Cabbies lead way with 20% average fuel saving

Britain’s cabbies have led the way in showing how fleets and company car and van drivers can slash their fuel bills and collectively save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

Shell’s Smarter Cab Drivers’ initiative saw 18 taxi drivers from across the UK reduce their fuel consumption by an average 20% per driver in a month, meaning a cash saving of more than £1,550 – equivalent to over 1,100 litres of fuel – if they retain their ‘smarter driving’ focus for 12 months.

Phil Williams, UK fleet sales manager, euroShell, said: “Taxi drivers are driving professionals and if they can significantly reduce their fuel consumption, this is compelling evidence to fleet operators that driver behaviour can be a key factor in managing their fuel economy. We hope this campaign can show that if cabbies can do it, company car and van drivers can also become more fuel efficient.”

The fuel giant has calculated that, based on the cabbies’ savings, Britain’s 34.1 million drivers could make a collective fuel saving of up to £18.5 billion if they applied similar smarter driving techniques.

The cabbies smashed their initial 10% fuel saving target by putting into practice top fuel economy driving tips including avoiding over-revving their engines, turning their air conditioning down or off and reducing the load carried in boots.

All of the cabbies received Shell’s Smarter Driving training and guidance, and 10 of the participants had co-created nudges and interventions to further encourage their efforts and remind them of their training.

These included telemetry devices to update them on their driving performance, and regular reminders about smarter driving techniques. Both were intended to constantly remind drivers to keep applying the skills they had learned on the Smarter Driving course.

The taxi driver campaign was the latest in Shell’s ‘smarter mobility’ initiative, which delivers advice to drivers on how they can save fuel.

Shell has trained more than 100,000 people globally on how to improve their driving behaviour to save fuel.

The initiative also underpins Shell’s FuelSave petrol and diesel, launched last year, and are the company’s most advanced fuel economy formula ever to deliver fuel savings.

Williams said: “Shell recognises the impact of fuel prices on businesses and consumers, and knows it has an important role to play in helping the world meet its growing need for energy with a responsible approach.

“We are doing this in a number of ways, from reducing our CO2 footprint to developing products such as Shell FuelSave fuels and by encouraging smarter driving.”