Introduction
There are many ways of cutting your fuel expenditure and saving money, and one of them is switching to a fuelcard. You can either improve the fuel economy of your vehicles or buy new ones that have better MPG. But it’s not always easy to replace an entire fleet. That means that you need to consider fuel whenever you purchase a new vehicle.
Improving your fleet’s fuel economy with fuel cards UK is something you can start doing right away. In this article, we share with you 10 strategies for reducing fuel consumption and reigning in on your expenditure. Read on to learn more.
Make sure your tires are properly inflated.
Research shows that simply inflating your cars’ tires with the right amount of pressure can increase fuel efficiency by 0.6%-3%. That’s because you lose approximately 0.2% fuel efficiency for every one psi below the recommended tire pressure.
Another thing that affects the car tire’s pressure is external temperatures. For this reason, make sure you ask your employees to check tire pressure regularly especially in fluctuating weather. You should especially be careful in extremely hot or cold climes. Relying on technologies like Geotab telematics helps you to ensure that employees check tire pressure regularly. It does this by setting automated maintenance reminders. Another way is by incorporating tire pressure in your DVIR (driver’s vehicle inspection) checklist.
Set speed restrictions.
Another way to curb fuel waste is to reduce and limit your speed. Implementing speed restrictions in your fleet helps you save a significant amount of fuel. The reason for this is that cars at a slower speed tend to use less fuel, which will eventually curb your fuel spend. UMTRI research showed that a vehicle’s mpg is reduced by up to 30% when cruising at high speeds.
Telematics technology reminds drivers to slow down and drive within the speed limit, something that helps to reduce fuel consumption. Managers can also know the drivers that violate the speeding policy.
Choose smooth roads whenever you can
The quality of road surface is something that often contributes to fuel inefficiency, yet it is usually overlooked. The energy that comes from the engine is not for the forward momentum. Every bump or shake of the car eats into the kinetic energy you were charged for at the pump.
The problem is that road surface quality is seldom under the control of a fleet. But with an application like Geotab, it’s easy to help drivers plan ahead and avoid bad roads.
Another fuel inefficiency contributor is traffic congestion. Research shows that traffic congestion negatively affects the fuel economy of a vehicle by up to 40%.
Choose the right-size engines and match the vehicle to the correct route.
It is also important to align a vehicle for the right task. You could, for example, choose alternative fuel cars like battery-electric vehicles when you want to cover shorter routes and for longer routes, go with lightweight, gasoline cars.
Also, opting for vehicles with smaller engines is a smart way of saving fuel. In most cases, the vehicle specifications you choose have more power than the routes require. For example, research by Automotive Fleet showed that when a company purchases trucks that have right-size engines, it can result in higher fuel efficiency than using just any truck.
Avoid idling and practice smart shifting.
A vehicle generally consumes less fuel if the engine is started fewer times. When you change gears sooner, the overall revolutions per minute are lowered, leading to lower petrol consumption.
Idling is another habit that wastes tonnes of fuel. When your car is idling, it is akin to running when it doesn’t need to be. This unnecessary consumption incurs needless costs. Reminding drivers or employees to switch off engines can result in significant paybacks not only in the short-term but also long term.
Using telematics technology helps to alert drivers to switch off engines when the vehicles are in “Park” mode. Idling reports also show drivers that idle regularly and can help fleet managers discourage them.
Watch the load
The size of the load you carry determines the fuel consumption of your car. The lighter the load, the more efficient it will be in terms of fuel consumption. Today, car manufacturers are building cars with composite body parts, something that significantly decreases vehicle weight.
It also means ensuring that drivers only carry what they should as their load. Research shows that each additional 100 pounds that a vehicle carries reduce the fuel efficiency by 1%. It’s even worse to carry the load on the roof.
Consider switching to alternative vehicles.
Reverting to electric vehicles or alternative fuels whenever you can is a sure way to save on fuel costs. it saves on fuel expenditures as these models of cars tend to be cheaper to run compared to regular diesel or gasoline.
Apart from these vehicles being cheaper to run, the cost of maintenance is also lower because its components and moving parts that can fail are fewer.
Ensure that the oxygen sensor is not defective
Starting from the early 1980s, every car manufactured is equipped with a minimum of one oxygen sensor. The role of the sensors is to analyze the concentration of oxygen in the exhaust fumes of the vehicle. It then sends input from the sensor to the computer’s engine to work out how much fuel is to be added in every cycle of combustion. But the sensors can become faulty or need replacing.
You can improve the mileage of your company vehicles by up to 40 percent by simply fixing a malfunctioning oxygen sensor.
Tools like Geotab enable you to spot defective oxygen sensors. It sets up a pop-up or emailed notifications every time there is a fault in the oxygen sensor. It helps you to repair the sensor promptly and it reduces the impact on the fuel economy of the vehicle.
Conclusion
No matter what business you are in, you will always appreciate an opportunity to save money. Fortunately, there are excellent cost-cutting tips on fuel. A simple strategy to reduce fuel expenditure is to switch to fuel card. With fuel cards, UK businesses get instant discounts and other numerous benefits like reduced paperwork.
