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Financial Benefits
How eFleet™ Earns and Saves you Money

Example Based on a 30 Car Fleet
Scalable and Applicable to Any Size Fleet

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The five sections in this document outline areas where a transportation fleet operator will not only realize substantial cost savings by implementing the eFleet™ system, but can also achieve significant increases in revenue by creating new income opportunities.

Combining the easily quantifiable monthly cost savings and additional revenue opportunities from this analysis, the totals are as follows:

Reduced dispatcher staffing costs $2,250
Recovered revenue from side jobs $5,000
Fuel savings from side/personal trips $2,000
New WiFi Profit Center $4,500
Reduced mileage cost savings $8,700
Reduced costs of payment processing $4,150
Saving Equals $26,600 per month
Saving Equals $319,200 per year
Saving Equals $957,600 over 3 year term

Plus the savings from any existing systems that eFleet™ makes redundant, such as:

  • Cell phones
  • Wireless credit card processing terminals
  • GPS tracking systems
  • Navigation systems

Plus the benefits of improved customer service, such as:

  • Retain customer accounts
  • Acquire new accounts
  • Charge premium prices
  • Expand your business
  • Surpass the competition

The investment by the fleet operator in the eFleet™ system over a three-year period, including the optional WiFi equipment and wireless data services, would be approximately $175K. This provides a return on investment on the order of 540% every three years.

Since the eFleet™ system is a subscription service, and it includes the lease of the majority of the hardware equipment, the actual investment capital is minimal. Improved profitability will be realized almost immediately due to streamlined operations.

Assumptions:

Here are the operational assumptions used to prepare this example ROI analysis. These parameters are taken from industry averages and experiences with various fleet operators in the chauffeured transportation industry. Each operator will need to scale and adjust the numbers to reflect their actual operations.

Fleet Size 30
Average Trips per Day 100
Working Hours per Day 24
Average Days per Month 30
Average Hourly Cost per Dispatch/Reservation Staff $15
Average Miles Traveled per Vehicle per Day 200
Average Maintenance Cost per Vehicle per Month $300
Average Vehicle Depreciation Cost per Month $1,000
Average Unauthorized “Side Jobs” per Vehicle per Month 2
Average Revenue Collected per Unauthorized “Side Job” $50
Average Fuel Cost per Unauthorized “Side Job”’ $10
Average Total Monthly Wireless Phone Bill for Chauffeurs $2,000
Average WiFi Orders per Vehicle per Month 15
Flat Rate Income for WiFi Access in the Vehicle $10
Average Miles Per Gallon per Vehicle 15
Average Price per Gallon of Fuel $4.00
Average minutes that it takes to enter extra charges per trip 5
Average percentage of trips that incur extra charges 50%

PART 1 – COST SAVINGS FROM REDUCED STAFF COSTS AS A RESULT OF DISPATCHING EFFICIENCIES

The eFleet™ system replaces phone or radio dispatching by automatically sending trip information to Mobile Data Terminals in vehicles, and sending trip status updates back to dispatchers. It also allows instant message communications with “canned messages” permitting full two-way communications without phone or radio calls.

Operational efficiencies reduce the amount of time Dispatchers spend on the phones with chauffeurs on a daily basis to make them more productive. When dispatchers aren’t tied up on the phones with chauffeurs they can either dispatch more vehicles with fewer dispatchers or perform other tasks such as taking trip reservations. This results in staff reductions or reduced working hours, and therefore bottom line savings for the company.

The eFleet™ system can conservatively save 10 minutes of phone time per vehicle per day by utilizing the trip status updates and the messaging features built into the eFleet™ system - thus also reducing the opportunity for unnecessary chatter between dispatchers and chauffeurs. The net results can prove to be very valuable:

Phone time saved per vehicle per 24 hr. day 10 minutes
Fleet size 30 vehicles
Operating days per month 30 days
9,000 minutes (150 hours) reduced phone time per month

This equates to potential staff cost savings by reducing work hours or eliminating staff positions.

