Page 16 - Oil & Energy - March 2013

16 • OIL&ENERGY
Smart Fleets
WHEN USING MODERN FORECASTING, ROUTING,
dispatching and on-board computers in a retail
fuel company, the savings can be significant,
but they depend on a number of factors.
The savings come from the ability to
deliver more stops per hour, per day, per
truck, with a bigger average drop size, and
with fewer support people back in the office.
That starts with using seasonal K Factors
and good K Factor exception processes
to hone your forecasting. Then you give
your dispatcher the tools to easily build
optimized routes, do real time dispatching
of routes and track drivers’ GPS locations.
Throughout the day you must be able
to easily dispatch urgent will-call deliveries
to the driver that is currently closest to that
stop, or will be close by later in the day.
The onboard computers capture all the gal-
lons electronically and print professional
looking tickets. There is no manual sorting
of tickets, no lost tickets, and no manual
posting of gallons at the end of the day.
DELIVER MORE FOR LESS
The business benefit comes from being
able to take advantage of all these benefits
to deliver more gallons with the same or less
resources. The exact cost savings depend
on a number of factors:
1. What is the current process for
delivering fuel to your customers
2. Do you print tickets?
3. Do you manually sort tickets by delivery
zone/city/area?
4. Do drivers manually sequence tickets
for their route each day? How long does
this take?
5. How do you update prices?
6. Do drivers manually write and/or extend
price on the ticket?
7. Does office staff manually key in
delivery data the next day in the office?
These are just some of the questions
that will factor into the time and effort in
making a fuel delivery and presenting a
delivery ticket/invoice for the customer to
pay. The bottom line is that with an auto-
mated system to handle all these operations
the savings can range from 5 percent to as
much as 30 percent of the cost of delivery.
DO BENEFITS JUSTIFY INVESTMENT?
It’s hard to argue that there are some
benefits, from reducing errors, eliminating
re-keying of data, more efficient routes, real
time dispatching of will call tickets, and pro-
fessional looking, fully priced delivery tickets.
The question isn’t asmuchwhether there
are benefits; it’s whether there are enough
benefits to justify the cost of implementing
the system. That cost/benefit analysis is
something that each company must do
by evaluating their current processes and
estimating the efficiencies they can gain.
At Cargas, we help companies try to do
that when they are looking at our system,
but a lot of it depends on what their current
processes are. The Cargas system is a really
good tool that, when used properly, can be
a tremendous help in running your busi-
ness. If you have inefficient processes and
you implement the software and commit to
improving processes, you can see some big
benefits. If you implement the software but
continue to use old processes, you will see
fewer benefits.
Cargas provides fully integrated back
office, dispatch and mobile software for
propane and oil dealers to run their entire
business. It’s built on modern technology
and built with mobile in mind. We use
tablet PCs for the drivers that are easy to
use. We offer very easy-to-use built-in map-
ping and routing features. The system also
has a fully integrated HVAC service module
with full service mobile, on-site billing, and
signature capture.
EFFICIENCY WITHOUT A NEW BACK END
If a dealer isn’t ready to implement
an entire back office system, they should
consider adding mobile devices and real-
time dispatching to their current system.
While we sell the full back office system,
we also sell and implement just the routing,
dispatching and mobile in a way that can be
connected to other back office systems. The
implementation is much faster than a full
system replacement and there is a quicker
return on investment.
Cargas uses Tablet or standard Laptop
PCs as the main component in the trucks
that are rugged and can withstand the harsh
environment. These modern computers are
relatively inexpensive and have all the features
built into the device without a complicated
installation procedure. Nothing is fixed or
permanently mounted in the vehicle.
We operate with the policy that any
driver can take any device and deliver with
any truck. In fact, the same device can be
used for the Mobile Service operations when
dispatching and completing work orders for
HVAC and other service-related operations.
All you need to dispatch is a computer with
an Internet connection and you can be up
and running sooner than you think.
Could Better Technology Deliver Savings?
Companies can identify cost reductions by studying what they spend now
By Aaron Cargas, VP of Product Development, Cargas Systems
Cargas deploys mobile devices
like this one in customers’ trucks.