If you are a fleet manager, the two things that bother you most are your company’s fuel and labor expenses. While labor is a vital part of your business that you cannot compromise on, you can work on the fuel costs.
The ever-increasing fuel expense of your company might have several reasons behind it. For example, the rise in fuel prices, low maintenance of vehicles, poor driving behavior, etc. However, there is no such problem that cannot be solved.
In today’s article, we will focus on reducing fuel costs with five effective solutions. Additionally, these solutions will help you detect the causes of extra fuel expenses in your fleet.
So without wasting any time, let us get into the details!
5 Ways to Reduce Fuel Costs in Fleet Management
These five ways effectively reduce fuel expenses for your fleet management company, which benefits your bottom line.
- Change Poor Driver Behavior
Believe it or not, poor driving habits are a primary reason fleet management companies face uprisings in fuel costs. For example, idling is a common practice performed by drivers, which affects the engine life resulting in increased fuel consumption.
According to reports, one hour of idling daily is equivalent to traveling about 60,000 miles of wear and tear caused to the vehicle’s engine. This can drastically lower the efficiency of the vehicle affecting its performance.
Idling causes premature aging of the vehicle affecting fuel efficiency and economy. Hence it is essential to take strict action against poor driving behavior in your fleet and ensure your drivers do not damage the vehicles.
A simple solution to this is training your drivers the right way. You must develop a systematic training schedule for your company’s general and targeted training.
Adding some essential practices into your training session can significantly impact fuel costs, like training your driver to avoid speeding, hard acceleration, and braking as it burns additional fuel. In addition, these driving behaviors also invite potential threats to fleet operations.
- Use an Appropriate Vehicle According to The Fleet Operation
A prevalent yet concrete blunder in fleet management is choosing the wrong vehicle for your operations. Managers often forget to consider that having a vehicle that does not meet the requirements of their operations can cause efficiency problems and affect fuel economy.
There are several things to check in a vehicle before finalizing it for a fleet operation. For example, you must check the engine specifications, weight, torque, and power while assessing a vehicle.
Choosing an engine with extreme or insufficient power might result in trouble in fuel economy. Similarly, a vehicle with minimal weight capacity will consume extra fuel if it carries the weight of cargo.
- Using GPS For Vehicle Tracking
Real-time location and vehicle tracking are excellent tools for taking shorter routes and avoiding traffic jams. In addition, installing these systems will make the drivers more accountable for their driving behavior and ensure they do not practice reckless or negligent driving.
Since the employees are aware of you keeping a regular watch on them even when they are on the road, they tend to drive more carefully. Not only will vehicle tracking cut down your fuel expenses it will also reduce risky driving behaviors and help your business grow in terms of public reputation and positive customer feedback.
- Prepare a Maintenance And Inspection Schedule
Maintaining a proper maintenance schedule will increase the engine life of your vehicles, encouraging limited fuel consumption. Often when trucks, vans, or cars are not checked in for regular maintenance, the wear and tear of vehicles reduce their efficiency.
Proactive maintenance of vehicles will save a lot of money compared to premature wear and tear in the vehicle. In addition, maintaining proper tire pressure has also been proven to reduce fuel costs and prolong the health of tires, making them long-lasting.
Many fleet managers are surprised when they discover the reason for their additional fuel cost is inflated tires. Yes, you heard it right! Inflated tires cause 1-2% more fuel consumption as it becomes difficult for the engine to move the vehicle on the road.
- Review Your Fleet Data Regularly
Monitoring your fleet records religiously can help you detect any fuel theft or unauthorized fuel purchases. Unethical activities like these can affect your business’s economy, resulting in severe losses.
With an efficient fleet management solution, you can gather accurate reporting about the vehicle’s fuel consumption, mileage, and fuel expenses. While calculating these numbers, immediate action must be taken if you suspect any theft in your fleet.
Even though there are traditional methods and tools used by fleet management companies, like Excel sheets and whiteboards, using an automated fleet management solution can make things easier for fleet managers and eliminate the risk of any mistakes or errors.
Fleet management solutions can manage all the data and records of your drivers and vehicle, like fuel usage, fuel efficiency, scheduling maintenance, training sessions of drivers, etc. It also provides real-time updates about location, fuel fill-ups, miles covered, and time remaining to complete the operation.
- Reducing fuel costs using fuel cards
Fuel is one of the most significant expenses for any business that operates a fleet of vehicles. Whether you run a small delivery business or a large logistics company, fuel costs can quickly add up and eat into your profits. Fortunately, fuel cards can help businesses streamline their fuel expenses and ultimately reduce costs.
Fuel cards are payment cards that allow fleet managers to track, manage and control fuel expenses. With a fuel card, drivers can purchase fuel at designated fuel stations, and the costs are directly charged to the company. This means that fleet managers can monitor fuel usage, identify any excessive fuel consumption, and take appropriate measures to reduce consumption.
Besides, fuel cards provide access to discounts, loyalty rewards, and other perks, which can help companies save money on fuel expenses. By implementing fuel cards, businesses can significantly reduce their fuel costs and improve their bottom line.
Wrapping Up!
Being a fleet manager is not easy. You need to handle several things to ensure your business thrives. Hence it is always better to invest in an efficient fleet management solution that makes your job easier and your business profitable.
To overcome the issue of additional fuel expenses in your fleet, opting for a robust fleet management technology is the ideal solution. If you want to know more about how fleet technology can transform your business, contact us today!
