Sustainability initiatives for transportation companies are continually evolving, and zero emissions goals seem to repeatedly get pushed back as the reality of implementing battery electric vehicles sets in.
But there are other ways to reach sustainability goals in the immediate future rather than decades away with full BEV fleets. Telematics provider Geotab asserts in its 2024 Sustainability and Impact Report, titled “Pragmatic Solutions for a Changing World,” that companies are more likely to adopt sustainable initiatives if they realize cost savings, efficiency improvements or revenue growth in the near term.
“Today’s economic realities, the company said, demand a change in how we approach sustainability. There has been a significant shift from long-term aspirations to more immediate, tangible results that improve the bottom line while reducing environmental impact.
Such has been the case with California Freight.
The multi-modal transportation company with more than 400 units has reduced fuel costs by $50,000 per month by introducing idling reporting into its operations.
California Freight Director of Logistics Nick Donahoe said that’s half a million dollars in savings annually, which the company has now reinvested into safety initiatives, further benefitting its bottom line.
“We didn't realize how much we were spending or how much our trucks were idling prior to using Geotab,” Donahoe said. “Once we actually started looking at it … we were over $100,000 a month in idle costs for fuel.”
Donahoe said he started with a simple fleetwide message that requested drivers not idle unless necessary, which resulted in a dramatic decline in idle time almost overnight. He then began running Geotab reports on idle time and set it up to email him when a driver idled for more than one hour. Being able to reach out to individual drivers from there resulted in additional improvements in idle time and another $25,000 drop in monthly fuel costs, he said.
The company reported only $23,000 in fuel costs due to idling last month.
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Donahoe said Ripon, Calif.-based California Freight was led to engage in sustainability efforts because of state regulations, but also because it saves money.
“Whether it’s through efficient route planning, minimizing idling and fuel use, or strategically replacing a few fleet vehicles with more sustainable options, these actions can translate into reduced operational expenses while supporting environmental goals,” said Geotab CEO Neil Cawse. “This pursuit of cost reduction and efficiency is likely to be the catalyst for change, one that integrates sustainability as a core part of business operations regardless of external pressures or shifting attitudes.”
According to its report, Geotab saw a 39% year-over-year increase in sustainability solution deployments driven by companies seeking practical and measurable results. The platform now supports a 63% increase in connected EVs, which have collectively traveled over 700 million miles.
The company launched several new tools in 2024 to support sustainability, including Geotab Sustainability Center, which provides actionable insights to address decarbonization, cost management and opportunities to improve performance.
It also includes EV Charge Monitoring, for a comprehensive overview of charge status with an alerts functionality to ensure fleet EVs are charged and ready to go when needed and the enhanced Geotab Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment, which now includes automatic vehicle type detection to streamline vehicle selection and comparison.
In addition, the company launched Geotab Safety Center, a new AI-based collision detection technology that accurately detects and categorizes collisions. Just four months after launch, customers using the tool saw a 5.5% reduction in collision rates.
“The convergence of AI, deep learning and the availability of massive data sets provides unprecedented opportunities to optimize fleet performance and achieve sustainability goals,” Cawse said in the report.
