With financial gurus keeping an eye out for a possible recession in 2026, the best proactive, preventive action is to take steps now to recession proof your fleet. In both good times or hard economic times, RouteSavvy is the gift that keeps on giving (by saving time and money) – day after day, week after week, and month after month.
5 Ways RouteSavvy Route Optimization Software Helps Recession Proof Your Fleet
When it comes to navigating a recession & keeping your business going, the best strategy is to eliminate wasted time & money, and focus on operating as efficiently as possible. Here are 5 ways RouteSavvy helps recession proof your fleet because of more efficient routing:
RouteSavvy Reduces Fuel Costs – When you deploy RouteSavvy, you reduce the miles your fleet vehicles are driven. When you reduce miles driven, you reduce your fuel costs. Given that fuel costs comprise roughly 60 percent of a fleet’s operating costs, more efficient routing & less mile driven helps reduce the biggest expense a fleet faces every year.
RouteSavvy Reduces Overtime Labor Costs – Obviously, employment laws regarding labor costs vary from state to state. But when your drivers can shoehorn in an extra stop or two in a standard, eight-hour day, it reduces the company’s or non-profit’s over time labor costs.
RouteSavvy Reduces Vehicle Maintenance Costs – When your fleet vehicles drive fewer miles, it reduces wear and tear on the fleet and, thus, maintenance costs tied to mileage thresholds. For example, when vehicles drive fewer miles, it takes longer before you have to change the oil. It’s true that oil changes for diesel engines typically need to be done every 5,000-10,000 miles because the oil lasts longer. But whether your fleet vehicles run on diesel fuel or gasoline, you’re still going to need oil changes based on hitting specific mileage thresholds on each vehicle. You can calculate how much you’ll save from more efficient routing quite simply. Start by determining how many oil changes are done per vehicle per year. Reduce your oil changes by 1 oil change per vehicle per year, and add that up. Chances are, the savings you achieve on oil changes alone pays for the modest investment in RouteSavvy route optimization software.
RouteSavvy Helps Reduce Your Employee Benefit Costs – There’s plenty of research that shows that the longer a driver sits on one position in the vehicle they drive, the more health problems occur. For more specific information on this, you can read the RouteSavvy blog on the Negative Physical Effects of Commercial Driving. When you reduce miles driven, you also reduce the amount of time your drivers spend behind the wheel. This can help keep your drivers healthier and, ultimately, reduce your health care costs.
RouteSavvy Helps Reduce Office Staff Time & Hourly Staff Time – Route optimization technologies like RouteSavvy save time in the field. But when you automate the route planning process, it saves countless hours of office staff time, too. If an office staffer who handles the route planning is an hourly employee, you may save money on labor costs. If office staffers handling route planner are salaried employees, the time they save can be applied to other activities designed to help your business grow, in good times, or lean times.
How To Calculate Savings When You Recession Proof Your Fleet
Whether you’re operating in prosperous times or lean times, the key to saving money on operating costs typically is to work on saving money in multiple areas of your operations. The power of those multiple savings can literally make the difference between operating with a profit or operating at a loss.
Here’s a hypothetical look at how much money can be saved when deploying RouteSavvy in just two areas: fuel spend & overtime labor costs.
Initial Cost of RouteSavvy: $30 per month
Sample Fleet: 5 delivery vans, each with a dedicated driver (5 drivers total)
Average Fuel Spend Per Vehicle Per Month: $200
Average Total Monthly Fuel Spend: $1,000
Average Annual Fuel Spend: $12,000
Average Overtime Per Driver Per Month: $200
Average Overtime Costs Per Month: $1,000
Average Annual Overtime Labor Costs: $12,000
If this fleet reduces its miles driven by 10% through more efficient routing (which is a very conservative estimate), the company will save $1,200 per year on fuel costs.
If this fleet reduces its overtime labor costs by 10% through more efficient routing, the company will save another $1,200.
For these two categories of savings alone, a route optimization tool like RouteSavvy would save this company $2,400 for an investment of $30 per month. We have found that a return on investment for RouteSavvy is typically 10X, and often, much more.
These calculations don’t even consider office staff labor savings, vehicle maintenance labor savings, savings in health care premiums, or productivity improvements.
When it comes to strategies to recession proof your fleet, RouteSavvy is technology that should be deployed for every small to mid-sized fleet. Whether the economy goes south or stays strong, saving money in multiple areas of fleet operations is guaranteed to improve the bottom line and foster a more prosperous new business year.
Want a test drive of RouteSavvy route optimization? Try our Free, 14-day Trial.
