Foundation’s 2021 Transportation Technician Supply and Demand Report explains the void as a matter of supply and demand. The demand for automotive, collision and diesel technicians in 2021 exceeded the number of technicians completing their certification in 2020 by over 500%. That means the industry must quintuple the number of technicians entering the field just to keep pace with current demands.

People still apply the concept of dirty work to commercial vehicle repairs. It’s a stigma that persists and drives people away. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) classes also can steer students toward these careers. Many students gravitate toward robotics and computer electronics, both of which are in high demand in the technician space. The industry needs these skills, and they are rewarding careers.

Encouraging job shadows and internships at the high school level can attract more students to the fold, as can recruiting students while they attend post-secondary education. Penske, for example, employs recruiters to forge working relationships at vocational-technical schools and at the high school level.

Another creative method of reaching out to young people is the TMC SuperTech augmented reality game, which lets players progress through a career as a maintenance technician to a shop owner in the trucking industry. The app, sponsored by the Arkansas Office of Skills Development, TA Petro, Cummins, Dana, and others, is inspired by TMC’s national technician skills competition.

Scholarships also help drive this effort. TMC and Old World Industries have partnered to offer a series of scholarships for students looking to pursue an education in heavy-duty commercial vehicle maintenance. The PEAK Performance Scholarships will support two students with up to $12,500 each for their education at a college or vocational school.

The technician shortage lacks a short-term answer. But fleets that think long-term will do better than those that don’t. These forward thinkers will partner with education and industry to access recent graduates trained to their needs. They will recruit well and from diverse groups. And they will do what it takes to keep technicians for the long haul.

 

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4 policies every fleet safety program should have

Rules, policies, and procedures are not “safety.” Safety and accident prevention come down to human behaviors. After all, rules won’t always stop your drivers from making unsafe choices. A fleet safety policy and related fleet safety programs will protect you from litigation and set the standard in place for your employees.

But why is a fleet safety policy important?

]The fact is, driving is the most dangerous thing your employees do. So, a fleet safety policy consists of rules and guidelines directly related to driving a company vehicle. To improve profits, it’s crucial to reduce your cost of loss. This is most effectively done by hiring safe employees and training them to be defensive drivers.

Fleet safety policies you must implement

  1. Journey Management

A journey management policy covers things like pre-trip and post-trip vehicle inspections, schedules, routes, and emergency procedures. The goal of a journey management policy is to ensure your drivers minimize their risk of breakdowns and other emergencies on the road. These emergencies are expensive and often dangerous.

  1. Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is the leading cause of accidents in the U.S. Most notably, distracted driving includes texting and driving. However, it also includes speaking with a hands-free device, day-dreaming, rubbernecking, talking to passengers, eating or drinking while driving, and much more. Distracted driving causes serious and even fatal accidents. That’s why you have a moral obligation to prevent distracted driving. You can also have a financial incentive.

Your distracted driving policy should include examples of distracted driving, a strict no-phones policy, and resulting punishments for breaking the policy.

  1. Seat Belts

The use and need of seat belts are so obvious that we don’t need to explain. But you must clarify it for your employees. Simply put: your drivers’ risk of death greatly increases when they refuse to wear a seat belt.

  1. Drugs & Alcohol

Similar to seat belt usage, this one is obvious. Drugs and alcohol use by drivers greatly increases the risk of collision. This includes alcohol, marijuana, stimulants, depressants, and more. Sadly, though, drug and alcohol use while driving is common in many industries. You must protect yourself and your employees from this with a drug and alcohol policy.

Fleet safety policies are crucial for establishing expectations, rules, procedures, and punishments regarding safety. Implementing them, you will have a drastic reduction in accidents, injuries, and cost of loss. The money you save will probably double what you invested to put the program into place.

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Safety for your fleet with technology and planning

A fleet has no greater asset than its drivers. Protecting the health and well-being of your drivers and ensuring they get home safely to their families each night is critical. Your drivers’ behavior and performance are also the key to your company’s reputation, reliability, and profitability. As a result, keeping them safe, retaining them as employees, and building a culture of safety together is of utmost importance.

While driver safety is paramount, many of these safety solutions also come with additional benefits. A well-implemented solution can reduce insurance and collision costs, assist in fleet maintenance management, offset the impact of volatile fuel prices, and provide both high-level visibility into how your fleet is running, and profound insights into individual driver behavior. The better prepared businesses are to implement these safety solutions, the more success they will find. This data is taken from the Fleet Safety Report 2022. 

