One of the largest concerns fleet managers have is keeping fuel costs low. Here are six tips fleet managers can use to improve fuel efficiency of fleet vehicles.
1. Use Anti-Idling Devices in All Fleet Vehicles.
Nothing consumes fuel like idling. Idling can eat up an entire gallon on fuel in one hour. According to Omnitracs, 1.1 billion gallons of gas are wasted by idling each year in the U.S.
2. Cut speeding and hard breaking.
Encourage drivers to use momentum to roll to stoplights or to help climb hills. Using momentum rather than stepping on the gas can also help prevent hard breaking at stoplights.
3. Maintain Speed Efficiency.
There’s a reason 55mph is the recommended speed for trucks. When trucks go faster than that, drag increases and fuel efficiency decreases. Since 55mph is too slow for most freeways in the United States, fleet drivers should aim for 65mph.
4. Utilize Cruise Control.
Cruise control can help smoothly increase of decrease speed, meaning no gas is wasted rapidly accelerating. It also ensures a safe distance between trucks.
5. Plan Your Routes.
Use a GPS tracking system to map out routes ahead of time. Aside from avoiding unsafe intersections or areas, tight turns, and low bridges, mapping a route ahead of time can help drivers avoid heavy traffic will cut idling time.
6. Invest in fleet telematics and GPS tracking.
Research shows using a fleet telematics system can help companies improve fuel efficiency, provide better fleet maintenance, and save money.