Haulage company saves 75K per year with EcoTrak

EcoTrak fuel saving technology has reduced haulage companys fuel costs by over 75,000 per year across their mixed fleet of vehicles .

Established in 1985, Mel Jones & Son Transport is a long established family run haulage business located in Oswestry, Shropshire. From their 5 acre site they run a mixed fleet of heavy haulage 44 tonne vehicles that work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the UK.

With fuel costs equating to such a large percentage of his overall operating costs, and each vehicle in his fleet travelling up to 7,000 miles per week, Owner Matt Jones decided to have a solution installed across his fleet of vehicles to monitor and manage his drivers behaviour and ultimately reduce his fuel bills. 

Mr Jones chose the EcoTrak fuel saving solution, which has been developed and refined by CMS SupaTrak in conjunction with the haulage industry.  The solution provides Mr Jones with an intelligent fleet management tool which not only gives him the ability to run comprehensive reports showing his fleet and driver performance, but it provides him with a clear and simple to use mapping system, which enables Mr Jones to track each vehicle and have a consolidated view of the entire fleet at any given time.

Mr Jones explains that before we had the system installed, we had no idea about what our drivers were doing as soon as they left the depot gates.  He adds that the system also allows us to plan ahead.  We can see when the drivers are due back and plan deliveries accordingly.

Another advantage of the EcoTrak fuel saving technology is its ability to report on instances of engine idling, which according to the governments Freight Best Practice initiative can waste up to 2 litres of fuel per hour.  Mr Jones found that many of his drivers were leaving their engines running unnecessarily and he explains that since we have had EcoTrak installed, we have recorded a number of idling occurrences. Upon noticing these behaviours, Mr Jones has spoken directly with his drivers and explained the significance of engine idling to them.  Since then, he has seen a noticeable reduction in idling and is consequently saving money.

The EcoTrak reporting suite also provides information on the time spent driving within the green band range for each driver.  This optimum rev range is configured to the specification of the individual vehicle to reflect the most cost efficient way of driving. The Driver Analysis Reports which can be run, graphically represent the percentage of time that the driver has spent driving in this range.  Instances where the driver has not been demonstrating green band driving can be further investigated by drilling down to find out, for example, the type of road that was being travelled along at that particular time.  If the route was along a standard stretch of motorway, then there would be a case to take up with the driver and educate them about the cost impact of not driving efficiently.  Mr Jones comments that the reports have proved really helpful.  I can see straight away which drivers are not doing what they should be.

Since having the technology installed, Mr Jones has witnessed instances of non green band driving and has been able to tackle the problem, by confronting the drivers in question with documented evidence of his performance.  Mr Jones explains that the drivers are aware that the system is in place and they know that I can monitor their performance.  They already know how to drive; it is sometimes just a case of giving them a reminder.

In addition to the installation of the award winning EcoTrak solution, the company has recently had the fleet installed with EcoTrak+: the economy engine remapping solution from CMS SupaTrak.  This solution is proven fuel reduction technology that saves an average of between 10 and 20 per cent of fuel costs, by simply remapping the vehicles engine management software with a brand new economy tuned prioritised file, without affecting the warranty. By economy remapping the vehicles ECU, the vehicles software can be optimised, which enables the delivery of consistent and sustainable savings on fuel. 

By combining both EcoTrak and EcoTrak+ fuel saving technologies, Mel Jones have increased their MPG by 1.5MPG, which represents a saving of over 75,000 per year.