The most powerful tool available to public organizations is raw telematics. This is especially true for fleet managers and sustainability officers looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprints.
In the fight against carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, data can help public leaders make ecologically friendlier decisions. It’s also a solution for greening public fleets—today, 84% of fleet-managing municipalities have a green vehicle procurement policy in place.
There are several ways that data can guide fleet decision-makers on how to lower CO2 emissions. Whether you want to measure your current carbon footprint or keep fleet vehicles better maintained, you can use these tools to effectively reduce your environmental impact.
A brief overview of fleet vehicle data
Fleet vehicle data is exactly what it sounds like: data collected from your public fleet. This usually includes small devices like cameras and tracking beacons to monitor vehicular performance.
The most common types of fleet vehicle data include:
- Mileage
- Maintenance tracking
- Location
- Driving routes
- Idling time
- Audio and video
- Electronic logging
- Vehicle speed
- Fuel consumption
- Battery voltage
The biggest benefit of collecting fleet data is monitoring (and adjusting) your fleet’s efficiency and impact. Let’s look at how you can use the power of fleet data to make environmentally friendly decisions and reduce your carbon footprint.
How to use fleet vehicle data to reduce your carbon footprint
Vehicle data can help expedite the process of greening your public fleet. Here are a few ways that you can use everyday metrics to reduce your carbon footprint.
Fuel consumption
One of the biggest challenges facing public fleets is managing and controlling daily fuel consumption. Today, fuel costs can average 60% or more of the average fleet’s operational budget. Since the transportation sector accounts for almost one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, reducing your fuel consumption can drastically shrink your carbon footprint.
With fuel consumption telematics, you can track fuel use and vehicle refuel frequency to identify how much a vehicle uses in a given period. From here, you can develop a fuel management strategy to reduce your carbon footprint. You may also be able to develop training courses for certain driver behaviors (like idling, for example).
If you’re worried about owning too many fuel-powered vehicles, you may want to consider electric or hybrid models as you age out more traditional vehicles.
Fleet maintenance
The environmental impact of fleet vehicle maintenance is rarely discussed but is extremely impactful. Studies show that regular engine tune-ups can improve fuel consumption by up to 12%, which further reduces the carbon footprint of your fleet.
With fleet maintenance telematics, you can track the age, mileage, and service requests of any vehicle to determine if it’s still a viable addition to your fleet. This is especially useful while rightsizing your fleet, as it can help you eliminate higher carbon-producing vehicles.
Rightsizing also enables you to switch out older vehicles with newer models so you can replace your fleet with electric vehicles. Just note that you may want to focus on larger carbon-producing models. By getting rid of traditional trucks and substituting them with electric versions, you can take a more strategic approach to carbon reduction.
If you are unable to purchase new vehicles for your fleet, consider maintaining your vehicles more frequently to reduce carbon output. You can also work on optimizing their routes.
Fleet tracking
Knowing the paths that your fleet vehicles take can help you make informed decisions about fuel use, expenditure, and mileage. Fleet-tracking software can assist with changing your routes and streamlining your delivery schedules to make better use of your driving time.
With the right fleet-tracking software, you can monitor the location, average trip time, and duration of fleet travel to determine the average amount of carbon per trip. Then, you can chart more efficient routes and implement anti-idling policies to slow fuel use.
This practice can reduce your carbon footprint more than you might think. Tracking the locations of fleet vehicles can reduce emissions by 30% while saving hundreds of dollars in unnecessary fuel expenditures.
Acquiring effective data tools for your public fleet
The data collection process for your public fleet is only as good as your telematics are. To continue gathering the best possible data, you may want to consider solutions like:
You can browse additional fleet telematics suppliers with Sourcewell at any time. With competitively solicited cooperative contracts across North America, it can help you find a suitable vendor and start collecting fleet data even faster.
By leveraging data and telematics, a fleet manager can identify areas for sustainability improvement by reducing a fleet's energy consumption and carbon emissions. Sourcewell contracts ensure that government entities can take the first step in supporting these initiatives. See how Sourcewell can help with your cooperative purchasing.
