With rising fuel prices, fleet managers across the country would love to employ highly fuel efficient, conscientious and careful drivers that are passionate about reducing company fuel bills.

This sadly does not always happen. Mainly for the following reasons:

 

1. They don’t have to pay for the fuel (most of the time!)
2. Their driving style – sometimes too “foot heavy” and not always planning!
3. Poor car maintenance (we explain more below)

Below are 5 tips (for fleet managers) to encourage fleet drivers to save fuel.

1. Select a fuel efficient vehicle – Incentivise drivers to opt for a greener car, by rewarding them either financially, or by other means, which would work well with your particular fleet.

2. Reduce Loads – Make a point of ensuring fleet drivers do not carry around heavy equipment in their car or van when they are not needed. Extra weight in a vehicle reduces economy, and can also impact on handling and stopping distances.

3. Check Tyres – Ensure all drivers check tyre pressures on a regular basis. If your fleet drivers need to perform various vehicle checks on a regular basis, ensure checking tyre pressures is one of them. Low tyre pressures not only impact on fuel economy, they also contribute to a decline in handing and braking ability of the vehicle.

4. Driver Training – Well we had to say this being a driver training business! But driver training is a great way to improve fuel economy. By focusing on more effective car control, and better observation and planning, a driver can reduce fuel costs by up to 20%. Across a large fleet, this adds up to a huge cost saving.

5. Competition Time – Many fleet drivers are in sales, salesmen and women are naturally competitive people. So why not play on this and create a “This Months Road Hero!” or similar, where all drivers average MPG is worked out on a month by month basis. You can create a league table with an annual winner being rewarded a prize.

These are just a few ideas that can help companies save money by incentivising and educating drivers. If you are interested in any of the above (especially point 4!) please get in contact with us. We will be pleased to help.