Five ways You can Reduce Your Fuel and Maintenance Bill
Posted by: electime 6th December 2022
The current economic landscape has everyone, including businesses, searching for ways where costs can be saved. For companies like yours with fleets of vehicles, it’s likely that fuel spend is one of the most significant business costs, and the very reasons that can lead to higher spending can harm the vehicles too, meaning the cost of repairs and maintenance also creep up.
This article will run through five key areas that can help claw back costs.
Idling
We’ve all been guilty of vehicle idling at one point or another. Sitting in a warm car whilst making calls or catching up on admin between jobs makes for a more comfortable experience, but the truth is – it’s hitting your business financially.
Around 500ml of fuel is wasted every 15 minutes a vehicle idles – adding up to two litres per hour. The monetary impact of this for just one vehicle alone adds up, but when it’s a fleet of 3 or more, the costs start to rise.
Idling will also add to your repair and maintenance costs. Fuel isn’t fully combusted when a vehicle idles, and residue builds up, damaging exhaust systems and engine components – leading to costly vehicle downtime and repairs.
Furthermore, the co2 emissions from idling are equally shocking, with two hours of idling emitting over 5kg of co2. In a world where it’s apparent, we all need to do our part regarding sustainability and climate change.
Driving styles
Bad driving burns fuel – fact. Data gathered through our customer base tells us that a driver’s impact on fuel efficiency can be almost 20 per cent.
Every day bad driving habits such as speeding, sudden acceleration and harsh braking don’t just jeopardise the safety of other road users; they vastly increase fuel consumption due to air and tyre rolling resistance.
Reducing speed to 50 or lower and using gradual acceleration and braking can reduce fuel consumption by as little as 7 per cent and as much as 14 per cent.
Just like idling can damage engine systems, harsh braking increases tyre wear and tear and reduces the lifespan of brakes and brake pads, requiring more frequent changes. Unsurprisingly, poor driving leads to a higher number of accidents, with the cost of an accident being 36 times higher than the cost of a basic repair – driving style is a severe cause of concern for businesses operating vehicles.
It is possible to monitor driver behaviour. Rather than being used to point the finger, it is often an exercise in identifying business processes that can be improved and introducing incentives to improve driving styles and fuel consumption.
Pack for the job you are heading to
Load weight causes your vehicle to use more fuel, with previous findings reporting that for every 100 pounds removed from the vehicle, fuel economy increases by 1-2 per cent. Furthermore, equipment attached to the roof increases drag – leading to as much as a 25 per cent reduction in fuel economy if driving on a motorway.
By loading up the vehicle according to the day’s jobs, rather than always carrying heavy equipment or adding items to the roof of a vehicle, businesses can also reduce fuel costs.
Route planning
The adage ‘better the devil you know’ can also be applied to routes and directions. Frequently, the use of technology can be of great benefit because the roads taken between jobs may differ from those that offer the best fuel efficiency and economy.
While routes that meander through town centres and villages require lower speeds, constant braking and acceleration negatively impact fuel efficiency – not to mention more traffic leads to more idling.
Opting for routes that use more efficient and fast-moving roads, where a consistent speed of 55-65 can be adhered to, will enable you to improve fuel efficiency.
Preventative maintenance
Attention to detail with regular vehicle checks and scheduled maintenance is crucial to avoiding unexpected downtimes through breakdowns and prolonging vehicle life – lowering fuel and maintenance bills.
Even weekly tyre checks play a role – underinflated tyres can increase fuel consumption by as much as 15 per cent. Other areas include regular servicing using mileage data, oil changes and part replacement.
Maintaining your fleet of vehicles positively impacts depreciation, which accounts for as much as 40 per cent of the total cost of running a company vehicle.
To learn more about how the ABAX solutions can help with any of the areas mentioned above, please take a look at our website: https://www.abax.com/uk
