4 Ways Truck Fleets Can Curtail Rising Fuel Costs
11 Aug 2021Gas prices are above $3 per gallon, roughly $1 per gallon more than they were a year ago. The New York Times reports that the cost of fuel could rise 20 cents more throughout August. As COVID-19 restrictions relax, demand for crude oil globally has jumped, causing its cost to increase. This is addition to the limit of crude oil exports tightening the global supply and demand. In other words, demand is increasing, and supply might not be able to keep up.
Many businesses rely on semi-trucks or large moving trucks as a part of their business. These trucks depend heavily on gas. When these prices for fuel continue to rise then, they must adapt their whole business around it. It can end up costing them a pretty penny figuring out their business. Here are five ways truck fleets can help to manage the rise in fuel costs:
1) GPS Fleet Tracking
Oddly enough, GPS tracking has a proven track record to save money. Investing in the correct GPS fleet tracking system can provide detailed and accurate speed information about the truck. There is an additional $.22 per gallon of gas added when the truck goes five mph above the posted speed limit, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
This also helps to make sure that the drivers are staying on the correct route that they need to. They may have to veer off to avoid an accident or bad traffic, but this will help make sure that all the gas that the company is paying for is 100% business use.
Maintenance and proper care can be done with this detailed information GPS fleet maintenance monitoring provides. If a truck needs an oil change every 5000 miles, for example, then GPS tracking can alert you that it needs done.
2) Unnecessary Idling
Idling can be a problem. Idling can use a quarter to a half gallon of fuel per hour, reports the U.S. Department of Energy.
Some may argue that it does not require a lot of gas to idle the truck for 10 minutes a day. Imagine that a fleet of 100 trucks idle for 10 minutes. That is 1000 minutes (16 hours) of truck idling. That is a lot of gas that is going to be wasted.
3) Air in Tires
The truck will require much more power to get going, and keep momentum, if the tires are even a little deflated. If the tires are over inflated, then they are more susceptible to damage making a tragic event much more possible. Fleets need to check their tire’s air pressure regularly not only for cost savings sake, but for safety.
4) Governors
Governors (a device that is placed on a car’s engine to limit maximum speed) are a very useful tool that fleet managers can consider using. Governors are there to help minimize fleet expenditures as trucks will use more gas when they go faster, but it will also help insurance costs go down. As an added benefit, work with an insurance company who may offer a discount when they have proof that a driver will not be able to go over a certain speed.
From the looks of it, we’re going to see inflated fuel prices for a while longer, so implement one or more of these fuel savings ways today.
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