Have climbing fuel prices got you down? It is safe to say a 10% or 15% reduction in monthly fuel expenses would be worth your time and effort; would it not? You can reduce fuel expenses in four ways: Buy fewer gallons of fuel by reducing engine hours operated, maximize engine efficiency, reduce miles driven, and reduce vehicle rolling resistance. While you may presume that engine hours and miles driven directly correlate and are somewhat redundant, that is frequently not so.
Have climbing fuel prices got you down? It is safe to say a 10% or 15% reduction in monthly fuel expenses would be worth your time and effort; would it not? You can reduce fuel expenses in four ways: Buy fewer gallons of fuel by reducing engine hours operated, maximize engine efficiency, reduce miles driven, and reduce vehicle rolling resistance. While you may presume that engine hours and miles driven directly correlate and are somewhat redundant, that is frequently not so.
1. The most dramatic and immediate reductions in fuel expense can be achieved by controlling and reducing fleet idle time in both local delivery and over-the -road fleets. Local route delivery fleets historically have the largest percentage savings to be gained through implementation of effective idle time management programs. Through on-board data capture it is not unusual to learn that during a 10-hour-route-day, the route truck may spend 6 to 8 hours idling (usually while making deliveries). At a gallon per hour, that is 6 to 8 gallons of wasted fuel consumption per delivery route per day. Multiply that by the total wasted idle hours/gallons for all routes and you begin to see the dollars adding up. Determine the amount of idle time and the causes. Is idle time due to the lack of an effective idle time management policy or for mechanical reasons? If mechanical, fix the problem and then implement an across-the-board no-idle policy. Idle time elimination will also produce maintenance savings as well.