Lowering Fuel Costs With Driver Education

With fuel costs accounting for a large portion of your fleet’s total operating costs, it makes good business sense to minimise your fuel bills as much as possible.

Fleets tend to look at a lot of different options when it comes to curbing fuel use — including implementing fleet management software. But sometimes fleet managers overlook one strategy that is basically free to implement, and that can have a significant impact on the fleet’s total fuel use — driver education.

Driver education can help reduce fuel use because:

• Drivers realise they can make a big difference
• Drivers are more conscious of how they drive and how it affects fuel consumption
• Drivers understand the safety benefits of driving more responsibly

Here are two important tips for drivers that you can use as part of a driver education program to minimise fuel use.

Avoid excessive idling

An idling truck consumes about a litre of fuel every hour. That can quickly add up. Pause to check if you really do need your engine running. If you don't, turn it off. If you don't currently measure fleet fuel use, investigate the use of GPS fleet tracking so you can monitor and control excessive idling.

Avoid overfilling

If a tank is filled to the brim it can easily overflow when the fuel is heated, either by the sun or fuel returned by the engine. This is not only dangerous to other road users, but also wasteful.

As part of an overall fleet management system, fleet managers can use these tips to minimise overall fuel usage and save thousands of dollars.

If you're a driver, perhaps you can suggest your fleet managers reward economical driving by measuring fuel use across the entire team. It can actually become a fun challenge to see who the most fuel-frugal driver is!