pre header 1

Mileage Tracking Statistics Field Service Managers Must Know

Mileage tracking illustration
5 min read
Mileage tracking illustration

Mileage tracking statistics highlight insights into one of the largest operational expenditures: travel. These numbers provide more than simple market trends; they offer a clear view of how your business can optimize mobile workforce management to align with operational goals.

Integrating mileage tracking statistics with your company’s internal data, including mileage logs and expense reports, can significantly enhance operational insights. However, relying on manual logs and paper-based methods often results in limited visibility into your workforce’s activities. Moreover, these traditional methods are prone to errors and can lead to a higher incidence of fraudulent expense claims. 

Modern solutions involve the use of mileage tracking apps that not only streamline the process but also provide detailed, visualized data, allowing for more accurate and insightful analysis of travel expenses.

With a comprehensive understanding of mileage expenses, you can pinpoint inefficiencies in the routes or schedules management. It is critical for sustaining competitiveness and profitability, particularly in industries reliant on large field teams.

Why are numbers so critical for mileage tracking? Simply put, they tell the story of your business’s efficiency and financial health. Even minor improvements in mileage efficiency can lead to substantial cost and time savings. 

This blog will explore how field services businesses can leverage mileage tracking statistics to streamline operations and boost their bottom line.

1. The combined expenses of driver wages and fuel constitute 59.8% of the overall operational cost per mile.

This figure is crucial because it pinpoints where the majority of a company’s operational budget is going. For instance, home healthcare workers need to travel extensively to visit multiple patients each day across widespread locations. Frequent travel can quickly escalate costs, particularly if routes are longer or if there’s heavy traffic. It leads to more hours on the road which compounds both- fuel costs and employee burnout

Route optimization is one solution. Such tools optimize employee routes by considering distance, traffic, and delivery windows. Managers can also receive real-time updates on these routes. 

This efficiency not only reduces the cost per mile but also increases profits in the long run–field workers can complete more jobs within the same amount of time. The reduced fuel consumption and gained productive hours directly improve the profitability and sustainability of field services operations.

2. An average of 5% of employees committed expense reporting fraud, with the submission methods of these expenses contributing significantly.

The statistic underscores a critical issue in many businesses: the vulnerability inherent in traditional, manual reporting methods. The paper-based, self-reported nature makes them particularly susceptible to both intentional fraud and innocent errors. This not only poses a risk to a company’s financial integrity but also creates administrative burdens in tracking and verifying claims.

Whichever method your business uses to track mileage– does it offer a way to cross-check logs? What percentage of your employees may be engaging in fraudulent mileage reporting?

If your current mileage tracking method doesn’t provide transparency, geofencing with mileage tracking provides dual solutions. Location history reports offer detailed insights into employees’ movements and worksite visits, enabling managers to optimize travel routes and dispatching.

Automated mileage tracking offers a compelling solution by significantly enhancing the accuracy and reliability of these reports. Systems that automatically record mileage while employees drive do away with the need for manual entry. This approach ensures that mileage data is captured accurately and in real time, providing businesses with a continuous, tamper-proof record. 

3. About 19% of all expense reports contain errors, requiring about 20 minutes each to correct, which can add up to significant challenges.

The above numbers underscore a critical issue for field service managers. Inaccuracies lead to financial losses through extra reimbursements and drain productive hours as staff spend considerable time identifying and correcting mistakes. Here, automating payroll management and mileage tracking both can prove to show results.  

Consider integrating a mileage tracking app that seamlessly connects with payroll systems and supports third-party integrations can be transformative. This app automates the tracking and calculation of mileage, ensuring accuracy and reducing the incidence of costly errors. Additionally, a rich visualization dashboard enhances operational oversight by providing real-time visibility into employee locations, activities, and job statuses, accessible via web or mobile. These tools empower managers to improve operational efficiency and decision-making, ultimately boosting profitability and resource management.

4. As many as 89% of customers indicate their willingness to pay a premium for modern, real-time technologies used in scheduling technicians.

There is clearly a significant market demand for advanced scheduling solutions and an opportunity for field service managers to enhance their service offerings. By investing in modern, real-time scheduling technologies, managers can not only meet this customer demand but also differentiate their service from competitors. 

By strategically assigning jobs to field employees who are geographically closer to the job sites, businesses can significantly reduce the distance traveled during work shifts. This optimization in scheduling not only cuts down on mileage but also minimizes fuel consumption and wear-and-tear on vehicles, leading to substantial cost savings. 

Leveraging such technologies allows for more precise scheduling, reduces wait times, and improves overall customer satisfaction—factors that are crucial in retaining customers and potentially justifying higher service fees. Additionally, better management of technician schedules in real-time can lead to increased productivity, further capitalizing on the willingness of customers to invest in enhanced service experiences.

Integrating location history reports and visit audit logs can greatly improve scheduling efficiency for field service managers with mobile workforces. Visit Audit Logs track the number and duration of customer visits, providing essential data for refining schedules, ensuring service level compliance, and implementing geofencing to automatically monitor job site entries and exits. Together, these tools enhance time management, resource allocation and workforce productivity.

Conclusion

As customer expectations for high-quality services rise, integrating cutting-edge technological solutions aligns with market demands and strengthens competitive advantage. Moreover, mileage tracking statistics serve as a critical first step in pinpointing bottlenecks within business operations, emphasizing the importance for field service managers to stay updated with such data. By adopting automated systems that provide real-time data and detailed operational insights, field service managers can better manage their mobile workforce, leading to improved profitability and enhanced customer satisfaction.

Importance of statistics in the field services sector is significant. For field service managers, accessing detailed and accurate mileage data is crucial for optimizing operational costs, especially those linked to travel and labor. Technologies for mileage tracking and route optimization are indispensable for boosting service delivery efficiency. 

USA Headquarters

972 N California Ave,
Palo Alto, CA 94303,
United States
Tel +1-415-900-1270
(+1-800-507-1673)

 

INDIA Office

#45/3, 2nd Floor, 91springboard
Gopala Krishna Complex, MG Road
Bengaluru, Karnataka 560025