One of the simplest ways you can improve the amount of profit your business makes is to reduce the amount of money you spend on fuel each year. Spending a lot of money on fuel can have a huge negative impact on your business if you operate a fleet of vehicles. Fortunately, there are some simple strategies that you can implement to ensure that you don’t end up spending too much on fuel. Read on to find out how you can cut your fleet’s fuel costs with these four easy steps.

Cut Your Fleet’s Fuel Costs by Improving Driver Behavior

The way your driver moves has a serious impact on how much fuel your trucks use. For instance, if they drive at excessive speeds, brake harshly, and gun off after stopping at traffic lights, the trucks will consume a lot of fuel. This means you must invest in training your drivers and ensuring that they understand the importance of fuel-efficient driving techniques. This will not only help you to save money on fuel, but it can also help keep the drivers, pedestrians, and other motorists safe on the roads.

There are several Energy Saving Trust-approved eco-driving courses that your drivers can take so they understand how to drive properly. Research shows that trained drivers can help you save up to 6% over time, about 15% on the day a driver is trained.

Avoid Unnecessary Idling

Research shows that idling vehicles for prolonged periods is a practice that wastes fuel unnecessarily. Even though it seems like only a small amount of fuel is wasted when trucks idle, these amounts accumulate over time, and the wasted expenses can quickly add up, especially at the fleet level resulting in significant losses.

To avoid unnecessary idling, you must train your drivers to switch off their engines if they know they will be parking for a while. It is also important that they don’t overdo it because research also shows trucks that are started many times a day also consume a lot of fuel. If the stop is going to be prolonged, turning off the engine will have more benefits than just saving fuel. There will be less engine wear as well. Nowadays, you can use telematics software to let drivers know when they should switch off their trucks after shifting into park.

Set Speed Limits for Your Drivers

Speeding is a practice that wastes a lot of fuel, and it can also be quite dangerous. Research done by the UMTRI shows that truck drivers who move at high speeds waste a lot of fuel, and sometimes a truck’s fuel efficiency can be cut by as much as 30%. Therefore, it is important to set speed restrictions for your drivers to improve fuel efficiency and reduce safety risks.

Just like with idling, you can also use GPS fleet tracking and telematics to monitor driver speed and alert drivers when they should slow down and drive within the speed limits. There are also software options that can generate reports to indicate which drivers are driving too fast.

Stick to a Preventative Vehicle Maintenance Schedule

One of the things that are most associated with high fuel consumption is tire pressure. This is because a truck requires more power to accelerate when it’s running on deflated tires. This is why you must perform regular checks and take a proactive approach when it comes to maintaining your trucks. There are a lot of factors that can be ironed out, resulting in better performance and reduced fuel consumption.

By practicing the tips listed in this article, you can greatly reduce your fleet’s fuel consumption and improve your bottom line. Little things like tire pressure can seem like they won’t affect your business too much, but it’s those things that can affect your profitability.

Let Efficiency Enterprises help handle your fleet concerns; learn more about becoming a fleet management partner today.