With rising fuel costs and no expectation for these costs to drop in the future, transportation business must look to new ways to reduce the expenses of their company. While the transportation industry itself is booming, with the industry being worth $1.3 trillion and being responsible for 9% of employment in the United States alone, rising costs can push each business to the brink.
As a business owner, it is up to you to find and implement innovative solutions and invest in quality so that you can offer a premium service that is efficient and well-coordinated. A great place to start with this reinvention process is here with this guide.
Hire The Best Employees
As a transportation business, your employees need to be the best of the best, and most importantly, be fully certified in their task. Your drivers will need the relevant commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) as well as the specific endorsements that give them the ability to drive certain vehicles or the right to transport cargo or passengers.
Enforce a High Standard to Equipment Checks
Invest in innovative tools that will help you inspect your equipment. Indicators that are placed on the wheels can make it easy to determine if one of the wheel studs has become loose, whereas an electronic DVIS system can ensure your vehicles are well maintained and make it easier to go through roadside inspections.
Use Software to Improve Efficiency
Software is the way forward when it comes to improving efficiency, transparency, customer service, employee welfare, and more. For transportation companies, the best place to turn to is a telematics provider like EnVue. These integrated support services improve your business exponentially by adding intelligent vehicle technology that links back up with your office headquarters. Use the data acquired to improve routes, services, and your business from the ground up.
Don’t Push Your Fleet (or Employees) Too Far
There are legal limits on how many hours your employees can drive for, but driver fatigue can set in far sooner than the typical 11-hour shifts. That is why you should send out two drivers for long-distance trips so that if one driver starts to experience driver fatigue (which can be characterized as a loss in focus as well as tiredness), they can switch.
Save Up and Invest in Hybrid of Electric Vehicles
It only stands to reason that in the future, there will be more strict environmental regulations that are placed upon heavy goods vehicles. Some states, like California, are putting a lot of effort into reducing carbon emissions, and if you wish to work within states like these, you will need to have a fleet that can operate in the area.
Before you look to buy a hybrid or electric truck on your own, see if the EPA have any grants you can make use of that will lessen the financial burden. If not, then start saving up for these vehicles now, so that you can start building up a green fleet for the future without a high APR.
As a bonus, these electric vehicles will also cost far less to use. Considering the ever-rising cost of diesel and gas, hybrid or electric vehicles are how you will save money into the future.
