What is fuel economy

Fuel economy. MPG. Sustainability. Efficiency. They are all ways of measuring how hard your fuel is working for you.

If you’re trying to run a family budget and watching your hard-earned cash go up in smoke it can be frustrating. If you are in charge of fleet costs and have to sit back every month and watch the spreadsheet become increasingly red as diesel costs attack your precious revenue streams, the price of diesel can be maddening.

Not only has the wholesale price of oil steadily increased over the past decade, UK motorists and businesses pay the highest fuel tax in the EU, with the Treasury receiving 60 per cent of what we hand over at the filling station.

A recent FairFuelUK poll of 25,000 motorists found over 87 per cent said their cost of living is higher now than a year ago - primarily due to the price of petrol and diesel.

The average budget breaks down like this:

  • Spending on road fuel is £24.60 per month
  • Together these account for almost two-fifths of transport costs
  • An average spend of £1,280 a year on fuel

The importance of fuel-efficient driving

For economic and environmental reasons

Even in a small family car, annual fuel spends represent a significant amount of money - enough for a holiday abroad - so you can imagine the sum many HGV fleets spend on diesel must be astronomical. As well as the economical considerations, there is are also the environmental facts to consider.: for every litre of diesel burnt to propel the vehicle, 2.63 kg of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.

  • 1 litre of diesel is burnt to propel the vehicle

  • 2.63 kg of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere

The great MPG fuel fraud and the importance
of being proactive

But isn’t my vehicle one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly on the market? So surely I’m guaranteed to emit fewer pollutants and reduce
my fuel spend? Sadly, it is not as simple as that. Even hybrids that boast MPGs of over 80 need to be driven in the right way for the manufacturer’s figures to be accurate. Conversely, that means if you want to

reduce your current fuel spend, altering your driving habits will have a positive effect.

Factors affecting fuel consumption

Factors you can control

  • Speed

    Up to a 15% saving

    Start with the obvious. Pushing your vehicle through the air at 35 mph is going to require more power than it would at 30mph, so slow down. Save fuel. Be safe. Don’t break the law. This
    is especially true at higher speeds - the government claims vehicles will use 15 per cent less fuel at 50 mph than at 70 mph.

  • Control

    18% saving

    This goes hand-in-hand with good planning. If you have enough time to react, you behave in a more informed and calm manner and can opt for gentler use of the car’s vehicle’s controls. This will manifest as no hard acceleration or braking and lower revs. Also, remember to stay in gear and use engine braking as no fuel is consumed.

  • Weight

    Up to a 15% saving

    If you can shed any unnecessary weight you could see your fuel consumption reduce proportionately. This is especially pertinent to delivery drivers or construction workers who may have weighty loads in their vehicles.

  • Aerodynamics

    Up to a 27% saving

    Although you can’t redesign the shape of your vehicle, you can streamline it. Roof boxes, trailers, even open windows can all increase drag and disrupt the smooth flow of air over the bodywork, thus increasing the amount of fuel needed for propulsion.

  • Maintenance

    Up to a 8% saving

    Vehicle maintenance is essential to efficiency. Cars, and vans and HGVs were designed to perform in a certain way and any deviation from that could, quite literally, put a spanner in the works. Keep a regular check on your engine and tyres. Fleet drivers can see more information on how to do this in the Extra Mile extension at the end of this pack.

Factors outside of your control

Some factors affecting fuel consumption will always remain outside of your control. However, when undertaking a fuel-saving challenge it is helpful to understand their effects so you can have a more accurate measure of your improved MPG.

  • Vehicle

    Some are just more efficient than others; a HGV requires more fuel than a Smart Car and there’s no getting away from that. However, as mentioned, you can control the condition of your vehicle, so keep it in a good state of repair if you want to reduce your fuel spend.

  • Traffic Conditions

    The best MPGs are recorded when conditions are perfect. Stop-start motoring will deplete your fuel, so the best thing you can do is look to avoid notoriously congested routes.

  • Weather

    This really is the great variable. Vehicle performance in the winter months can be as much as ten per cent worse than in the summer months and that is before you take road surface conditions into account.

Tips to improve your MPG

Monitoring the road ahead and anticipation

If you can train yourself to keep an eye on the road, constantly evaluating upcoming traffic conditions, you can anticipate when you may need to slow down. It
is far more effective to maintain and control a more even speed as opposed to undergoing a complete stop and subsequent acceleration. You should be checking for any hazards ahead, both for safety reasons and to improve efficiency.

