The market for fleet management solutions in Australia and New Zealand is growing at an exceptional rate. And this despite a ballooning global recession that has set back growth across sectors and disrupted supply chains in 2020 and 2021.
The upwards trajectory of fleet and transport management solutions takes place as businesses and their service providers resettle and adjust to demanding consumer expectations in their regions. There’s renewed interest in e-commerce and thus its subsequent logistics operations.
But in the near term, inflation and other fragile market forces include the impact of the cost of fuel.
Less value per gallon per mile
Signs posting the current prices of petrol and diesel at stations in the region are constant reminders of the distance-per-gallon value ratio that New Zealanders and Australians are ‘enjoying’.
This is despite both governments declaring fuel tax cuts to ease the burden on road users. In New Zealand, the cost of importing petrol hit record highs this month, according to data collected from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE). And while the Morrison administration has been halving the Australian federal government’s fuel excise tax since end-March 2022, the tax relief is expected to end in a matter of months. Without the relief, Australia would have already seen a record-high national average of AUS$2.30 per litre for 95-octane unleaded fuel.
Even with the tax breaks, regular unleaded petrol now costs nearly 30% more than it did six months ago, and the average price per litre of 91-octane unleaded across Australia on 22 June 2022 was 28% higher than the price six months previously. Australia’s industrial relations mediator has increased the minimum wage in the country by a larger-than-expected 5.2% starting from 1 July to offset the surging prices that Aussie households and organisations are facing for goods ranging from fuel to food to electricity.
Comprehensive fleet visibility can lead to efficiency savings
The outlook might look torrid, but demand for fleet management solutions is soaring. ResearchAndMarkets.com‘s Fleet Management in Australia & New Zealand – 6th Edition report indicates that as of 31 December 2021, the numbers of fleet vehicles used by businesses are estimated to increase from 23.6% in 2020 to 42.8% in 2025 – nearly double in five years.
This is good news for logistics and fulfilment service operators throughout both countries. The fleet telematics market has been positively influenced by friendly regulatory legislation related to health and safety, chain of responsibility, and road user charges.
The data from all fleet vehicles can be routed to a single, centralised hub like the Verizon Connect Reveal platform. With that, fleet operators have top-down visibility of their entire contingent including live data of vehicle locations, real-time alerts of incidents that might hamper travel times, fuel levels, vehicle type, and tools to monitor driver behaviour.
With Reveal’s real-time dashboard recording and grouping data into easy-to-grasp categories and charts, fleet managers can course-correct at a moment’s notice, maximising the cost reduction potential. For instance, if the data reveals road works are persistently clogging up a well-travelled route – causing drivers to idle there constantly, expending surplus fuel in the process – the organisation can use the information displayed on a Live Map to plot an alternate route with fewer stops. Telematics input can also help monitor fuel card costs and fuel card reporting data, with seamless fuel card integration allowing powerful reporting tools to be employed, such as for monitoring fuel expenses or enabling the reporting of poor fuel-efficient practices like vehicle idling and unnecessary speeding, which can rachet up fuel expenditure.
Plan ahead for best ROI
Alternate routes not efficient enough? Operations managers can route a nearer vehicle in the vicinity to the delivery point instead, harnessing the live info handily displayed on the Live Map. In addition to fuel savings, drivers’ time and efforts can also be efficiently optimized, to yield the best cost efficiencies and to make the most out of workforce resources.
With real-time monitoring and data analytics covering the most cost-sensitive parts of fleet operations, planning and decision making is placed back in the fleet controller’s hands. Road incidents, cancelled drop-offs and pickups, sudden delivery requests, and driver errors are contained and can be overseen and controlled centrally.
From dramatically slashing fuel cost overruns to maximising available resource efficiencies for optimal returns, Verizon Connect is well-positioned to set the way out for fleet management in Australia and New Zealand.
Find out how you can make the most of your available resources and get the biggest return on your investment, get in touch with market-leading Verizon Connect for your free demo today.
