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We’re sure you’re well aware of the spiralling fuel costs in the UK over the last few years.

For most businesses with a fleet, fuel accounts for about 40% of operating costs. So, you will also have been seeing the rising cost of fuel making a bigger dent in your bottom line.

This is where an effective fuel management system can make a difference and start to roll back the amount you’re spending on fuel.

Here are five fuel management tips that will make a huge impact on your fuel spend when tackled correctly:

 

Encouraging Economical Driving

As a fleet manager, by engaging with your drivers and encouraging them to drive more economically you’ll see an increase in your average MPG.

Some of the driving habits that impact MPG are:

  • How quickly a vehicle accelerates
  • Changing up gears too soon
  • Being more aware of the road traffic conditions ahead
  • Driving within the speed limit or lowering speed

The speed at which your drivers are going can have a huge impact on fuel usage.

We’re sure your drivers are always in a hurry, but if they were to drive at 60mph instead of 70mph they would use 8% less fuel!

Preparing Vehicles

By training your drivers to better prepare their vehicles they can also make substantial savings on the amount of fuel they’re using.

This means things like:

  • Only transporting bulky items when they’re needed
  • Removing heavy items or any unnecessary weight
  • Discouraging the use of power-hungry devices like phone chargers, air conditioning, etc.
  • Checking tyre pressures are correct

Either one or a combination of these points can make a noticeable impact on how much fuel a vehicle uses.

Measuring Fuel Usage

This might sound obvious, but it’s amazing how many fleet operators do not know how much fuel their fleet and individual vehicles are using.

Unless you’re tracking and measuring fuel usage, you will not know the impact of any changes you make.

The easiest way to track fuel usage is by giving your drivers specialist fuel cards.

This way you can track every transaction electronically and generate reports using your fleet management system identifying how much fuel your drivers and vehicles are using.

Analysing Fuel Data

As long as you’re measuring your fuel usage, you can analyse your data and take a more strategic approach to reducing fuel usage.

For this, you need a robust fleet management system. Using Fleetcheck you can:

  • Integrate your fuel card data into your account
  • Clearly see how much fuel drivers are using
  • Receive detailed MPG analysis
  • Have visibility on any maintenance issues causing excessive fuel consumption
  • Identify suspect fuel transactions
  • And more

Challenge Your Drivers

The single biggest factor that affects fuel consumption in a vehicle is driver behavior.

It’s not uncommon to see a difference of up to 30% fuel consumption between different drivers using the same vehicle for the same route.

Let your drivers know that you’re able to monitor their fuel usage through your fleet management system by collecting telematics data.

If your drivers are driving responsibility, they have nothing to worry about by being monitored.

There is nothing wrong with highlighting driver behaviours that cause an increase in fuel consumption.

At the end of the day, it’s about saving money for your business and identifying training needs for drivers so they can become better, more fuel-efficient drivers.

If you’d like to find out more about how Fleetcheck can help you measure or manage your fuel usage, please feel free to get in touch with a member of our team by using this form or calling our office on 01666 577928.

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