Vehicle GPS system reduces sting of higher fuel prices

Nobody likes rising fuel costs, but the increases are opening the doors of operators of commercial fleets to Steve Yarborough and his sales staff at Fleet Solutions in Reno.

The company sells a GPS system that tracks the location and operating status of vehicles, delivering the information directly to the computer screen of a fleet manager or business owner.

While the system developed by Networkcar Inc. of San Diego was designed to collect and deliver automotive diagnostic data while vehicles are on the road, Yarborough says his customers' ability to reduce fuel costs is getting the most attention these days.

The thinking is simple: If employees who are driving company-owned vehicles know that the system tracks their whereabouts, they're less likely to run personal errands or take the long way back to the shop when a job is finished.

And because the system also reports the operating status of a vehicle, fleet operators can take steps to reduce unnecessary idling like the worker who keeps a vehicle running to provide air conditioning while she eats lunch.

Reno Forklift, one of the users of the system sold by Fleet Solutions, reduced the mileage of its 30-vehicle fleet, mostly one-ton service trucks, by an average of 1,300 miles a week after it installed the system. That amounts to more than 43 miles per vehicle each week.

And the time that vehicle engines were idling fell by about 13 percent.

The combination of fewer miles of travel and less travel costs are estimated to save Reno Forklift about $41,000 a year enough to offset a good portion of higher fuel costs, Yarborough says.

Another customer, Industrial Handling Equipment Co., found that its billable hours rose when employees reduce their travel times.

Other customers, Yarborough says, have found that drivers are far less likely to speed once the system is installed, and that can translate into lower insurance premiums.

A couple of big operators of vehicle fleets the City of Reno and the Truckee Meadows Water Authority have installed the Networkcar gear, but Yarborough says a key market for the company is small companies that operate fleets of three to 15 vehicles. To them, he pitches the system's ability to notify them if a vehicle is due for regular maintenance or has developed trouble.

"The primary business of the owners of those businesses in not the management of a fleet," he says.

The hardware costs about $500 per vehicle with a monthly fee of about $35 per vehicle.

Fleet Solutions got its start about a year ago as a sideline for Yarborough, who owns Sierra Service Station Co., the operator of four auto repair stations under the Sierra Car Care brand in Reno and Sparks.