The Road Haulage Association has confirmed that fuel costs now represent over 33% of a vehicles annual operating costs – an average increase of £4,206 per vehicle since last Autumn. The ‘Fuel Crunch’ is definitely here and industry experts say it’s about to get a whole lot worse with the impending fuel duty increase due to be applied in the spring. What can you do?
The Intelligent Solution
Whilst the headline figures are scary for operators (and consumers); steps can be taken to mitigate some of the pain by applying some smarter thinking technology. Originally launched 2 years ago Triscan Odyssey fuel management software has grown an army of followers from all sectors of the transport industry and the company responsible for its development has just made the next version available to all existing as well as new customers.
How does Odyssey Help?
It is a recurring theme in the industry for transport professionals, managing and finance directors to be presented with a multitude of data and reports which may not provide them with the information required, whether it relates to average fuel stocks, fuel used and price fluctuations as well as carbon footprint management. And it is in this area that Triscan has excelled.
Now available as a web based variant, the innovative fuel management systems provider has launched Odyssey Web with an executive management Control Tower. The intuitive user interface is being hailed as a major step forward in how management information is presented to key personnel at specified levels within organisations. All of the company’s fuel software developments now featurekey graphical overviews which can be drilled down further if and when required. The ‘widget’ based approach allows information to be tailored to customer requirements; it also can be forward developed to accommodate market specific requirements.
Industry Response
Triscan’s Managing Director, Simon Hollingsworth has received a host of responses from customers across the transport spectrum, who appreciate the exceptions based reporting format of the product’sControl Tower. “Fundamentally, people have differing information requirements wherever they sit in a business. The bottom line is that they know that vehicles are costing money to run but cannot easily pinpoint where to exercise additional management cost control; whether at vehicle, depot or driver level. This is where we believe our software scores”.
Simon continues – “Customers are able to import, export and edit transactions as well as schedule specified reports and we have also been working with the Department for Transport’s Online Benchmarking Programme. A ‘Data Interface’ is now available to make participation in the Governments leading benchmarking scheme simple. Managing fuel costs is arguably easier than ever”.
Following the installation of Odyssey software, South Wales based Mainline Coach’s Chris Mainwaring comments – “Triscan is the market leader in fuel management solutions so it was a natural progression for us to upgrade to their latest fuel management reporting software”.