Less time spent on phones per month 150 hours
Hourly cost of staff $15.00
$2,250 in reduced staff cost per month

PART 2 – ADDED REVENUE THAT MAY BE REALIZED BY IMPLEMENTING THE EFLEET SYSTEM

This section deals with potential additional revenue from two sources – collecting revenue that had previously gone to “side jobs”, and adding WiFi Internet access in vehicles.

A) Unauthorized Vehicle Usage
The eFleet™ system allows close monitoring of vehicle movement and chauffer activity. Without this monitoring the company could easily be losing business, but paying the costs, of trips that are not reported or recorded. Industry averages estimate about 2 side jobs and 4 personal trips per chauffer per month.

Average unauthorized “side jobs” per month 2
Average “personal trips” per month 4
Fleet size 50 Chauffeurs
Average revenue lost per side job $50
Average fuel cost per side job $10
Average fuel cost per personal trip $5
$5,000 in lost revenue
$2,000 in additional fuel costs
$7,000 in combined extra benefit to company per month

B) WiFi Access Revenue
An additional feature of the eFleet™ system (optional add-on) is the ability to provide WiFi Internet access for clientele in the vehicles. This has the potential to become a significant additional profit center for the company if managed accordingly. The calculations below illustrate how the WiFi feature could be used to generate additional profit. With each reservation, just ask whether the client may require WiFi access during the trip:

Average WiFi orders per vehicle per month 15
Flat rate charged for WiFi access in the vehicle $10
Fleet Size 30 vehicles
$4,500 monthly revenue from WiFi

PART 3 – REDUCE MILEAGE AND ASSOCIATED MILEAGE COSTS

By utilizing the eFleet™ system to dispatch the closest vehicle, and ensuring optimized trip routing through automated navigation and GPS tracking, there will be a noticeable improvement in fleet operating efficiency. This will reduce all the costs associated with vehicle mileage including fuel, maintenance, and depreciation costs.

Industry averages indicate that a savings of approximately 20% on mileage costs are realized by implementing these systems. For analysis we will conservatively use 10% as the mileage cost savings.

Fleet Mileage Savings:

Average mileage per vehicle per day 200
Mileage savings by utilizing nav and tracking 10%
Fleet Size 30 vehicles

600 less miles per day fleet wide
18,000 less miles per month fleet wide

Average miles per gallon per vehicle 15
1,200 less gallons of fuel per month, fleet wide
$4,800 less fuel expense @ $4.00/gal
Average Maintenance Cost per vehicle per Month $300
$900 less maintenance cost per month, fleet wide
Average Vehicle Depreciation Cost per Month $1,000
$3,000 less vehicle depreciation per month fleet wide
Average mileage per vehicle per day 200
 
$8,700 in total monthly savings @ 10% mileage savings

Note: The eFleet™ system also provides speed monitoring which tends to further reduce fuel and maintenance costs, although it is more difficult to quantify.

PART 4 – IMPROVED REVENUE COLLECTION TIME AND PAYMENT PROCESSING COST

The eFleet™ system enables chauffeurs in the vehicle to enter any extra charges/fees that may be incurred during a trip. All items are configurable in the system and may include such things as highway/bridge tolls, parking fees, extra stops, extra passengers, beverage glass rental, etc. Any of these extra charges/fees are immediately available in the payment processing module of the dispatch software. This allows trips to be closed and revenue collected sooner, and with less staff time. It also improves billing accuracy by reducing the number of steps involved, thus reducing the chances of incorrect data entry. Correcting inaccurate billing is one of the most detrimental aspects of transportation operations; it costs money for staff time, while simultaneously aggravating customers – and often results in the inability to collect full payments.

