Skip to main content

3 Benefits of Utilizing Tenstreet's True Fuel to Measure Driver Impact on MPG in Your Fleet

Published Date

Fuel prices and fuel economy are among the transportation industry’s hottest topics these days, with diesel prices reaching staggering heights and fleets looking for ways to bring down their overall fuel spend by any means necessary, such as more efficient equipment, advanced technologies and increased driver coaching.

In March, Trimble announced an integration with Tenstreet to offer their True Fuel® technology to fleets utilizing Trimble in-cab technology. Tenstreet is one of the industry’s leading providers of advanced analytics solutions that enable fleets to improve driver and vehicle performance in real time. Their patented True Fuel optimization solution is proven to reduce fuel spend by 3% and up to 10% – a huge advantage given today’s rising diesel prices.

True Fuel is now available to Trimble fleets who utilize Connected Gateway and Mobile Gateway devices in their trucks. Read on to learn more about this innovative solution and the benefits of utilizing it in your business.

How True Fuel Provides a More Accurate Picture of Fuel Use

Many fleets look at miles per gallon (MPG) as a performance indicator for driver behavior. Unfortunately, looking at this metric alone is flawed, as it doesn’t take into account the many variables that heavily impact MPG that are outside of a driver’s control, such as load, tractor type, route and terrain.

True Fuel precisely monitors each vehicle’s actual fuel usage in real-time and compares it to the maximum achievable fuel economy for that vehicle under its current operating conditions. To accurately identify the actual and potential fuel usage of each truck and each driver, the system takes into account the impact of vehicle make, model and age, terrain and load size.

This ultimately provides a more fair and accurate metric – fuel efficiency – that can be tracked and used for more personalized, real-time coaching opportunities. By measuring fuel efficiency, fleets can realize a host of other benefits beyond cost savings.

Here’s a closer look at three of the main benefits:

Benefit #1: Real-time coaching

True Fuel provides real-time coaching via in-cab audible tones for inefficient driving behaviors, empowering drivers to improve their behaviors immediately. By linking directly to the truck’s ECM, True Fuel has the unique ability to measure how much fuel is wasted and how, keeping a close eye on factors including engine speed control (RPMs), speeding, cruise control usage and idling.

These alerts are exception based, meaning it only plays tones if/when fuel inefficient behavior occurs, eliminating unnecessary tones and the need to interact with a device or screen.

Additionally, the data insights from True Fuel also provide a solid basis for driver-accepted incentive programs that recognize and reward fuel-efficient driver performance.

Benefit #2: Robust reporting

The comprehensive reporting functionality of the True Fuel solution is a key benefit for back-office staff, helping inform after-the-fact conversations with drivers and fleet management.

Fleet managers can also use the solution’s user-friendly web portal to access comprehensive fuel use analytics and summary dashboards, as well as gain insights instantly into fuel usage and causes of wasted fuel for a fleet or for specific vehicles and drivers.

Automated reports empower trainers to have efficient and productive coaching conversations, and the True Fuel portal and API provide additional insights that are easy to use and rich in data.

Using True Fuel’s reporting features can help fleets determine:

  • Exactly how much fuel was wasted by a driver or vehicle
  • Who are the most efficient drivers and who could benefit from additional training?
  • Which are the most efficient and least efficient trucks in the fleet?
  • What driver actions and vehicle configurations are the biggest contributors to fuel waste?
  • How do new technology additions impact fuel performance?

Benefit #3: Accurate scorecards

Tenstreet aims to make it easy to understand fuel usage in an unbiased way, which is why their accurate scorecards compare fuel wasted to true driver behavior, taking into account a wide variety of factors around its operating environment, including terrain, vehicle make, model and age, and load size.

True Fuel can calculate MPG the driver could have achieved if the truck was driven perfectly, with no waste – potential MPG – ultimately providing a fuel efficiency metric that is fair and understandable for assessing driver performance at the end of each trip.

With True Fuel, drivers are provided with fair and balanced scorecards detailing the fuel loss factors they can control, including engine speed control (RPMs), speeding, cruise control usage, and idling, giving drivers the ability to see how they can improve in the future.

True Fuel & Trimble: The Perfect Match

It’s easy to start using True Fuel on your Connected Gateway or Mobile Gateway devices to combine real-time driver coaching and comprehensive fuel usage analytics for significant fuel cost savings - all with no additional hardware required.

Contact us today to learn more about Trimble’s integration with Tenstreet and how your fleet can leverage this industry-leading solution to better manage fuel consumption across their driver base.