This article and its information is nothing new and has been a topic
and discussion point in numerous blogs and articles over the last couple
of years already. It is however still a very relevant topic and will
still be beneficial to take a minute or two to read and analyze this
information against your own position, and see what else you can do to
save fuel costs.
Every month, consumers and business owners alike, wait in
anticipation and expect another fuel price increase. Throughout the
month some listen and watch out for news about oil price increase and/or
exchange rate changes in order to establish the chance of another
likely fuel price increase. And every time we a pull out a calculator to
work out what impact the new price will have on our lives, whether
personally or from a business perspective.
By now we have actually realized that our hands are tied and that we
can’t control the economic changes that have such an impact on our
expenses and eat so eagerly into our bottom line. What we do know
however, is that we can implement certain operational controls to reduce
the impact it has or will have, such as identifying and implementing
controls to manage how, where and when we drive, etc. in order to manage
fuel efficiency as well as to reduce risks and costs.
So what can we do to be as fuel efficient as possible and to reduce risks and costs?
1. Improving Driving Behavior
Improved driving behavior plays an important and significant role in
reducing costs. Global research and experience tell us that fuel
efficiency can be improved, by an average of 20%, where aggressive
driving behavior, i.e. over speeding, harsh acceleration, harsh
deceleration and harsh braking, is managed proactively. This includes
the monitoring and identification of exceptions and trends and to then
debrief drivers regularly, preferably directly after arriving back from a
trip. This should include
fuel consumption
information for the debriefed trip. Too many companies only calculate
fuel consumption figures at the end of the month which hide individual
fuel discrepancies. By doing it on a trip by trip basis an opportunity
will exist for anomalies to be identified and addressed very close to
the time it actually happened.
Most businesses, with a fleet of vehicles, utilize fleet management
tracking solutions to provide them with essential driving behavior data.
By utilizing
Business Intelligence tools,
which can provide easy to use and integrated dashboards from various
collaborative data sources, will allow businesses to identify and
address poor driving behavior more pro-actively and not re-actively, at
the end of the month, when the costs could have escalated beyond the
acceptable.
Another alternative is to actively monitor poor driving behavior
through life fleet management tracking platforms and phone drivers
immediately when these exceptions happen. This concept, although
slightly more expensive due to the required human resource component,
has been proven to be a successful intervention in improving driving
behavior.
Outsourcing,
rather than employing staff to perform this function, for this type of
service allows for shared resources at vastly reduced costs and can help
companies to manage driving behavior more extensively.
Cost saving is not the only aspect that is addressed. Reducing
aggressive driving behavior reduces risk as the possibilities of
collisions are greatly reduced and with it reputation and an impact on
the company’s bottom line.
2. Reduce Idling
The worst consumption statistic for any vehicle is a 0 km per liter
figure, i.e. vehicle standing in one position whilst the engine runs and
fuel is consumed. Idling costs might seem insignificant to many but the
costs over period can proof to be extensive. Idling waste cost can be
reduced simply by switching the engine off completely when standing in
queues waiting to offload at a customer for example. There will be an
argument that restarting an engine also uses fuel but this is more or
less equivalent to the same amount as idling for 30 seconds compared to
standing and idling for 5 minutes.
To give you an idea; in a recent customer analysis, 4 out of their 27
vehicles, we found that the customer was losing around 28% of his fuel
due to idling (obtained from the On Board Computers (OBC)) fuel waste.
This equates to around R 5 000.00 ($400.00) per month at approximately R
60 000.00 ($ 4 800) per year for just the 4 vehicles. The reason; the
drivers were waiting for 2 – 3 hours in long queues waiting to offload
and whilst waiting simply left the engine running. Nobody knew this
until this was highlighted. The customer could, as a result address two
very important issues, i.e. reduce the long delivery waiting times with
his customer and save a substantial amount of money on wasted idling
costs for all 27 vehicles.
OBC data is not always directly available to most vehicle owners but fleet management tracking applications in conjunction with
Business Intelligence tools
can provide significant data and information that allow customers to
identify and manage these costs. Idling should form part of the
debriefing process and excessive instances should be investigated in
order to reduce it significantly.
3. Preventative Management
Preventative maintenance is essential and is a key component in
extending a vehicle’s operational life as well as to reduce risk and
costs and finally, to improve fuel economy. Aspects like, paying
attention to the wheel alignment of the vehicle (unaligned wheels work
against wheels it is not aligned to and this increases fuel usage) can
assist in improving fuel economy.
Changing tire positions are also key
in enhancing tire life and to maintain fuel efficiency. Also, keeping
air filters clean will result in a higher fuel-to-air ratio which will
increase fuel consumption; dirty air filters prevents air supply to an
engine which decreases fuel consumption. Using prescribed, good quality
parts, lubricants and oils will further improve fuel efficiency and
reduce breakdown risks and costs.
Preventative maintenance must always be done in accordance with
manufacturer requirements and specifications. This include required
service intervals, component interval changes, etc.
Keeping a comprehensive record system
for each vehicle is also an essential component in order to manage
costs, service records, planned component changes, changes to tires,
etc. These records will also assist the fleet manager to identify when
to replace vehicles and not just to control maintenance on these
vehicles.
4. Managing Tires
No vehicle can operate without tires and with this, there are
obviously also significant cost and risk implications. Drivers are not
always immediately aware that a tire/s might be deflated and can drive
kilometers before realizing this. Deflation of tires can be caused by
valve leakages, punctures and damages and if not identified early can
negatively impact on the vehicle performance and efficiency. For
example, a 4 – 5 psi under inflated tire can cause a 10% fuel
consumption increase and up to 15% reduction in tire thread.
Manage tires efficiently and a vehicle’s fuel consumption can be
improved by around 3%. There are several solutions that can be used to
assist with tire management in order to improve efficiency. To start,
drivers should be equipped with fuel gauges so that they can physically
check tires on route and to address tire issues earlier, walking around
the vehicle hitting tires with a pipe is not really an effective way to
check for deflated tires. Lastly,
using tire protection technology, to stop leakages without having to stop, should be used as a further alternative to reduce tire deflation.
5. Route Planning And Scheduling
Taking the shortest route is always tempting and to some the most
logical step. This, however, is not always the most efficient option as
the shortest route might be a highly traffic congested route, the
general quality of the road might be poor, it may have several
stop/start situations on route, several hill climbs, etc, all of which
will have a negative impact on fuel efficiency. It is therefore
important to plan routes optimally in order to reduce distance and time
and to reduce risks and costs.
There are several applications available in the market that allows
for better route management. These systems allow for up-to-date and
historical traffic trend information, which allow operators to plan
routes and even optimal departure times, to avoid congestion,
efficiently. This means, in short, a reduction in wasted fuel, i.e.
reduced idle times due to congestion, reduced distances, etc, improved
reputation as deliveries are made on time and optimized business
processes.
There are plenty more solutions to consider, some others are:
• Utilize cruise control technology, where available, on highways
• Look at service providers that can provide fuel at a lower cost
• Reduce air conditioner usage, where possible
• Buy the correct fuel grade as prescribed by the manufacturer
• Understand and buy aerodynamic trucks and trailers
There are several links in this article that revert to solutions
available in the market place. Please have a look at them as a reference
and feel free to contact me should you require my assistance or
more information about the specific solutions.
