Ecodriving Solutions saves fleets fuel and emissions

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You won’t find a leaf on the logo. There are no green lawns, blue skies, puffy white clouds or bunny rabbits on the website. All you’re greeted with is the steely stare of a skeptical truck driver.

The new Ecodriving Solutions web-based training program for fleets of light and heavy duty vehicles is a no-nonsense approach to green marketing and sustainability. How else would you approach the independent and competitive mindset of a fleet truck driver, as well as the “Don’t waste my time and money” attitude of C-suite executives that need to approve this kind of green fleet initiative?

Ecodriving Solutions, the first online and classroom training program of its kind in North America, recently launched with one of the world’s largest beverage companies. They trained more than 25,000 of their fleet drivers in late 2010 and reduced their fuel consumption by approximately six percent by early March, 2011, over the same period last year.

Which “Green” do you promote?

This is where many eco-conscious programs and green campaigns stall. They lead with green messages and toss some of the most important benefits, like fuel cost savings and the convenience of using the program, in the back seat. With Ecodriving Solutions, it’s about easily and quickly saving money, fuel, and then naturally the environment.

The Ecodriving Solutions web-based training program is now available to all fleets large and small.

In the interest of full disclosure, Ecodriving Solutions is a partnership between our sustainable marketing firm and the vehicle guys at Pro Formance Group. What’s unique about this relationship is that Park&Co, as an owner/client, can express our unique, pragmatic approach of green marketing and sustainability through the brand and launch of Ecodriving Solutions.

Even though some may accuse us of breathing our own fumes, I submit that Ecodriving Solutions embodies more than the standard three “P’s” of sustainability: “People,” “Planet” and “Profit.” It includes two more: “Process” and “Peril.”*

People: Fleet truck drivers and their support staff are the company’s most important transportation assets. Ecodriving Solutions embraces, educates and applauds their efforts, building camaraderie within the team.
Planet: When you reduce fuel consumption and emissions, you naturally help the environment.
Profit: With ecodriving, studies throughout the world have shown that companies can reduce fleet fuel costs by as much as 24% annually, not to mention the reduced vehicle wear-and-tear and maintenance expense.
Process: Ecodriving Solutions online and classroom training is easy to implement and, as indicated above, makes a fleet significantly more efficient.
Peril: All large companies like the Fortune 100 beverage manufacturer and distributor that adopted Ecodriving Solutions, face social and physical peril by virtue of its size and visibility. To remain sustainable means to be ever vigilant toward managing this peril. Ecodriving Solutions is another measurable and accountable way to train safer drivers and provide proof to the world that a company is doing its part to be a responsible corporate citizen, at least in transportation and distribution.

My point is that we would be thinking too small if “Eco” just meant ecology in Ecodriving Solutions, and we ignored the economics inherent in our product. Being “green” is a natural bi-product of doing all of the right things in an organization.

Let me give you one last example. Here is the initial logo that we inherited when we became a partner in Ecodriving Solutions.

And here is our redesign as we strengthened the quality and character of the brand, particularly as we considered the “worldview” of our audience of fleet managers and drivers.