On their own both fuel cards and telematics systems can be invaluable when it comes to controlling fuel costs and shrinking a fleet’s carbon footprint. Combine them and you have a single, powerful, cost-effective weapon that can be wielded in order to cut expenditure significantly and make a major, positive difference to a company’s environmental impact.

That certainly appears to be the view of major US-based global fuel card provider FleetCor Technologies. It has been quietly either buying or acquiring a stake in a number of telematics businesses both at home and overseas with an eye to arranging things so that they enhance its existing card offer.

Last October it purchased US telematics specialist NexTraq, which provides services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses. Its package includes vehicle tracking, route optimisation and fuel usage monitoring, it boasts 100,000 active subscribers and it has grown subscriber numbers by over 20% annually during the last couple of years.

‘NexTraq serves the same commercial fleet clients with its telematics solutions as we do with our fuel card solutions,’ points out FleetCor chairman and chief executive officer, Ron Clarke. ‘This represents a big cross-marketing opportunity for us to deepen our existing client relationships.’

It also means something for which Clarke, quite rightly, makes no apologies. ‘It means we can generate more profit per client,’ he observes.

Earlier in 2013 FleetCor bought US-based Telenav’s enterprise telematics business, which specialises in tracking the location of mobile workers – engineers who repair domestic appliances for example – and use vans to get from one location to the next.

‘It provides us with a set of mobile applications and capabilities designed specifically for a business workforce that is predominantly field-based, which is exactly the same profile as our fuel card clients,’ said Clarke at the time. ‘We hope to tailor the Telenav application to become a valued add-on to our fuel card programmes the world over.’

In June of this year FleetCor bought a minority stake in Masternaut Group Holdings of the UK at the same time as Summit Partners – one of FleetCor’s earlier investors – acquired the majority share. With customers in 32 countries and multiple offices and partners throughout Europe, Masternaut helps fleets keep track of over 300,000 vehicles, over 15,000 users interact hourly with its systems and over 50m data transactions are processed and configured into 20,000 reports daily.

‘It allows us to put another marker on this adjacent telematics space in an important FleetCor geographic region,’ says Clarke.

The ability telematics packages give fleet operators to spot drivers who continually speed or meander some miles off their agreed route – activities which result in more fuel being used and more CO2 and pollutants such as NOx emitted – have long been understood by fleets in the West.

To these advantages might be added the ability to direct the nearest service engineer to an urgent call-out rather than inadvertently despatch somebody who happens to be on the other side of the country, again saving fuel while providing customers with a more efficient service. Historic telematics data can also be used by businesses to help them plan routes more effectively – possibly in conjunction with specialist routeing and scheduling software – thereby potentially cutting the number of vans required to deliver parcels and packages; and that means lower fuel bills and fewer emissions.

On top of that there is no reason why you cannot consider mounting a telematics-linked unit on the dashboard that glows green when the driver is driving frugally thereby minimising emissions, turns orange when the driving style becomes a little ragged and goes red if the driver, say, speeds or accelerates harshly.

Such packages have been developed by South Africa’s MiX Telematics which has started to make headway in China; a country facing some severe environmental pressures.

Working with local partner Rainboway, MiX acquired ten new customers last autumn, attracted by the prospect of potential fuel cost savings of up to 15%. With 15 locations across China, Rainboway has boosted its sales presence in Guangzhou and Shenzen and appointed a full-time reporting specialist and a driver trainer; in-vehicle systems such as the one offered by MiX can prove useful when it comes to identifying driver training needs.

On the other side of the globe, July saw MiX sign up three new customers for its fleet management solution in Brazil. They are hauliers Transportadora Garbuio and Panorama plus a fleet of 15 cars and pick-ups operated by Australia’s WorleyParsons, which provides services to the energy industry worldwide.

They operate in and around Monte Belo’s hydroelectric construction plant in the state of Para in the Amazon region.

Using software to lower fleet costs

Fuel cards accompanied by a suitable software programme enable operators to spot vehicles and drivers who burn too much fuel.

Data on vehicle performance can inform future purchasing decisions. Data on driver performance can result in individuals who cannot keep their foot off the accelerator pedal being sent on training courses to show them how to drive more frugally; and frugal drivers tend to have fewer accidents.

Such training is likely to prompt drivers to drive in the correct gear – usually a higher one than they are in the habit of using – drive more smoothly, and slow down. They are all approaches to driving that are recommended by international fleet management and leasing company SG Fleet Group, which has operations in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

It goes on to advise that fleets determined to cut their petrol and diesel bills and their carbon output should keep a close eye on tyre pressures – leave your tyres under-inflated and you use more fuel – and ensure their vehicles are regularly maintained. The use of roof racks should be avoided because they increase aerodynamic drag, air-conditioning should be used sparingly because it can increase fuel usage by up to 10% and vehicles should be downsized to more fuel-frugal models wherever possible.

