Employers who adopt a companywide approach to company car and van fuel savings involving not just managers of fleets but operations and human resources too will get the best results, says CFC Solutions.

CFC Solutions say that fuel is by far the fastest rising cost facing fleets – with prices for diesel having risen by around 20 per cent in the last year and likely to hit an average of £1.30 per litre well before the end of the year.

Neville Briggs, managing director at CFC, said: “The rate of increase in fuel prices is frightening and shows no signs of abating yet we still encounter companies every day who take only limited action to control their fuel spend, or where the fleet manager would like to do more to manage the situation but has little support.

“What we have found works best is where managers of different departments work together on a companywide basis to manage, as far as possible, what is being spent on petrol and diesel. This can have a definite and lasting impact on fuel bills, saving considerable amounts.”

Briggs said that fleet managers need to enlist director level support for the measures needed to minimise fuel spend and that a good way to do so was to look at future data for likely fuel prices.

He continued: “If petrol prices continue to rise in the next couple of years in the same way as they have in the last couple, then the £1.60-£1.70 litre will be with us fairly quickly. Figures such as these are a good way to prompt directors into action.

“What is needed is impetus to control vehicle use, driver behaviour and fuel spending at the pumps. Fleet managers cannot do this alone. They need support from operational and human resources managers to make the changes needed.”

Briggs continued: “We have many clients using our fleet software who successfully manage their fuel spend. Bearing in mind the current price of fuel and likely future rises, employers simply cannot afford not to take any action.”

Find out if you could save on what your fleet is paying in petrol, visit the fleet news petrol prices page for more information.