Profit margins are razor slim these days for trucking companies. This is why it’s so important to run an efficient and lean company so you can increase those margins. Saving money is very important to stay a step ahead of the competition. Trucking companies have a lot of big expenses but chief among them is the cost of fueling the trucks.
The costs seem to only keep rising which makes it important to find ways to spend less on fuel. Luckily, there are a number of ways to make this happen so you can keep your profits. In this article, we will go over several ways that you can cut your fuel costs down to save money.
1 – Buy in bulk
Buying supplies in bulk is a smart business decision regardless of the product. Not many trucking company managers realize that fuel can also be bought in bulk. Buying white diesel in bulk is often more cost-effective for businesses and is something that every company is able to do.
Without any effort, there is a lot of money to be saved by starting with this method of saving money.
2 – Keep a young fleet
Technology advances very quickly and each generation of trucks is more fuel-efficient than the last as a result. There are many new materials and systems used in the manufacturing of current models so the newer ones will be able to use less fuel than their predecessors.
If your fleet is aging then this is the time to update and modernize by buying new trucks for your fleet. Since the price of fuel is only going to keep going up then your savings will definitely add up in the short term.
It’s a great investment for a lot of reasons even aside from the great mileage. Fewer repairs and more safety features make it a great upgrade when you buy new trucks for your fleet.
3 – Train the drivers
There are a lot of methods that will be able to save on fuel and even some devices can be used. However, this means that the drivers have to know these things inside and out so they can be used to great effect.
They need to understand how much fuel is used when idling so that they will be more likely to remember to shut off the engine when they are sitting. How they drive also plays a part. With a lot of starting and stopping, fuel consumption rises. They should be trained at driving more smoothly. There are even creep modes that can be used when they are driving slowly around the yard so the acceleration doesn’t happen and waste fuel.
Tire pressure is also very important for fuel economy. The drivers should be regularly checking tire pressure to make sure they are not overinflated or underinflated.
Not only should the drivers be trained to save fuel but they should get bonuses when they hit fuel economy targets as an incentive.
