How to manage your fleet and keep Obama happy
Aug
Do you know what your carbon footprint is? Or what your GHG emissions are? If you’re a business and you provide goods and services to the U.S. government very soon you will be requested to provide that information.
In what is seen as somewhat of an inevitable move towards more sustainable business practices, the EPA and the Obama administration are pushing for more reporting by businesses on their environmental impact.
Recently the EPA handed down a ruling that requested suppliers in the U.S. to report their GHG emissions. For some American fleets this will prove to be a major headache, for others, like those using Telogis Fleet management software, it won’t be a problem.
Why is the government making the change?
Long term it appears the change is to have a clearer picture of where GHG emissions are coming from in an effort to minimize, or eliminate completely, those sources. The first step obviously involves reporting the current state of emissions so an effective action plan can be put in place.
There are other reasons why the government is pushing for this extra level of detail from businesses and that has to do with its own environmental targets.
President Obama has confirmed a sustainability program to reduce the government’s own carbon footprint including the following targets:
- 30% reduction in vehicle fleet petroleum use by 2020;
- 26% improvement in water efficiency by 2020;
- 50% recycling and waste diversion by 2015;
- 95% of all applicable contracts will meet sustainability requirements
What will this mean for businesses?
As if it’s not enough that businesses who work with government agencies will be required to file the extra paperwork, there are rumors the reporting will become more a requirement than a request, and that the government will favor those businesses with lower GHG emissions.
As time goes by we can expect greater accountability on anything related to the environmental impact of doing business. Government departments are under pressure from environmental agencies to control and limit GHG emissions, and that has a ripple effect for other American fleets, especially those the government does business with.
Requiring, or strongly encouraging, businesses to report their GHG emissions is the first step to a wider movement in both understanding and controlling emissions. So it makes sense for businesses to start thinking, not just about collecting this information, but also thinking about ways they can reduce or minimize their carbon footprint.
If you’re a fleet do yourself a favor
Fleet managers who use Telogis can rest easy knowing their fleet management software already takes care of this, so it’s one less thing they need to worry about. How does it work?
GHG reporting
Telogis Fleet provides a lot of different ways to view and report on fleet activity. Report on a range of GHG metrics, such as engine on time, miles driven, idling time, speeding or after-hours use. Reports can even be scheduled and emailed directly to your team, allowing your business to monitor your fleet’s environmental initiatives over time.
If reports aren’t your thing, there’s also a dashboard that can give you a one-screen overview of your entire fleet including color-coded alerts that draw your attention to exceptions (such as excessive idling).
Now that you have reports on the number of miles your fleet is traveling as well as idle time, you’re in a much better position to report on your fleet’s GHG emissions. For an example of converting your miles to carbon output, try the Telogis calculator to check your CO2 output.
GHG reduction
Now that you have detailed and accurate information on your GHG emissions, you can start to take some positive action to reduce it. Some areas that other Telogis Fleet users have significantly improved their environmental impact are:
- Improve response times
- Eliminate after-hours use
- Cut idling by more than 25%
- Ensure emissions compliance
- Reduce out-of-route miles by 30%
- Monitor and improve driver behavior
- Reduce speeding for better fuel economy
- Maintain vehicles to extend asset longevity
Hopefully you can see that going green and meeting any compliance requirements made by the authorities is not as difficult as first imagined. Why not find out more about turning your fleet green today?
