Save Your Fleet More Money: Top Business Tips

Your fleet has several operational costs, which may make you wonder how to save money as a business. Thankfully, there are straightforward ways to do so. Below are suggestions to help you.

Be Smarter About Tracking Costs 

To begin with, start keeping a better track of costs if you are not already doing so. That helps you see areas where you can reduce expenses during the fiscal year. You might also find that your organization is spending more than you realized in certain areas. Or, drivers may use trucks for purposes other than jobs, which shortens the vehicle lifespan. Use these insights to improve the budget. Start reallocating funding amounts based on what you’ve found and put new regulations for drivers in place, if needed, for positive change.

Tire Retreading

Rather than buying new, consider retreading tires to save costs. Purchasing retreaded tires or getting the existing ones on your fleet done as needed makes sense as the financial outlay is less than buying new ones. A recap tire can last as long as one that is brand new if it is properly maintained, which includes regular tire rotation. Of course, driving conditions and other factors affect how long the tread lasts.

Choose Vehicles Wisely

Selecting cost-efficient vehicles is an important part of staying within budget as a fleet manager. With that in mind, choosing vehicles and whether to own or rent them are crucial decisions. An advantage of using a rental company is that you can choose which truck to use based on the job, and there is not the original outlay that comes with buying company vehicles. 

Extremely busy fleets may find purchasing trucks makes more sense than monthly rental costs. You might also decide that a shared vehicle system makes sense, in which more than one driver shares the same truck for use on different routes.

Use the DOT 150 Air Mile Rule

For short-haul drivers, the 150 air-mile rule can reduce costs and also requires less paperwork if drivers on your fleet quality. This exemption can save money by eliminating the need for eligible short-haul drivers to use electronic logging devices (ELDs). The DOT 150 Air Mile Rule also makes DOT compliance easier, which can increase the satisfaction of the fleet and improve overall operations. Drivers staying within a 150-air-mile radius of where they started may be eligible.

Less Aggressive Driving

If your fleet has aggressive driving habits, that could be costing you more fuel than is needed. For instance, speeding and accelerating quickly uses a lot of fuel, rather than more steady driving habits. Consider providing them with tips to drive smarter with a focus on fuel economy to cut costs. Reducing fuel usage can be a game-changer when meeting your fleet budget next month.

Summary: Saving Money Starts Now

As you can see, there are many ways to reduce costs as a fleet manager. From tracking expenses more closely and making changes as you see them to taking advantage of the 150 air-mile rule, several strategies may work well for your business. 

Tech Review – Creative ZEN AIR DOT

The Creative ZEN AIR DOT are the companies most affordable earbuds to date and come in a very small package overall and I have been testing these little guys out some time now and we are about to discuss what they have and what they do not have, when it comes to earbuds these days the cost to performance ratio is getting better and these come in at just 30 euro..

So do you get value for your 30 euro or are they fit for the bin? Well at this price there is obviously going to be things omitted from these earbuds but its down to the audio experience for most people these days and some like to have a certain level of functionality and for the price these will keep those people happy.

Remember now the price. So what is missing. No app access, no wireless charging, no auto play/pause, no option to each side when one is charging bar the left side, though to be fair this is common even on high end earbuds but just pointing this out and there is no volume control and the battery life is on the low side up to 24 hr hours depending on how you like your volume levels but again remember the price..

Creative ZEN AIR DOT true wireless – techbuzzireland

What do they have then.  Call controls skip and reverse tracks, voice assistant access and reset options are all present which is enough and we have got large drivers for small earbuds and dual mics so is that enough for your 30 euro?

They are small earbuds so sleep and fit well in the ears and look good, the case is tiny and fits in any pocket and overall in general one of the smallest cases this year so far and earbuds with a tiny stem that sport touch controls that worked really well for me on my testing. For calls these are surprisingly good for what you pay here with ENC built in and calls can be controlled easily on them too.

How they sound though given they have custom tuned 13.mm neodymium drivers  is what is important and having no app access at this time they are quite loud and super punchy, we have no EQ to deal with unless you have a third party app on your phone which most are utter rubbish but this is a pair of earbuds that just get the job done out of the box and no fiddling around with and give a pretty decent audio experience, they are not bassy not flat not sound tinny or distort on maxed out volumes and in general will keep most people who are not fussy happy and for the price what more do you really want.

Features 

Environmental Noise Cancellation

Dual Microphones

Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity

IPX4 rating

13 mm Neodymium drivers

BUY 

Video Review

First Look – Creative Zen Air DOT

Creative recently announced another super affordable set of earbuds called the Zen Air DOT which come in at 30 quid at the time of publishing,now that is cheap however creative do not do cheap things and you expect cheap result from my testing over the years so it will be interesting to see how these fair out under my strict earbuds test regime.

