Measuring Fleet "Soft Costs" Can Save You Big Money!
FleetBoss GPS Gives You The Tools To Deal With Downtime and Driving Safety

"Soft costs are actually more significant than hard costs and addressing them can have a greater impact on the success of a fleet program, both directly and indirectly."*

Jim Frank, President; Wheels, Inc.
2006 Fleet Manager of the Year Award Ceremony

Every business needs accurate and quantifiable data to make profitable decisions and long-term plans. Measuring hard costs like fuel, vehicle purchases, equipment expenses, etc. is a well defined way fleet managers track their progress.

But identifying soft costs such as the bottom line impact of fleet downtime and driver safety have often been rejected as unmeasurable or unknowable.

Now FleetBoss GPS gives you the tools you need to measure soft costs and save money.

Downtime Is Critical
One of the most important responsibilities in fleet management is ensuring the dependability and productivity of a company's vehicles so that employees can effectively serve customers and produce revenue. Consequently, preventive vehicle maintenance is key. Lost business due to out-of-service vehicles can be a significant drain on your budget.

For example:

• A company with a fleet of 20 vehicles can typically have one vehicle out of service for unscheduled repairs at least twice every month at an average cost of $750 a day (the cost may vary according to your industry). A simple 25% reduction in this unscheduled soft cost can result in an annual savings of nearly $5,000 based on the following formula:
  
  

  COST = $750 x 2 days =$1,500 per month $1,500 x 12 months = $18,000 per year

  SAVINGS = 25% savings X $18,000 (year) = $4,500

FleetBoss Remote Vehicle Diagnostics Prevents Downtime: Fleet managers and drivers in companies both large or small have realized an average savings of nearly 25 percent in reduced downtime costs due to maintenance management programs using FleetBoss GPS-based remote vehicle diagnostics. No fleet maintenance program can afford to be without this technology.

The FleetBoss SERIES 5500™ lets fleet managers identify diagnostic trouble codes and maintenance due issues at their earliest stage. It automatically notifies fleet owners of these issues via email so that efficient action can be taken before any serious problem arises.

Safe Driving Equals Serious Savings
Safe driving is a major factor in keeping your workforce protected and productive. But as Jim Frank, President of Wheels, Inc. explains, "Many fleet managers have a difficult time implementing effective safe driving programs, because the benefits are considered soft and unquantifiable."*

Speeding by company drivers is a primary cause of accidents and corporate liability issues. Excessive speeds can lead to soft costs like vehicle downtime, driver absenteeism and legal liability as well as a serious expense in the form of wasted fuel . Monitoring and controlling driving speeds is something companies are powerless to do without a quality GPS system like the one FleetBoss provides.

Industry estimates put the business costs of one fleet vehicle accident at between $6,000 and $12,000.* By tracking and controlling driver speeding behavior, a company can reduce accidents by a significant percentage. An accident reduction of only 5% for a 50 vehicle fleet amounts to almost 3 fewer accidents each year. The total savings available is between $18,000 and $36,000 annually.

Contact FleetBoss to learn more.

*SOURCE: "Fleet 'Soft Costs' Can Be Measured and Addressed," in Automotive Fleet magazine, June 2006.

© 2006 FleetBoss Global Positioning Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.