While digital transformation is a top priority for many municipal and private haulers, justifying the cost of a fleet automation solution can be a challenge. Yet the savings that these tools provide more than makes up for the initial investment. In fact, most haulers find that fleet automation pays for itself in six months by:

• Reducing vehicle time on the road;
  
• Providing reliable documentation of extras;
  
• Increasing fleet efficiencies;
  
• Coaching and rewarding drivers; and
• Stopping service until payment is made

Read on to find out exactly how they do it, by the numbers.

Reduce vehicle time on the road

• With 25 trucks, save $97,500 in six months
• Save at least $1.67 per minute that a truck is not on the road
• Eliminate unnecessary go-backs

Go-backs zap resources. Yet many municipal and private haulers return to residences and businesses after a phone call because they can’t show their customers what was at the curb — or not — the first time a driver stopped to collect.

With photos snapped automatically at the collection point, the customer service team can share documentation with customers who call and eliminate go-backs or charge for them.

With photo documentation, a 25-truck fleet can save at least $97,500* in six months.

*Assumptions: Garbage trucks cost an average of $1.67/minute to run. Go-backs per day take 15 minutes on average for a 25-truck fleet operating six days per week.

Easily record extras — and charge for them

• With 25 trucks, realize an additional $46,800 in six months**
• Increase logged extras by 300%
• Charge for every service

Using paper to record extras is cumbersome for drivers and doesn’t create transparency for customers, who often request for evidence of services rendered before paying for them.

Fleet automation software provides this evidence and allows for proper billing, often resulting in a 300-percent increase in logged extras. An average hauler with 25 trucks can bill about $46,800* in six months.

**Assumptions: Commonly, extras increase by 300 percent at $2 per extra, per route, with a 25-truck fleet.

Find fleet efficiencies

• Save $37,050 in six months
• Recoup lost time on each route
• Automatically collect fleet data

Saving time — even five minutes a day per truck — adds up to significant savings over time.

Fleet automation and management tools allow haulers to increase service time by identifying inefficient landfill stops and longer-than-allotted breaks. By trimming about five minutes of idle time a day per truck, the average hauler with 25 trucks will save $37,050 in six months.

Coach and reward drivers

• Save $18,135 every six months***
• Reduce recruiting and training costs
• Help struggling drivers improve and retain great drivers with coaching data

The driver shortage is real, and waste haulers experience up to 50 percent turnover in the first year of a driver’s employment.

Fleet automation tools help stem the tide by providing supervisors with information that enables them to coach drivers who need help while rewarding top performers.

***Assumptions: Not recruiting/training one driver saves $2,260 to $10,550. If an average 25-truck hauler hires 13 drivers/year, they may expect to lose about six of those drivers — or three drivers every six months.

5. Effectively stop service until payment is made

• Increase revenue by $11,250
• Prompt bill payment
• Let drivers know when not to pick up — in real time

When Waste Management stopped providing service to customers with unpaid bills, about 75 percent of delinquent accounts (225) paid in full, resulting in $11,250 in increased revenue.

On average, about 20 percent of customers may have unpaid bills. What could this mean for your operation?

The bottom line

A hauler with 25 trucks operating six days a week with 30 drivers can realize $210,735 in lowered costs and increased revenue the first six months:

• $97,500 saved by eliminating go-backs
• $46,800 additional revenue from logged extras
• $37,050 additional revenue from five more minutes of service time
• $11,250 by skipping pickups for non-paying customers
• $18,135 saved on driver recruitment and training

In less than a year, fleet automation can easily pay for itself by adding $421,470 to the bottom line.