The Creative Zen Air DOT boasts custom-tuned 13 mm Neodymium drivers that deliver powerful and detailed audio with deep bass, clear mids, and highs, ensuring that users will experience great audio with every beat. Together with Bluetooth® 5.3 technology and a battery life of up to 24 hours (7 hours on a single charge), users can enjoy uninterrupted audio throughout the day, making them the perfect companion for daily commutes, workouts, or travel. Moreover, the IPX4 rating offers water protection, making them suitable for intense workouts and outdoor activities.

We will have our full review soon so if you have any questions feel free to ask and we will gladly answer as always and stay tuned for the real hands on review later on.

BUY 

Unboxing Video

Creative launches Zen Air DOT noise cancellation wireless earphones

Creative Technology today announced the release of the Creative Zen Air DOT, the latest true wireless earbuds designed to fit perfectly in the user’s palm while delivering a powerful audio punch that outshines both its compact form and wallet-friendly price point. Despite weighing only 33g, these earbuds offer more than meets the eye, with custom-tuned 13 mm Neodymium drivers, dual microphones with Environmental Noise Cancellation (ENC) technology, a long battery life of up to 24 hours, Bluetooth® 5.3 connectivity, and an IPX4 rating, making them the ideal audio companion fit for every user.

Creative Zen Air DOT is the perfect combination of portability and performance all in one small package

The Creative Zen Air DOT boasts custom-tuned 13 mm Neodymium drivers that deliver powerful and detailed audio with deep bass, clear mids, and highs, ensuring that users will experience great audio with every beat. Together with Bluetooth® 5.3 technology and a battery life of up to 24 hours (7 hours on a single charge), users can enjoy uninterrupted audio throughout the day, making them the perfect companion for daily commutes, workouts, or travel. Moreover, the IPX4 rating offers water protection, making them suitable for intense workouts and outdoor activities.

Fitted with dual microphones enhanced with Environmental Noise Cancellation (ENC) technology, these latest earbuds take call quality to the next level. The integrated microphones analyze and filter out unwanted background noise, providing crystal-clear voice input for better call quality, no matter the environment.

Lastly, the Creative Zen Air DOT also seamlessly integrates with popular third-party voice assistants such as Siri and Google Assistant, offering hands-free control and added convenience for a truly connected experience.

Pricing and Availability

Creative Zen Air DOT is priced at UK£29.99 and is available at Creative.com. For more information, visit creative.com/ZenAirDOT

Guinness Microdraught 2.0 has won the world’s most prestigious Red Dot product design award

GUINNESS has been awarded the highly coveted Red Dot Product Design award for the latest evolution of its ground-breaking, plug-and-play beer dispense technology, GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT 2.0.

Unveiled in front of some of the world’s most celebrated product design leaders at the Red Dot Awards ceremony in Essen, Germany, GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT 2.0 earned special praise for “defining the next generation of dispense systems” by an independent jury compromising of international design experts. “It is significantly more cost-effective than its predecessor, requiring 60 percent fewer components and eliminating complex electromechanics,” added the judges.

GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT 2.0 will debut in-pour ultrasonic dispense technology to trade venues and is the result of continuing evolution toward low-energy, low complexity dispense perfection.

Combining a new, customised ‘pull and pour’ valve technology with breakthrough, in-pour ultrasonics introduced on the multi-award-winning, GUINNESS NITROSURGE device, another breakthrough innovation that only Guinness could do, the GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT 2.0 will deliver effortless, gravity-fed beer dispense.

GUINNESS has now firmly established itself as a product design leader in the drinks industry, and a true innovator in dispense technology by earning its fourth Red Dot award in just two years.

The Red Dot Awards design jury commended the Guinness FutureServe team for their design craft and creativity in the evolution of its award-winning GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT dispense technology, adding: “Crisp lines contrast with soft, flowing forms to create a confident appearance combined with a simple, elegant, icon-driven user interface designed for global markets.”

With around 20,000 entries per year, the Red Dot Design Award is one of the biggest design competitions in the world. This year, an exceptional portfolio of products were entered from 60 countries in 51 competition categories. Recognising design excellence, product innovation, and distinction: In three disciplines, participants submit products, communication projects and brands as well as prototypes and concepts.

After becoming the first-ever brand to win a Red Dot award for beer dispense, and achieving three breakthrough special innovation prizes for GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT AND GUINNESS NITROSURGE in 2022, this further recognition reinforces the brand’s relentless commitment to exploring exciting new innovations, and sustainable solutions to bring Guinness to more places and spaces.

Truly disruptive, GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT dispense technology has enabled pubs, bars and other venues around the world to serve beautiful, fresh Guinness Draught on tap, no matter their size or setup. GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT 2.0 is the next generation of single serve Guinness dispense, which will launch in markets across the globe later this year.

World-class product dispensing devices

Two years in development, the pioneering GUINNESS MICRODRAUGHT 2.0 dispense technology becomes the latest technological leap for Guinness since the advent of the widget in 1988. The innovation further enables Guinness to be enjoyed at its finest worldwide, in new places and spaces, adding thousands more venues across 150 countries, so that millions more consumers across the globe can enjoy a perfect Guinness serve.