This triple benefit of faster revenue collection, reduced staff time, and improved billing accuracy has been called a “life saver” by some operators. Savings to fleet operations from the in-vehicle payment entry features can produce result as follows:

Data Entry Time Savings:

Average trips per day 100
Average trips that incur extra charges 50%
Operating days per month 30
Average time spent adjusting charges per trip 5 min
7,500 minutes (125 hours) of staff time
Hourly cost of staff $15.00
$1,875 per month in reduced staff cost

Revenue Collection Savings:

Average trips per day 100
Operating days per month 30
Average revenue per trip $100
Total revenue that could be collected earlier $300,000
Percentage of month earlier collection 10%
Cost of capital 5%
$1,500 per month in reduced cost of capital

Billing Corrections Savings:

Average incorrect invoices per day 2
Operating days per month 30
Average time spent correcting each invoice 20 min
1,200 minutes (20 hours) of staff time
Incorrect invoices that are uncollected/discounted $500
$800 per month in billing correction savings

PART 5 – REDUCE OR ELIMINATE COSTS OF ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY

The eFleet™ system allows operators to do away with alternative, disparate technologies that are no longer needed as a result of implementing the integrated eFleet™ system.

Some of these technologies may include:

  • Cellular phones (utilize eFleet™’s 2-way messaging feature to communicate with chauffeurs).
  • Wireless point-of-sale terminals (utilize the credit card reader built in to eFleet™ mobile data terminal).
  • Vehicle tracking systems (utilize built-in tracking system offered by eFleet™).
  • In-vehicle navigation units (utilize eFleet™ nav system with Auto-Nav feature).

These decisions will be up to you, and the cost savings are evident so they don’t need to be spelled out any further here.

IMPROVED CUSTOMER SERVICE

Although difficult to quantify, there is no question that superior customer service has monetary value. It helps retain customers, attract new customers, maintain higher fees for services, and attract more farm-in jobs from associated operators.

Here are a few examples of how the eFleet™ system can help the fleet operator offer better customer service:

  • Dispatch nearest vehicle – arrive sooner
  • Provide complete and accurate trip and guest details to chauffeurs
  • Reduce travel time and time looking for destination by using auto-navigation
  • Provide accurate ETA of pick-up and drop-off times using GPS tracking and auto-navigation
  • Reduce/eliminate chauffer chatter on phone or radio by using silent Digital Dispatching
  • Provide silent advance notification to hotel, or other destination, of their guest’s imminent arrival
  • Provide wireless internet access for guests in vehicles
  • Offer in-vehicle credit card payments and receipts
  • Provide correct and accurate, itemized invoices including details of all extra fees as entered by the chauffeur
  • Provide a superior, professional environment using state-of-the-art technology

SUMMARY

Combining the easily quantifiable cost savings and additional revenue opportunities from this analysis, the totals are as follows:

MONTHLY OPERATIONAL SAVINGS AND ADDITIONAL REVENUE TOTALS RESULTING FROM EFLEET IMPLEMENTATION:

Reduced dispatcher staffing costs $2,250
Recovered revenue from side jobs $5,000
Fuel savings from side/personal trips $2,000
New WiFi Profit Center $4,500
Reduced mileage cost savings $8,700
Reduced costs of payment processing $4,150
Saving Equals $26,600 per month
Saving Equals $319,200 per year
Saving Equals $957,600 over 3 year term

Plus the savings from any existing systems that eFleet™ makes redundant, such as:

  • Cell phones
  • Wireless credit card processing terminals
  • GPS tracking systems
  • Navigation systems

Plus the benefits of improved customer service, such as:

  • Retain customer accounts
  • Acquire new accounts
  • Charge premium prices
  • Expand your business
  • Surpass the competition

The investment by the fleet operator in the eFleet™ system over a three-year period, including the optional WiFi equipment and wireless data services, would be approximately $175K. This provides a return on investment on the order of 540% every three years.

Since the eFleet™ system is a subscription service, and it includes the lease of the majority of the hardware equipment, the actual investment capital is minimal. Improved profitability will be realized almost immediately due to streamlined operations.

 

 

 
 
© 2008 DDS Wireless International Inc.