The Cost of Fuel: What Can You Control?

With the ever changing costs of fuel, it’s not surprising that fuel managers can often feel like they are getting whiplash. Fuel prices tend to fluctuate regularly; sometimes way up and sometimes significantly down.

For fleet managers who are in control of a fleet budget, it can often be hard staying in control. However, whilst they can’t control the fluctuating fuel prices, there are several factors that they are very much in control of.

Fuel Management

Whilst the price of fuel is often out of your hands, you are in control of how much is used within your company. You can do this the best by using a fuel management system.

A reliable fuel management system provides business owners with the means to manage and monitor their fuel effectively. When you store a fuel management system onsite, you’re putting yourself firmly in control of who uses it and how much they use. Besides stopping unauthorised use of your fuel, it also means you can manage your overall fuel usage effectively.

Our own fuel management system is designed to meet almost all site conditions, whatever size your company is, and therefore is perfect for keeping track of your fuel usage.

The Behaviour of Your Drivers

By monitoring driver behaviour, you can find out exactly where and why fuel is getting wasted. You should be looking for those who do things such as accelerating too quickly, speeding or driving too slowly. These are all things that waste fuel and therefore will be costing you more money.

Once you know where the problems lie, you can educate your drivers on the most efficient way to drive their vehicles.

Another way to educate your drivers on controlling their fuel usage could be to have more influence on the routes that they take during a working day. Planning routes around heavy traffic and busy roads could actually stop a lot of fuel being wasted.

Regular Fleet Maintenance

Regularly carrying out fleet maintenance can actually save you money when it comes to fuel. This means you should be carrying our regular inspections on your tires, your oil levels and your air filters. Your tires should be inflated to the recommendations that are set by the manufacturer. If they are under-flated, the friction caused by the car on the surface will lead to the engine having to work a lot harder and therefore using more fuel.

Air filters should be clean at all times – these will need replacing regularly. To ensure proper engine lubrication, it’s important to regularly check and maintain the oil levels in your vehicles.

If you would like to learn more about our fuel management systems, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can give us a call on 01254 291391 and we will be happy to help.