The study shows that 74% thought GPS tracking was very or extremely effective in helping improve safety, with 68% of those using dash cams. Not only do GPS tracking and dash cams prove to make fleets safer, but training and safety policies set them up for success. Around three fifths of fleet safety professionals surveyed relied on driver training (65%) and written safety policies and procedures (59%) as their key fleet safety strategies. A main sticking point (41%) was turning plans into reality.

What safety strategies are fleets using?

One way businesses have found success in this area is creating policies tailored for this purpose. Many organizations already have policy manuals to detail what they expect from drivers, from speeding to taking breaks. As the technology evolves, so can the policy. Many companies offer templates to make it easier for businesses to fill in the information for a complete policy to add to a manual.

In addition, driver bonuses can help create benchmarks and safety goals, and drivers will know that safety is non-negotiable when coming on to the team, which also helps build a culture that considers safety a top priority. Currently, only 25% of fleet professionals surveyed noted that they used advanced safety technologies, such as fatigue monitoring, in-cab alerts of distracted driving, upcoming hazards, and driver behavior telematics.

Top 10 strategies to prioritize safety at your organization: 

1 – Make an organization-wide dedication to focus on fleet safety goals

2 – Use templates for policies and procedures to guide the steps along the way

3 – Have leaders use the technology as an example for others

4 – Lean on your technology provider to help you define and realize your goals

5 – Use telematics alerts and reporting knowing which drivers would benefit most from coaching, and use the data to avoid ‘he said, she said’ type conversations

6 – Establish the KPIs that matter most to your business and track against them

7 – Survey drivers and technicians to understand what incentives will get them on board with your policies

8 – Consider making safety fun through gamification and contests, such as driver scorecards and public rewards for driver improvement

9 – Share overall progress with your team, so they know their efforts are appreciated and contributing to a safer, stronger organization

10 – Understand it takes time to change a culture, but keep going

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How fleet manager’s roles work with EVs

If you’re not on a continual quest as a fleet manager to use data to hone your processes, create efficiencies, and conserve your fleet budget, you’re not doing your job.

Over the years, you’ve figured out how to manage well enough through automated rules and exception reporting. But there was always the promise that these systems could talk to each other and that information would flow through a single pane of glass, although that never happened. And that’s okay because the benefits offered by these individual systems are more than enough to offset the extra management hassle.

But now we have electric vehicles. EVs are more than just an internal combustion engine (ICE) swapped for a battery. They’re computers on wheels — and they bring new and heightened requirements around connectivity, software management, and data mining along with them.

And now, what changes in your role as a manager?

Unlike fueling an ICE engine, EVs can take eight hours or more to reach 80% capacity on a Level 2 charger. This dictates remote monitoring of home or depot chargers, often after work hours, to make sure they are, in fact, plugged in and receiving juice. An EV that fails to charge will really screw up your next day.

Understanding Battery State-of-Charge

With EVs’ limited ranges and the lack of public infrastructure, fleet managers need to know how much juice their EVs have left to strategize on how not to get stranded.  

Reimbursing for Home EV Charging

Another aspect of home charge management for fleets involves separating utility bills by personal and work expense for fleet vehicle charging, and then reimbursing the employee accurately.

Managing Vehicle, Driver Data

Managing vehicle and driver data is still important in the ICE world, but takes on even greater importance with EVs. These data sets are needed to understand battery efficiency (the costliest component of an EV by far) and how range is affected by factors such as driving style and payload, stops, road grade, and external temperature.

So, the industry has already overcome these challenges. If you’re about to embark on your EV pilot, it’s better to be prepared for them before you start.

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Ready-Mix concrete market growing to exhibit a remarkable CAGR of 8.50% by 2029

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Global Ready-Mix Concrete Market was valued at USD 181.14 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 1427.31 billion by 2029, registering a CAGR of 8.50% during the forecast period of 2022-2029. The increasing investments in the construction industry extend profitable opportunities to the market players in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029.

North America dominates the market in terms of market share and market revenue, and will continue to flourish its dominance during the forecast period of 2022-2029. The market growth over this region is attributed to the increase in new infrastructure projects within the region.

