The road transport sector is vital to our economy. From groceries to building supplies, almost everything comes off the back of a truck. Heavy trucks account for almost 25% of all road transport emissions. Despite improvements in fuel efficiency in recent years, emissions are still rising, mainly due to increasing road freight traffic and an ageing fleet.
A newer or zero-emission vehicle is guaranteed to reduce your emissions, but you may not be in a position to upgrade your fleet just yet, so what can you do now to improve your fuel efficiency, reduce your emissions and ultimately save costs?
1. Vehicle Maintenance
Well-maintained engines typically use less fuel. Identifying small problems before they become big ones will help keep your engines in top condition.
A poorly maintained vehicle may consume more fuel. It negatively affects performance, produces higher levels of emissions and could lead to expensive repairs and low resale value.
Maintenance areas that can affect your fuel efficiency include tyre inflation and tread, oil, air conditioning, engine cooling, and diesel particulate filters.
It is a good idea to use data to identify possible problems so you canproactively manage servicing and repairs of your vehicle.
Using a telematics system can also keep you on track with vehicle servicing, providing scheduled notifications for warrant of fitness and certificate of fitness checks. This can help keep maintenance on track, keep your fleet in top condition and ensure a solid compliance record, while minimising unexpected maintenance costs and reduce unnecessary vehicle downtime.
2. Optimising routes
Improving routes by even a small percentage can make a big impact on fuel usage and maintenance costs.
Telematics can help reduce travel time and fuel costs by identifying the most efficient or direct routes, reducing emissions and your fleet’s overall carbon footprint. As well as a lower fuel bill, it can also reduce other operating costs such as wages and vehicle wear-and-tear.
3. Improve Driver habits
Bad driving behaviours can add up to thousands of hours of fuel wasted annually.
Common driver habits such as harsh acceleration, idling more than necessary, harsh braking and speeding can have a major impact on your fuel efficiency - and your bottom line.
Keep it smooth
A heavy vehicle uses 20% less energy to move at 90 km/h than 100 km/h. Drivers save more fuel and emissions by maintaining an average speed, rather than speeding up and braking.
An idling diesel heavy vehicle uses 2 litres of fuel an hour. By cutting idling you can save up to 5% of your fuel bill – it could be worth thousands of dollars a year.
Modern diesel engines only need to idle while air pressure builds up. It makes sense to leave the engine running for short stops – but if a driver expects to park for more than 3 minutes, just switch off.
4. Utilise Telematics Data
One of the biggest, and most quantifiable areas, where telematics can impact your fleet management is in reducing your company’s fuel bill.An EROAD study found that our customers improved their fuel efficiency by an average of 6% after just one year.
Telematics can provide detailed insights into fuel consumption by vehicle, driver and fleet. It helps you understand your fleet’s fuel consumption patterns and identify areas or instances of unnecessary fuel use to help reduce overall fuel consumption and improve vehicle performance.
EROAD provides detailed insights into fuel consumption by vehicle and driver. It helps you understand your fleet’s fuel consumption patterns and identify areas or instances of unnecessary fuel use to help reduce overall fuel consumption.
It also simplifies fuel management by allowing you to compare fuel records against vehicle distance and location information and identify trends and exceptions across your fleet.
With real-time fuel usage and transaction information, you always know what you have and how it’s used.
Looking for solutions on fuel efficiency, driver behaviour and reducing your emissions?
EROAD fleet management drives productivity and profitability every single day. If you’re considering telematics solutions for your fleet, request a demo to discover why more New Zealand businesses choose EROAD.