Maintaining a fleet is costly, and with fuel prices fluctuating constantly, trying to reduce fleet costs while still performing at your peak can be difficult. We’ve scoured the web to find the top tips for you to reduce fuel costs – without major initial investments or sacrificing productivity!
INCREASE FUEL EFFICIENCY
By increasing your fuel efficiency, you can save on one of your fleet’s biggest sources of cost.
Make Your Fleet Aerodynamic
- Adding trailer skirts and other aerodynamic solutions to the exterior of your truck, you could save thousands of dollars by increasing your fuel economy. While the shape of the trailer makes transporting goods efficient, it doesn’t make for a very efficient drive; by adding aerodynamic solutions, you could make a small investment with a big return.
Balancing Your Tires
- Using a wheel-end balancer will reduce vibrations, reduce rolling resistance, and decreasing the 13% of your fuel that goes to overcoming that rolling resistance. Read more about internal balancing solutions here, and find out how much you could save in your fleet by using those solutions here.
Learn more industry solutions to increase fuel efficiency at the Environmental Research & Education Foundation webinar here. It’s a free webinar that focuses on waste-collection fleets, and is designed to educate on fuel-efficiency practices.
EXTEND OIL LIFE TO REDUCE FLEET COSTS
Oil is a constant source of maintenance for fleets, and oil changes are generally performed without diagnosing whether or not a change is needed. Don’t waste oil with unnecessary changes and keep up with your engine performance by consistently testing your oil.
Testing Oil Life
- By testing your oil regularly, you will understand the trends in your oil consumption and be prepared for when changes need to be made. You’ll also be able to catch early engine problems while they are still minor, and ensure your engines continue to function as they should.
OPTIMIZE YOUR ROUTES
Avoid Left Turns
- Take a page out of the UPS playbook, and limit your left turns as much as possible. Think about it: the time spent idling waiting to make a left turn adds up over time. Plan out your routes as detailed as possible, and take into consideration where you can avoid left turns.
Use a GPS
- According to truckinginfo.com, using a GPS will coordinate efforts from a variety of technologies to keep your drivers up-to-date on road changes and detours. Being well-prepared in advance will keep drivers on the most efficient routes and save excess idling, should they be caught in traffic – or unnecessarily re-routed.
So while overhead may be constantly changing, you could keep your costs predictable by investing in these solutions. And with ever-changing technology, new practices are bound to evolve over time. Check back in our news section regularly to keep informed on updates to the industry – and be sure to let us know if there is anything you want to hear about!