Your fleet’s fuel usage can be as much as 20% of the total operational cost of your transportation business. Hence, controlling the extra cost and enhancing fuel efficiency is significant for a truck company. As per the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, commercial trucks and fleet companies account for 28.25% of Diesel consumption annually. Commercial fleet managers find it hard to control the consumption of fuel with the increasing transportation demand in India. However, the things that can help you manage the fuel intake annually are by tracking your vehicles, fuel theft, detours, overspeeding and driver behaviour.
Below we have mentioned best practices to cut the cost of fuel by 30% for commercial fleet organisations. Let’s walk through the top 4 practices that can be used to enhance your fleet’s fuel efficiency.
1. Manage Driver Behaviour: According to ATA, a truck speeding at 65 mph tends to consume 27% less fuel than a truck overspeeding at 75 mph. Similarly, idling for a single hour on a highway can cost companies an entire gallon of fuel, in short, approximately 1 billion gallons of fuel is consumed annually by idling trucks on highways. Overspeeding and idling come under driver behaviour that can be managed with the Vehicle management system. Overspeeding can be easily controlled with a vehicle management system allowing owners to cap the truck speed and ensuring the truck driver doesn’t go beyond a particular speed limit. The speedometer can be seamlessly controlled from anywhere and anytime assuring you no speed violation or consumption of additional fuel intake.
2. Integrate GPS Tracking Software: Route planning is highly essential for a fleet business, especially when it comes to fuel management and consumption. However, there are several factors that can lead your vehicle to take a detour including sudden traffic jams due to an accident, change of route, theft, etc. To ensure your trucks consume minimal fuel, you can integrate route management software and prepare your fleet as per the best route available. In addition, you can add GPS tracking software to improve real-time route navigation and rerouting to save fuel consumption. It is a one-time investment that ensures your fleet’s fuel usage is at an all-time low.
3. Leverage the Fuel Monitoring System to Halt Fuel Theft: Another way of managing your fleet’s fuel consumption is to keep a record of the amount of fuel exhausted by one truck throughout the journey. If it is increasing exponentially, then there might be cases of fuel theft that you are unaware of. Integrating a fuel monitoring system can aid you in monitoring fuel consumption and fuel theft. In addition, you can also receive early maintenance alerts resulting in optimising fuel efficiency.
4. Avoid Indulging in Overloading Practices: Most fleet businesses indulge in overloading their fleet in order to make the most of the truck or trip. However, what’s important to know is that overloading puts more pressure on the engine, reducing the mileage of the truck, overall. Not to mention, overloading can lead to accidents and negatively impact safety.
Fuel management is not a tedious task for fleet owners anymore with fuel monitoring systems. You can integrate a fuel monitoring system and incorporate the aforementioned tips to control your fleet’s fuel consumption. Aditi Tracking offers you a Fuel Monitoring System that ensures your fuel consumption is in control while allowing you to track your driver’s behaviour, overspeeding and maintenance of your truck.