Route Around Rising Gas Prices

Field services businesses were some of the worst affected when gas prices hit a record high earlier this year. At $4.17 a gallon on average, many were faced with the tough decision of whether to turn business away to keep a healthy profit margin. The good news is that there are measures your business can take to improve efficiency, minimize gas costs, and maximize profits during the busy season. In this Tip Sheet, we will explore the benefits of route efficiency and provide some suggestions for keeping your expenses from getting out of hand.

Minimize Miles On The Road Through Optimization 

The more miles your fleet spends on the road the more you’ll spend on gas. Pest control and lawn care software can help you optimize your technicians’ routes through powerful algorithms. Applying this optimization in bulk supercharges your savings on each and every route. 

Harness The Power Of Route Density 

Scattered routing adds mileage and wear and tear to your vehicles, not to mention the increased risk of accidents. Route density allows you to concentrate services within the same geographical area in order to reduce driving time between stops, giving technicians more time to conduct services and provide the customer with an exceptional experience. 

Maximize Route Productivity 

Route efficiency is a surefire way of increasing productivity. Reducing the driving time between stops means that technicians can fit up to twice as many services into their daily schedules. During the busy season, this potential allows you to simultaneously spend less and make more. 

Reduce Costly Human Error With Automation 

Busy season is, well, busy and the margin for error grows along with the volume of service requests. Using lawn care or pest control software to optimize routing reduces the chance that an error will occur. Not only does this help keep your customers happy—with fewer missed appointments—but it also helps ensure that your vehicles are where they need to be without adding unnecessary miles to the clock. 

Be Realistic About The Areas You Service 

It can be tempting to add new geographical areas to expand your customer base but it’s important to ensure this won’t cut into your profit margin. Focusing on cloverleafing—or door-knocking—in neighborhoods you already service is a powerful way to sell more services without spending more on gas.

Utilize Technology To Find The Best Gas Prices 

Check out the range of tools available to help you identify the best gas prices in a neighborhood you are already servicing. Utilizing apps like GetUpside helps incorporate fuel savings into every service by ensuring you are filling your vehicles’ tanks with the best-priced gas near their location. Other tools such as routing software can help optimize your routes without adding labor to your workload.

Technology can add game-changing efficiencies to any field service organization. Especially when it comes to route optimization. If you’re tired of wasting time on the road and overspending on fuel costs, give us a call. We’ll be happy to help.