It has a further suggestion to make; drivers should be encouraged to clean out the interiors of their cars every so often. ‘It doesn’t take much to acquire an extra 20kg of stuff and the more weight your car has to lug around, the more fuel it burns,’ it observes.

Greener vehicles

Turning to alternative fuels and the environment, the vast publicity zero-tailpipe-emission electric vehicles have received is somewhat at odds with their still-modest global sales. Although the availability of wireless charging systems currently being developed by companies such as Qualcomm may boost their appeal, range concerns mean that their use remains confined to niche applications, with range-extenders required to make them a more practical bet for the majority of fleet applications.

That at least is what General Motors will be banking on with the launch of the new extended-range Chevrolet Volt, set to make its exhibition debut in the USA at the Detroit Motor Show next January. It will go on sale in the US shortly thereafter, with GM pumping $449 (€334m) into its electric vehicle manufacturing facilities in Michigan to get it into volume production.

It is interesting to note however that sales of the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera, which is based on the Volt, have been slow in Europe.

A replacement, which may or may not be Volt-derived is apparently in the pipeline and is likely to be priced more keenly than the current Ampera. Even the most environmentally aware fleet’s enthusiasm for all things Green can be blunted if it concludes that the front-end prices of zero-emission vehicles are too steep.

With so much of the discussion centred around batteries and range-extenders, the environmental advantages of other alternative sources of power are sometimes forgotten; though not by everybody.

In the USA, for example, the new Ford Transit will be available with WiNG technology from Westport that will allow the 3.7-litre petrol engine it is offered with there to be run on compressed natural gas (CNG). Customers will be able to opt for CNG only or a bi-fuel arrangement under which the engine switches over to petrol if the CNG tank is empty.

Popular in markets such as Germany and Italy, and capable of being generated from landfill gas which gives it considerable environmental kudos, CNG has its supporters in North America too; among urban bus fleets in particular. US Oil operates 17 Gain Clean Fuel stations dispensing CNG and is in the process of constructing 15 more.

The problem for fleets looking to minimise their environmental impact is that much of what they do can be torpedoed without warning by the whims of ambitious politicians.

In the UK, Mayor of London – and potential future prime minister – Boris Johnson, has declared war on diesel cars, with a plan to charge many of their owners an additional £10 (€12.50) if they wish to drive them into the congestion charging zone in the centre of the capital. That is over and above the existing £11.50 (€14.50) levy imposed on most vehicles, with some exclusions; electric cars for example are exempt.

Bicycling Boris argues that his plan is justified because of the impact emissions of NOx and particulates have on urban air quality. In doing so he is apparently blithely ignoring the fact that over the past dozen or so years it has been UK government policy to encourage sales of diesel cars in a bid to drive down CO2 emissions because they burn less fuel than petrol cars.

Despite Boris’s strictures, there remains an argument that one of the best approaches any fleet anywhere can take to minimise environmental damage is to run diesel vehicles equipped with one of the fuel economy packages that are now available.

Typically they comprise a Stop/Start system that kills the engine if it is allowed to idle in a traffic jam or while waiting at the traffic lights, regenerative braking which captures and uses energy that would otherwise be lost, low-rolling-resistance tyres and aerodynamic modifications.

Renault’s latest Trafic van is among the many light commercials on sale in Europe that is available with an ECO button. Pressing it cuts engine torque and power and alters throttle pedal response thereby allowing fuel savings of up to 10% to be garnered, says the manufacturer.

The environmentally friendly approach

The most environmentally riendly approach fleets can take of course is not to run vehicles at all; or to run as few as possible and get the maximum use out of each one. That is the argument in favour of corporate car-sharing programmes promoted by companies such as Alphabet with its AlphaCity scheme.

About to be introduced in Italy, AlphaCity is already established in eight European countries with more in the pipeline. It started in 2010, and now has over 8,000 registered users who have driven more than 4m kilometres to date; not vast numbers in the scheme of things, but the attitudinal shift required by fleets and drivers can make such programmes a challenge to implement.

Remember that Daimler’s car2go offshoot pulled the plug completely on its British car sharing operation in May of this year citing the UK’s ‘strong culture and tradition of private vehicle ownership’ as a key reason.

No matter whether it is owned by a fleet or operated privately, the inside of a car constitutes the driver’s personal space; and few people are truly happy about sharing it.

New technology in action…

• Extended range Chevrolet Volt will go on sale in the US shortly.

• WiNG technology allows Ford Transit’s 3.7-litre petrol engine to run on CNG.

• New Renault Trafic is among the many LCVs to be available with an ECO button.