Deep Sojourner

As a business expands from a small to medium size operation, more equipment is needed.  If your business is reliant on transportation, this could mean purchasing more vehicles and having to deal with more employee expenses.  Fleet cards can help manage this increased responsibility and have been proven to save companies money and time.  Since fleet cards also benefit drivers, it is often a welcomed change in an organization by all.

As your company grows more responsibility and organization in each department is required. You have to pay close attention to each penny, making sure each one is not being spent without permission. A wrong number or a slight oversight can easily send your budget in a downward spiral and fast. While it is not impossible to recover from such an event, it is better to take steps to avoid it whenever possible. Fleet cards can track each penny a driver uses and reports the data in a simple format for owners or supervisors to review. Because the fleet card allows you to view each driver’s fueling record, companies can have a better idea of where their money is going. They can also see if they need to modify the budget for fuel; thus giving them more control of their finances.  Drivers can have an allotted allowance for the vehicle assigned to them so they can’t go over budget.  Not only can an employer set a budget, the odometer can be linked to a vehicle and driver to ensure there aren’t any unnecessary stops along the way to their destination.

Because fleet cards give employers easy access to drivers’ transportation costs , drivers are more accountable for their work. It is easier to do the wrong thing if no one is looking. Accountability will help drivers be more honest and trustworthy. A fleet card can also help be a witness for a driver is falsely accused of wrongful spending and traveling.

Overall, fleet cards help business owner take control of their fueling and other vehicle related budgets as well as helps to manage the working relationship with a larger employee base.

Technorati Tags: fleet cards, fuel management

This is a guest post from author Vern Marker.

For many people, graduate school is something that you decide to enroll in after a few years of “real life” following up college graduation. Most people find that spending some time working, traveling or doing other activities has given them a new perspective on life and work and they decide to return to school with a renewed purpose.

There is a lot to be said about working for a few years directly after college.  College is, for many students, a time to indulge in studying what one wants to study, as well as a time for forming important personal relationships and developing social skills and one’s own identity.  However it is also true that college may not prepare you as much as one would hope for the rigors of the working world.  Many people just out of college are dismayed and confused by how difficult the college-to-work transition can be.  They find that the subject areas they studied did not lead them to the career they want to have, or they learn that the career that they thought they wanted is not as desirable as it first seemed.  For many people, this perspective, while jarring, is also beneficial. They are able to reassess what they want and decide that possibly their careers could benefit from further study.

When transitioning to graduate school it is important to remember that your studies at the graduate level will take on a very different tone than your studies at the undergraduate level did.  For one thing, your focus is not wholly academic and the work that you do will be a great deal more intensive.  No longer is school a place to socialize, it is a place to work.  When you take graduate level classes, you will likely be with students in a range of ages who have decided to return to school. Many people say that the young people who are just out of college are at the greatest disadvantage as they do not have the benefit of a working-adult perspective, and are somewhat naïve when it comes to many of the discussions that their older classmates can engage in with ease. It is also to be expected that at the graduate level your coursework will be far more intense than it was in undergrad.  What makes this difficult is that very few people can afford to go to graduate school without working, so students are very often cramming their studying into already full days which contain a job and hopefully, some aspects of a social life.

It is this packed-solid schedule that makes graduate school so challenging for many people, and makes it even more critical that they be able to able to manage their time effectively.  In the very beginning of the school year, it is wise to reserve as much time as you can for your schoolwork.  If you find, as people often do, that some classes are harder and more time consuming than others, you will be free to switch things around.  Another good idea is to get to know your professors on a personal level.  This may help you navigate your classes and the often-tricky waters of university politics much more easily.  The more relationships you build within the school, the more resources you will have to seek help, guidance and advice when the time comes to make important decisions.  In addition, these relationships can help you to make connections within your field, which can help get you the job that you want.

About the Author

Vern Marker is a freelance writer interested in psychology, mentoring college students, and the ins and outs of time management. Marker has an industrial psychology degree and recently obtained a psychology masters degree.

Technorati Tags: Education, graduate school, masters degree, undergraudate school

Tires are constructed of tread, casing and are inflated. All three of these properties can affect your fleet’s fuel consumption.

Tire design and manufacture have various ways of affecting the operations of the vehicles in your fleet. Modern technology has enabled tires to be one of the easiest ways a fleet manager can change the fuel efficiency of their vehicles.

Tire rolling resistance, along with air resistance and frictional losses in the engine and drive train are the main actions holding back a truck. The higher these forces are, the more energy your vehicles need in order to move forward.

While rolling resistance tends to be an overshadowed force, dealing with tires can be the fastest, easiest way to increase fuel efficiency. Short of re-engineering your motor and drive train or modifying your vehicle’s aerodynamics, swapping in a set of radials may be the fastest way to positively impact your fuel saving.

Radial tires are one way to positively affect your fuel consumption. Bias tires are 30 to 40% less effective at reducing rolling resistance. As a result, when your fleet service changes over to radials, it is easy to have gains up to 10% in total fuel savings.

With much of the resistance coming through the tread, time and effort is constantly being spent on the design and compounding of the tread. Research is showing that innovative approaches to tread depth, the amalgamation of natural and synthetic compounds and width of the tread patterns, all lead to reducing a tire’s overall rolling resistance. This increases the fuel savings of vehicles using more modern,  tires.

The sides of tires, or casings, also have a large impact on how efficient a tire is with relation to fuel consumption. While about a third of a tire’s rolling resistance is attributed to the casing, changes and enhancements in its design can be more challenging than treads or tire inflation.

Many tires are designed to allow for retreading, thus extending the life of a tire. Casing design changes can be a challenge when it comes to retreading. Naturally, there are limitations to how radical the casing can be redesigned while having negligible effects on the tire’s retreadability.

