Ten steps to a fuel efficient fleet
1. Encourage take-up of low-CO2/fuel-efficient vehicles by communicating the financial benefits to drivers
2. Educate drivers to carry out basic checks – even low tyre pressure pushes up fuel use 3%
3. Ensure drivers understand how to drive efficiently – fast starts use 60% more fuel
4. Ensure drivers keep vehicles properly and regularly maintained – out of tune engines burn up to 10% more fuel
5. Record and analyse business mileage patterns to identify areas of inefficiency
6. Provide guidance on transport alternatives, such as video-conferencing.
7. Remove high-emission cars from fleet policy
8. Evaluate potential for the use of alternative fuel vehicles
9. Record and analyse vehicle fuel profiles – identify areas of low and high fuel efficiency for targeted action
10. Pay attention to high-mileage, business-critical vehicles
A more fuel efficient fleet
Methods to make your fleet more fuel efficient could include monitoring drivers exceeding a pre-agreed miles per gallon (mpg) figure or those with excessively high fuel bills.
Regular driving tips could be posted on a company intranet or emailed to help curb drivers’ bad habits.
For example, Hi-Q points out that driving at 50 mph can use 25% less fuel than at 70mph; a reduction from 80 to 70mph can save 40p every 10 miles and driving at 90mph can use 60% more fuel than at 70mph.
But it is one thing preaching better, more fuel-efficient driving styles – getting drivers to follow this advice is quite another.
Incentives can be introduced to persuade staff to drive more efficiently or opt for more economic vehicles.
Offering encouragement and rewards can help reduce the overall fuel bill and a review of vehicle policy can provide savings.
RIck Bofinger - 30/05/2014 18:14
I installed a passive device that breaks the fuel molecule down one more level, so more complete combustion is achieved. We have now done this for a number of school district busses and police fleets, large tractor trucks, boats, etc. rick@jericoenergy.com