Don’t speed

Speeding is a sure-fire way to see your motoring costs increase. Depending on your vehicle, every five 5 mph increase after a limit of 65 mph will result in a seven per cent decrease in
fuel economy. You should not need any guidance incentive to avoid speeding - it is against the law after all. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to complete your journey and ensure you’re not tempted to put your foot down further than you should.

Making efficient use of the clutch

The more inefficient your vehicle is, the more important clutch control becomes. If you have an older vehicle or a large one, try to minimise the number of gear changes you have to make. Also remember that every time you shift up, you improve fuel economy by almost 30 per cent.

Keeping tyres inflated correctly

Always make periodic checks to see if your tyres are inflated to the specification recommended by the vehicle’s manufacturer. Low tyre pressure and the subsequent increase in rolling resistance causes higher fuel consumption. In a standard car, tyres that are under inflated by 15 psi (1 bar) lead to an increased fuel consumption of six per cent. Research by Michelin suggests UK motorists are losing £440 million a year due to under-inflated tyres.

Going the extra mile:Fuel economy guidance for fleet managers and drivers

Many professional truck drivers can only guess at how much is spent on diesel costs. In general, all operators spend at least 30 per cent of their total expenditure on fuel.

If you can help to drive down your company’s fuel costs, you can give it a distinct competitive advantage.

Benefits of improved fuel consumption to fleet driver

  • A rise in profit could ensure your job security • Learn skills that can save your family money when driving personal vehicles
  • Reduce emissions, improving the environment
  • Career development. Fleets that track fuel usage can identify and reward drivers who make a concerted effort

Look at this example:

Total fleet costs: $800,000

Fuel costs (30% of total): $240,000

Profit $40,000

5% saving in fuel costs: $12,000

Profit after fuel saving: $£52,000

That’s a profit increase of 30 per cent with just a five per cent fuel spend reduction. But why should the driver care? After all, they are not paying for it themselves.

Driving down fuel costs with telematics and fleet technology

With so much riding on fuel spend, it is not surprising the fleet sector has specialist tools to deal with wastage. The most pertinent of these is telematics.

Nearly all of the generic tips mentioned in the first part of this Fuel Saving Challenge can be informed, measured and improved by telematics.

  • Over-revving

    Over-revving the engine and using too much diesel instead of using the torque correctly will cause fuel consumption to increase. Modern diesel engines are capable of high torques at low engine speeds. Therefore, the driver’s abilities and attitude relate closely to how much fuel is wasted and how much unnecessary damage is caused to the engine components.

  • Harsh braking

    If a driver applies more force than is needed on the brake, it nearly always means they have not been anticipating or reading the road ahead. Drivers who are more aware of danger and able to spot hazards before they occur are less likely to waste fuel - as well as reducing their chances of being involved in a traffic collision.

  • Harsh acceleration

    Similarly, telematics can also monitor when a driver is speeding up at an excessive rate.

  • Speeding

    Fleet technology can provide irrefutable evidence of speeding. As well as wasting fuel, speeding is one of the primary causes of road collisions in Australia and it is estimated that just a 1km/h reduction in average speed would save around 2,200 lives each year.

Telematics can underpin all of the positive driver behaviour changes that are employed to save fuel, ensuring long-term reductions in fuel spend. Fleets - even more so than everyday motorists - need to establish clear parameters of how they can monitor progress and this may not be possible without telematics, certainly on an individual driver scale.

  • Use cruise control intelligently

    Cruise control can be useful on long journeys, particularly on motorways. Use it to stick to a steady, economical and safe speed.

  • Avoid excessive idling

    This is something else telematics can help you control. An idling truck consumes about a gallon of fuel every hour. It can quickly add up and every drop is a waste. Ask yourself when stationary, do you really need the engine running?

  • Look at the aerodynamics

    Most drivers can’t do anything about the design of their vehicle, but fleet HGV drivers can. If your truck has roof-mounted air deflectors, test to see if they guide the air over the highest point of the trailer; ideally this should be right at the front if you have an uneven load height. Furthermore, aim to keep any load as low as possible to boost fuel economy via improved aerodynamics.

  • Overfilling can be counterproductive

    You want to ensure you don’t run out of fuel by employing careful economical driving techniques, rather than overfilling. A tank that is filled to the brim will easily overflow when the fuel is heated, which is both dangerous and wasteful.

  • Plan your departure

    If you need to overnight, park your truck so it is simple to drive away in the morning. Manoeuvring with a cold engine can use a lot of fuel.

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