#Canada #Geotab #fleet management #Oakville #Fuel Transactions

Geotab Enhances Fleet Management with New Solutions

In a recent announcement, Geotab, the renowned leader in vehicle tracking and management solutions, has unveiled new tools designed to alleviate the financial strain on fleet operators. With fuel costs skyrocketing, now exceeding $5.35 per gallon for diesel in the United States, managing operational expenses has never been more crucial for fleet managers.

Addressing Fuel Expenses

Fuel expenses constitute over 20% of the total operating costs for many fleets, creating a pressing need for efficient management tools. Aligning with this necessity, Geotab reported a staggering 41% surge in demand for insights related to fuel usage. In response, the company launched two innovative features within its MyGeotab platform: Fuel Transactions and a Preventable Idling Rule that incorporates automatic power take-off (PTO) identification. These features directly tackle two significant contributors to unnecessary fuel expenditure—unauthorized fuel purchases and avoidable idling.

The Challenge of Fragmented Data

Charlotte Argue, the Senior Manager for Sustainable Mobility at Geotab, highlighted a prevalent issue among fleet managers: the difficulty in accessing timely and actionable data. Often, fuel card transactions are reconciled on a monthly basis, contributing to delayed insights. Furthermore, idling reports typically do not distinguish between productive idling, necessary for operations, and avoidable engine time, which leads to costly inefficiencies. This fragmented data landscape creates significant opportunities for financial loss that can accumulate before being addressed.

Launch of Fuel Transactions

After a successful open beta phase, Geotab's Fuel Transactions feature is now available across all MyGeotab platforms. This solution streamlines the process by linking fuel card transaction data with vehicle diagnostics, thus replacing the old manual reconciliation approach with a dynamic, continuously updated oversight system.

Data anomalies regarding fuel purchases frequently go undetected due to disjointed data systems that do not allow for proper cross-referencing. Highlighting the seriousness of the issue, a WEX report indicated that fuel fraud rates reached 12% in 2024, largely due to unauthorized card usages and skimming incidents at fuel pumps. Fuel Transactions mitigates this by automatically flagging three critical types of anomalies:

• - Transactions where fuel volume surpasses the vehicle's tank capacity.
• - Instances where the fuel type does not match the vehicle’s powertrain requirements.
• - Purchases made at locations that do not align with the vehicle's recorded position.

Fleet managers can analyze flagged transactions based on specific issues and access comprehensive records containing asset details, mapped location history, and trip data, thus providing a solid foundation for investigation or driver training.

Enhancing Idling Controls

In addition, the newly launched Preventable Idling Rule allows fleet operators to automatically differentiate between necessary PTO activity and avoidable idling, significantly refining fuel management strategies. For many fleets, such as those in construction and utilities, recognizing this distinction is vital, as PTO activity often signifies productive operation rather than a violation of idling protocols.

Geotab's data indicates that engine idling remains a substantial issue across various fleet types, with median heavy-duty trucks idling for approximately 1.8 hours daily. This translates to an annual consumption of 1,200 to 1,500 liters of diesel exclusively from idling. By adopting the new rule, fleet managers can use hardware sensor configurations and engine diagnostics to monitor PTO activity accurately, effectively discounting it from idle calculations. This new approach delivers a more precise understanding of idling issues, allowing fleets to differentiate between essential operation and wasteful idling.

Regaining Control of Fleet Costs

Given the ongoing pressures of fluctuating energy market conditions, the ability to monitor and manage fleet fuel budgets effectively is critical. With the introduction of the Fuel Transactions feature and the Preventable Idling Rule, Geotab empowers operations managers to proactively identify and rectify cost inefficiencies before they escalate. These innovations shift control back to those responsible for fleet management, enabling them to take decisive actions in maintaining operational efficiency and driving down costs.

As an added benefit, the Fuel Transactions feature is currently available to all customers, while the Preventable Idling Rule is still in the beta phase. Geotab continues to position itself at the forefront of technological advancement in fleet management, enhancing the tools and insights available to an ever-growing customer base.

About Geotab

Headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, Geotab is recognized globally for its contributions to connected vehicle and asset management solutions. The organization’s mission is to promote safety, efficiency, and sustainability within fleet operations using advanced data analytics and AI technology. Celebrating 25 years of innovation, Geotab serves approximately 100,000 global customers, processing billions of data points daily. Accountability in data security remains a cornerstone of their operations, underscored by their adherence to strict compliance standards such as FIPS 140-3 and FedRAMP authorizations.