Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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FUEL TIPS CONSOLIDATE FUEL PURCHASES. Fuel card providers have negotiated discounts with truckstops, but just as importantly, drivers and fleets can use the data they collect to compare and consoli- date fuel purchases to negotiate more savings. 5 Renegotiate fuel surcharge agreements. Technology enables carriers to create surcharge programs using lane-specif- ic fuel prices and a daily reset. 8 9 BYPASS WEIGH STATIONS AND TOLL BOOTHS. Enrolling in programs such as PrePass and electronic toll collection systems can help drivers avoid burning extra fuel by stopping and then accelerat- ing back to speed. 7 Analyze fuel consumption trends. When mpg falls, try to determine why. Did you encounter more urban driving? Did your length of haul change? As a general rule, drops of more than 0.5 mpg are due to maintenance problems. ECMs can be wildly optimistic, so your actual mileage may be lower than indicated. Validate ECM readings with your own calculations based on the odometer and gallons purchased at fillup. Isolate data and look for correlations. ECMs record many things that can affect fuel economy. Look for notice- able changes in average speed, top gear time, diesel particulate filter regenera- tions, shifting and idling. Compare those trends with fuel economy during the same period. Check your fuel consumption by route. If you have dedicated runs that can be made via either interstate or a shorter route with a lot of stop-and-go traffic, run trials for fuel usage and time to see which is the most efficient. Use fuel incentive programs. Capture data to compare drivers against their peers based on mpg, idle time and other fuel metrics, and offer cash rebates and rewards for perfor- mance. Consider taking a team approach to encourage top-performing drivers to mentor less-efficient drivers. Don't rely solely on mpg as a measuring stick, as there are too many variables outside the driver's control. 10 11 42 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2012 Be efficient across the board. Fill trail- ers to capacity to haul more freight while burning less fuel and driving fewer miles. 12 Consider trailer size and weight. Are you getting the most out of 53-foot trailers? Or can you get by with a smaller trailer? Why burn fuel to haul a heavier trailer around if it's not needed? 13 14 become so important in boosting fuel economy. 15 16 17 18 Create driver scorecards. Onboard computers capture a range of information on how drivers are performing. This information can be presented to managers and drivers in an easy-to-use scorecard format. Fuel efficiency may be a better cal- culation for your fleet instead of fuel economy. Hauling 40,000 pounds at 6 mpg day in and day out may be better for your bottom line than hauling 30,000 pounds at 7 mpg. Consider other calculations to deter- mine fuel efficiency. Hours on the road per gallon instead of mpg may be a better measurement in some applications. Use reefer monitoring systems. An often-overlooked expense is burn- ing excess fuel to cool trailers. Trailer monitoring systems capture the vital information needed to use no more fuel than necessary. Eliminate fuel theft. Truckstops and fleets are beginning to use cardless systems with infrared technology and/or radio frequency identification that prevent fuel purchases from going into the wrong tank. Employ telematics. To influence drivers, you need data points, which is why telematics have