Data Drives Savings

Joey Honeycutt loves data. General services manager for the North Carolina Administrative Offices (NCAO), part of the state’s judicial branch, Honeycutt relishes the information data provides: total cost of ownership, utilization, true expenditure values, etc. “I’ve got to know the costs,” he said of the 118-vehicle fleet he manages.

Switching to a the Fleetio fleet operations software earlier this year gave Honeycutt a valuable data tool to track, analyze, and improve fleet operations easily and comprehensively. The fleet’s previous operations software program proved unsatisfactory, according to Honeycutt. “Vendor support was poor, and I considered repair prices were often on the high side,” he said, adding that the transition to Fleetio was seamless.

Fleetio’s software program centralizes data; integrates third-party records, such as fuel cards, GPS devices, maintenance shops; and provides insights to control costs with real-time metrics, including total cost, cost-per-mile and asset utilization.

True Cost of Ownership Tracked Per Fleet Vehicle

The NCAO fleet normally comprises a 25-vehicle motor pool/temporary use group, 95 permanently assigned passenger or cargo van units, and five box delivery trucks. Each vehicle is given a unique identifier that becomes a permanent record in the Fleetio program. In addition, each driver is assigned an account integrated in the Fleetio software.This allowed the fleet operation to track expenditures and determine the true cost of operation for each vehicle.

Fleet maintenance at NCAO is all outsourced. Drivers simply access the Fleetio mobile app’s fleet-approved shop vendor directory for routine preventive maintenance (PM) or repairs. Adding driver-preferred vendors to the directory is easy, Honeycutt said. “We made a great effort to have a nice rollout to let everyone know if their vendor wasn’t on the list, they could be added," he explained.

One of Honeycutt’s favorite program features is the ability to track PM for individual vehicles. “Rather than a one-size fits-all method, we use the VIN to access manufacturers’ oil change recommendations for each vehicle,” he explained. “Drivers get a push notification or email for PM. This helps eliminate premature oil changes.”

Data Tracks Accurate Utilization

Data from the Fleetio software is also key to accurately tracking and assessing utilization. “I can set the time parameters, look at who’s driving the most miles over a specific time, or who’s driving the most average miles per day,” Honeycutt said.

In addition to assessing which drivers need a permanent vehicle or are reimbursed for personal car use, the data helps budget for vehicle acquisition. “I now can see true utilization, from day to day, week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter. I can easily see if a car is not being assigned properly,” he said.

The data has pinpointed vehicles that needed extensive repairs. “Because we could look overall where the fleet was — the fleet milage — we could surplus those vehicles,” Honeycutt reported. The fleet was able to surplus 10 vehicles.

Another plus, Honeycutt receives one bill for PM each month, tracked by individual fleet vehicles.

“Not only did we decrease our monthly bill, the fleet also was eligible for discounts that Fleetio pre-arranged with some of the larger companies. We saw savings immediately. For example, tires and tire rotations, we saw a 30% savings,” Honeycutt said.