Effective fuel management in a fleet operation often makes or breaks logistics and services companies. As the cost of fuel keep on rising these days, it represents up to 60% of the fleets total operating cost. Understanding the needs of fleet operators in reducing fuel spending and making sure that every drop of fuel is accounted for, we are proposing 5 strategies to reduce fuel spending in fleet operations.
1. Implement a fuel efficiency program:
A fuel efficiency program can help to improve the way that vehicles are driven and can help to reduce fuel consumption. This can involve providing training and guidance to drivers on fuel-efficient driving techniques, as well as implementing policies and procedures to support fuel efficiency.
Here are some fuel efficiency tips shared by our own KATSANA fleet operators:
a. Keep tires inflated at the correct pressure
Under-inflated tires have higher surface contact to the road, resulting into increased rolling resistance. This means, your tires are generating more friction, making it harder for the wheels to roll. As a result, more fuel is needed to move the vehicle. In fact, if all your tires are under-inflated by just 10psi, this could reduce fuel efficiency by up to 10% 💸.
b. Remove unnecessary dead weight in the cabin or boot
Keep your trucks and vehicles lean. Remove unnecessary dead weight in the cabin or boot. In a passenger car, every 50kg of weight added to the car increases fuel consumption by 2% 💸.
c. Drive a steady 70-90km/h on highways
When driving on highways, your vehicle consumes more fuel at higher speeds. This is because more fuel is needed to spin the engine, and also to overcome wind resistance. When driving at 100km/h, you will burn 15% more fuel 💸, and at 110km/h, you will burn 25% more 💸.
However, driving slow is not necessarily good for your fuel consumption. Driving at speeds lower than 50km/h, the engine would use lower gear, which means higher RPM and higher fuel burn.
For best use of fuel, drive a steady 70-90km/h while maintaning a higher gear to achieve the optimal fuel economy 💰.
2. Use KATSANA Fleet Platform to monitor and manage vehicle usage:
GPS tracking and vehicle telematics can provide valuable data on vehicle usage, which can help to identify areas for improvement and potential cost savings.
KATSANA platform provides fleet operators with real-time overview of the fleet operations, including fuel usage for each vehicles. This is done through installation of fuel sensors onto the vehicles.
a. Real-time Fuel Monitoring System for Fleets
By using KATSANA fuel monitoring system, fuel usage report is available at any time using modern web-browsers. The report provides you with detailed fuel usage statistics, including refuelling and potential fuel theft. Using data available on KATSANA Fleet platform, you are able to quickly identify vehicles that have unusually high fuel use, which possibly mean unauthorised vehicle use, or worse, fuel being siphoned (theft).
b. Driver Scoring System for Fleets
On top of the direct benefit of having KATSANA advanced vehicle tracking system, driver scoring capability in KATSANA also helps reduce fuel wastage.
Dangerous driving such as sudden acceleration and high speed can increase fuel consumption by up to 50% than regular driving 💸.
KATSANA allows fleet operators to quickly identify risky drivers, enabling you to implement corrective programs to address these dangerous behaviors.
In all, an effective implementation of KATSANA fleet platform helps fleet operators to reduce fuel spending by up to 30% 💰 .
Interested in KATSANA Fleet Operations platform? Contact Us Now
3. Implement regular vehicle maintenance:
Regular vehicle maintenance can help to ensure that vehicles are operating at peak efficiency and can help to reduce fuel consumption. This can involve regular inspections and servicing, as well as addressing any potential issues that could impact fuel efficiency.
Vehicles that are not maintained well will consume more fuel due to inefficient combustion and higher friction caused by bad engine oil (unlubricated engine).
While lack of periodic servicing and maintenance may help you reduce short-term spending, in the long run it will be a significant risk to your bottomline as it is costlier to repair or overhaul broken engines.
Sometimes, fleet operators simply forgot to service the vehicles regularly when dealing with hundreds of vehicles in the fleet. People are forgetful and make mistakes. By using KATSANA Fleet Platform, fleet operators are able to keep track of upcoming services & maintenance items. This includes insurance renewals, regulatory inspections, and costs involved.
As a fleet owner, implementing a proven fleet management system such as KATSANA greatly improve fleet operations. KATSANA has numerous modules to effective monitoring of service and maintenance records, including reminders so that fleet operators can keep a good tab on fleet health.
4. Use data analytics to identify fuel savings opportunities:
Data analytics can provide valuable insights into vehicle performance and usage, which can help to identify opportunities for reducing fuel consumption and improving fuel efficiency.
Since KATSANA stores the longest and most detailed vehicle movement data in the industry, fleet operators are able to review past trips in such precision to identify certain driving patterns such as:
a. Long idling (engine is running when vehicle is not moving)
b. Use of vehicle beyond working hours/allowable hours (fuel is used for personal use 💸)
c. Departure from allowable routes, especially for commercial vehicles (security risks & fuel wastage 💸)
d. High speed driving that consumes more fuel (accident risks & fuel wastage 💸)
5. Invest in alternative fuel vehicles to reduce fuel spending:
Investing in alternative fuel vehicles, such as electric or hybrid vehicles, can help to reduce fuel consumption and can provide long-term cost savings.
By transitioning to electric vehicles, fleet operators no longer need to worry about fuel spending (duh). One benefit of going for an EV fleet is there are no more opportunities for fuel thefts 💸.
In fact, there are so many benefits of transitioning your fleet to electric that we have written 10 more reasons to switch to EV fleet. Please check it out to know more.
Interested in KATSANA Fleet Operations platform? Contact Us Now
–
Written by Fuqaha, CEO of KATSANA Holdings. Connect with me on LinkedIn.