Your dealership’s fixed ops department represents an ongoing profit center where you can develop long term customer relationships. To make the most of this profit generator, you need to look for ways to reduce operating costs. One of the highest and most volatile expenses is fuel costs. Using shuttle management software can allow you to optimize operations and reduce fuel costs.
There are several tools included in shuttle management software that, when used together, can optimize pickup and delivery operations to reduce fuel consumption.
The simplest method for reducing fuel costs is to optimize your routes. When drivers travel fewer miles and spend less time on the road, they use less fuel. Your drivers may know the local area well, but that does not mean they know the most efficient routes. With software that updates routes based on a number of different criteria such as traffic conditions, you can ensure they take the most efficient routes. Turn by turn directions guide them from origin to destination and back. The best software can make mid-route adjustments to account for changing conditions, such as rush hour traffic, accidents, and construction.
You could have them making multiple pickups and deliveries in a single trip. Use your software to optimize each route, grouping trips by location for the most efficient trips.
You can’t optimize your fuel use if you aren’t organized. Appointment scheduling allows you to optimize your routes by scheduling pickups and drop-offs. This allows you to group appointments by location for reduced individual trips. You can also ensure that your service department and customers are ready and waiting for your dispatch drivers. This prevents long idling while they wait or missed appointments, resulting in your drivers circling back for a second attempt.
You can also plan for the appropriate number of drivers, reducing the number of delivery vehicles that you have on the road and streamlining your operations.
Do you know where your drivers are at any given moment? If you do, you can actively track their status and update their next destination. You don’t have to wait for a driver to return to dispatch them again. With real time tracking, you can be in constant communication with your drivers, allowing you to change their route and dispatch them mid-trip to a new stop.
With the right shuttle management software, you can have a real time view of your fixed ops operating costs, which includes fuel. Reducing your fuel costs lowers overhead and boosts profits. You can optimize routes, schedule appointments, track drivers in real time, and employ automatic dispatching.
Start your free trial of Quickride today and reduce your dealership fuel costs.