Directly related to the casing issues on fuel efficiency in tires is having them at proper inflation. Given that the air inside a tire is what actually supports the load as well as giving the casing its proper shape and support qualities, it’s clear that having your fleet’s tires at correct inflation is crucial to maximizing fuel savings.

Regular inspection of your fleet’s tire pressure will also save you money. On average, tires lose one to two pounds per square inch (PSI) per month or more depending upon use, weather, and other factors. Keeping them properly inflated at the maximum recommended levels has shown to be the best way to save on the fuel those vehicles are using.

Under inflated tires cause the casing to wear prematurely and increase heat generation; it has been established that over inflation is not effective in additional fuel savings. Although it seems like your tires would be better off near their maximum PSI rating, the reality is, you don’t get an effective boost in fuel savings. In fact, over inflation may contribute to uneven wear, decreasing the useful lifespan of your tires.

Consider switching your vehicles to fuel efficient, radial tires, make sure they are properly inflated, and check wear and tear regularly to maximize your fleet fuel savings.

Technorati Tags: fleets, fuel costs, reduce expenses

Travelers may fail to understand fleet drivers are professionals. Wasted time at a truck stop is money out of their pocket. Good etiquette is required by all.

As a fleet operator or owner, it is important that your drivers understand the value of good etiquette while in public. First and foremost, your employees are representing your company. They are a brand ambassador for all that is good and positive as it relates to your business. When they are on the road, at rest stops, delivery points, or refueling in truck stops, they are always representing your business. A little etiquette on your employees’ part goes a long way towards building  the reputation of your brand in the public eye.

With all of the vehicles you may be responsible for, the only real way you have of knowing your drivers are doing the right thing is either by training them right or by getting reports from others in the field.

The last thing you need to hear is about your drivers’ bad behavior. Take, for instance, the concept of today’s truck stop. There are more than just other truck drivers using these refueling stations these days. Once the domain for hardcore cross-country drivers, it is commonplace to see any number of recreational vehicles in the queue to fill up at a truck stop.

When your employees stop for fuel, they most likely use the company fleet gas cards. Having patience and understanding for the non-professional drivers that may be unaware that some gas pumps may take their consumer gas cards while others are strictly for the professionals. These folks aren’t usually trying to be irritating. Like your drivers, they simply want to refuel and get back on the road.

If you can train your drivers to show civility and perhaps even share some of their wisdom and experiences with these newer travelers, all will be better off for their efforts.

It’s not uncommon for the inexperienced RV driver to leave the fuel pump in their tank while spending excessive time cleaning windows, checking air pressure, etc. While this action may fool the drivers in line behind the RV, the station attendants will usually bark at the current driver to pay and move out of line. This action alone is going to be embarrassing enough for them; the last thing they need is to imprint your brand’s name and logo in their memory while it’s happening.

If an amateur driver’s taking too long at a pump island and you’d like he or she to pull away, It’s perfectly reasonable to make verbal contact in a pleasant tone-of -voice, with a smile and offer some positive fuel-pumping advice. Or, alternatively, you can gently nudge your vehicle forward to alert the driver to your presence.

At the end of the day, it is much easier to be mean and rude in order to get what you want during your time at the truck stop. It takes more effort and energy to be nice, professional, and human, but the smile on their faces and the positive energy that will become associated with your company as a result of good truck stop etiquette should be more than worth the effort of your fleet drivers.

Technorati Tags: driving, fleets, on the road, truck stops

Many entrepreneurs assume that only big companies such as warehouses and manufacturing plants need industrial supply products. The truth is, though, that many smaller companies need such products, too. Here are a few examples of small, every day companies that use or could use industrial supply products.

• Painters - Paint guns and paint sprayers are industrial supply products. Most painters will do the bulk of their work using sprayers, so that they can maximize the number of jobs they can complete in a set amount of time. Paint sprayers allow painters to work faster and more efficiently, maximizing their earnings.
• Contractors - Contractors are part overseers, part jack-of-all-trades, usually on big jobs such as remodeling or adding onto a home. As a result, they are often in a position to need industrial supply products such as paint sprayers and other equipment. Many contractors are also sole proprietors and small business owners.
• Auto mechanics - Many mechanics will never handle anything more than oil changes and minor repairs. However, if you want to focus your business on engine repairs and performance upgrades, you will need to invest in some pretty heavy-duty equipment. Boring out a cylinder or even resurfacing a brake disc requires specialized equipment such as a lathe. If you are going to be doing a lot of this kind of work, you will want to invest in your own equipment, rather than sending the parts out to a machine shop every time.
• Web hosts - A web hosting provider is a company that offers server space and IP addresses for other people’s websites, both personal and business related. Because one of the criteria that website owners often look for in a web host is minimal downtime (time when the server hosting their website is not connected to the Internet), it is vital for any web host to have redundant power sources, such as a power generator, in case of a power outage.
• Data centers - Data centers are servers where individuals and businesses can store their data via the Internet. For instance, when you back up the data on your computer with a service such as Mozy.com, your files are being transferred via the Internet and stored on the data center’s servers. In order to be able to save or retrieve data at any time, the data center must have an alternate source of power, such as a generator, that will kick in during a power outage.

Industrial supply products are obviously not just for big businesses and manufacturing plants. There are many smaller businesses that have need of these products on a daily basis. If you only need certain equipment on an infrequent basis, you might be able to get away with just renting it. However, keep an eye on your costs — at some point, it will make more sense to buy the equipment than rent it.

Technorati Tags: contractors, data center, industrial supply, mechanics, painters