Sustainable tips for fleet managers

Building a sustainable future is a hot topic globally as governments and businesses continue to look for innovative ways to address the issue. Transportation contributes significantly towards global CO2 emissions, meaning the role that fleets play in the subject of sustainability is key. 

Fleets must start taking a proactive approach to addressing sustainability, allowing them to improve their fleet operations, reduce their environmental impact and prepare for future mandates. 

For a fleet to improve its sustainability, we’ve broken down the efforts into two stages.

Evaluate

Start by carrying out an internal review of your current situation. Gather baseline data for key metrics such as fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, vehicle idling times and vehicle usage. 

This baseline data can be used as a benchmark for future success.

Take actions

Embrace sustainability and implement some or all of these actions:

• Select vehicles of appropriate size and capacity for the task in hand. This will avoid excessive fuel consumption and reduce emissions associated with oversized vehicles. Another benefit is that your fleet utilization will be optimized, and therefore operating costs will decrease.
• Implement regular maintenance procedures to ensure vehicles are operating at peak efficiency. To do this includes checking tires, clean air filters, and engines, which all contribute to fuel efficiency and lower emissions. 
• Reducing unnecessary idling has a direct and significant impact on fuel economy and CO2 emissions.
• Explore the possibility of transiting to Electric Vehicles (EVs). EVs eliminate tailpipe emissions, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.
• Reduce unnecessary travel and find more efficient routes, to reduce fuel consumption and eventually lower your emissions.
• Explore alternative fuel options such as hydrogen fuel cells, biofuels and compressed natural gas. These options reduce the overall environmental impact of the fleet as they emit fewer pollutants compared to gas or diesel.
• Use telematics systems to monitor and manage vehicle performance. The data gathered by telematics systems provide insights and clear takeaways regarding the following components: fuel consumption, engine efficiency, driver behaviour and maintenance needs.

By implementing these sustainable practices, fleet operators are not only reducing their environmental footprint but also often realizing cost savings through improved fuel efficiency and reduced maintenance needs. These efforts contribute to the transition toward a more sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation sector.

And don’t forget to collaborate to create and implement more sustainable and resilient actions.