We know that the recent outbreak of coronavirus had a negative impact on the ready-mix concrete market. The severe disruptions in various manufacturing, as well as the supply chain operations due to the various precautionary lockdowns, hampered the market. During the COVID-19 outbreak’s lockdown, the various end users of the ready-mix concrete market were impacted. Construction activity had slowed around the world, resulting in a considerable reduction in the demand for ready-mix concrete. 

On the brighter side, the increasing investments in the construction industry extend profitable opportunities to the market players in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Additionally, due to its great convenience, improved quality, and ease of use, the product is frequently utilized as a substitute for unusual concrete, further expanding the future growth of the ready-mix concrete market.

Managing the Fleet

To deliver ready-mixed concrete profitably, communications between dispatchers, drivers, and customers are crucial. Along with time constraints of a perishable product comes the need to balance customer orders with available trucks.

The vehicle location system’s versatility has a major impact on coordinating business. That’s because the system integrates a real-time, enhanced Global Positioning System (GPS) vehicle tracking function with an onboard data recorder, wireless, real-time, and two-way in-cab communications terminals. All vehicle location and status information, as well as fleet management reports, are delivered via the Internet.

The status and location of each truck needs to be as accurate as the driver’s input. There was constant chatter between dispatchers trying to confirm or get updates on locations and the status of each truck. This results in a much quieter, much more efficient dispatch department.

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Survey shows carriers remain optimistic about demand

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Carriers are optimistic about growth in volume and rates this year, despite rising fuel and equipment costs that are squeezing profitability, according to the latest Bloomberg and Truckstop.com survey. 

About 72% of respondents expect load growth over the next six months, vs. 71% in 4Q and 1Q a year ago. Temperature-controlled carriers were most optimistic with 77% expecting higher volume, followed by 74% of flatbed carriers who are benefiting from a strong housing market.

Fewer carriers are optimistic when looking at rates: About 55% of respondents expect spot rates (ex-fuel surcharges) to rise in the next six months, vs. 59% in 4Q. About 14% of carriers expect rates to decline over the next six months, in-line with historical averages. Only 2% of truckers polled expect rates to drop quickly this year, and another 32% expect them to slowly moderate.

More carriers are hauling fewer loads: Truckload spot demand rose 4.3% year-over-year in 1Q, based on the Bloomberg | Truckstop.com survey, a seventh straight quarterly gain after dropping 16% in 2Q20 as the pandemic began. Median volume growth was closer to flat, given the wide divide between those carriers experiencing growth and those not moving as many loads. About 37% of respondents hauled more loads vs. 1Q21. About 32% recorded a drop vs. 25% in 4Q21 as the number of carriers who experienced flat volume decreased to 31% sequentially from 38%.

Rising fuel costs are a concern for carriers: About 56% of carriers said that higher fuel costs are the industry’s greatest challenge. Lower rates are the second-biggest concern in 2022 at 21% of the sample, followed by the weakening economy (16%). Despite these concerns, about 69% of those surveyed anticipate the truckload market will remain tight this year.

How can Fuel Tracking Technology help you save fuel?

  • Reduce engine idle time
  • Have better control of the routes taken by vehicles
  • Know how efficient drivers are being
  • Create the best routes for vehicles

Link2Pump services account across the US, helping businesses to save human and financial resources in the fuel tracking and reporting process. By automating and managing fuel dispensing from bulk storage tanks, we turn a complex process into a simple experience.

Link2Pump Pedestal automates the fueling process on-site, capturing the data points you need and sending them to your online account in real-time. Account access is available from any device, anywhere, any time. Fully compatible with mechanical, digital, and electronic dispensers, each unit controls up to 4 fueling points and features extensive data input options and restriction capabilities.

Loss of fuel, or fuel that goes unaccounted for, is a sometimes-overlooked expense. Fuel theft is nearly a $133 billion issue that includes stolen, adulterated, and defrauded products. But here’s the good news: Fuel loss can be prevented, and the bottom line can be protected. Card-locking control technology combats the potential of fuel theft by allowing only authorized individuals to access fuel.

When fuel can account for up to 50% of a job’s total operating costs, it’s important to do everything possible to protect fuel assets. 

Our company has solutions for several industries, such as agriculture, aviation, construction, government, marinas, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and utilities. If you want to learn more about our solution and are searching for alternatives to improve the bottom line and productivity, please get in touch.

 

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