Fuel costs are constantly rising. While this is a struggle for everyone who drives a car (which is the majority of people in the US), it’s a particular financial burden for business owners that rely on a fleet of cars to get their business done. When your employees are driving to and from work sites daily, you burn through fuel quickly. And when you have several cars, trucks, and/or vans in your fleet, those costs rise quickly. What can you do to decrease your fleet fuel costs? Keep reading to get tips, including driving tips and green upgrades, like adding solar to your vehicles with a Samlex evo-2212.
Eliminate Unnecessary Idling
One major fuel consumer is idling. Some idling is normal for all drivers, as you’ll have to sit at stoplights and some stop signs for a while at least. However, your employees must know the importance of eliminating any unnecessary idling while they’re driving a fleet vehicle. They should not let the vehicle idle while at a job site or if they’re enjoying their lunch in the car. This burns fuel quickly while going nowhere, which is just about the best way to waste your gas budget.
Use Fuel Card Controls
Most businesses provide gas cards for their employees to fill up the fleet vehicles’ tanks. If you’re concerned about overspending or unauthorized spending, make sure you utilize controls and set limits for those cards. This will help with budgeting and cash flow for your business as well.
Find the Best Route
Create territories so that your workers aren’t driving all the way across the city, passing each other on the road regularly. While it takes a little bit of extra time, having your drivers plan their routes for the day to choose the most fuel-efficient paths can save you quite a bit of gas over the course of the year. Efficient planning naturally leads to more efficient driving and more efficient fuel usage.
Maintain Your Vehicles
Ensure that your fleet vehicles are properly maintained, including getting oil changes at the recommended times and keeping tires properly inflated. These simple maintenance tasks will not only help your vehicles use fuel more efficiently, but they’ll also help keep your vehicles running for longer.
Promote Less Aggressive Driving
In addition to encouraging your drivers not to idle, you should also promote less aggressive driving habits. Habits like rapid acceleration and frequent braking use up more fuel and wear down your vehicle more quickly to boot. Use cruise control on the freeway, stick to the speed limit, and accelerate and decelerate steadily.
Optimize Fuel Choices
You’re probably aware that there are multiple fuel options at the gas pump. When possible, make sure that your drivers select the lowest-cost fuel option for the vehicle they drive. This does not mean you should choose a fuel grade not made for that vehicle. Using the incorrect fuel type could cause the vehicle to be less fuel-efficient over time; however, by selecting the lowest-cost option, you can naturally cut down on the cost of every visit to the pump.
Consider Alternative Fuel Sources
While gas prices are constantly climbing, other energy sources remain relatively steady in their cost. If fuel expenses constitute a significant issue for your business, you can consider upgrading the cars in your fleet to one of these alternatives. Electric and hybrid vehicles are becoming more affordable, and solar power is becoming a more viable option for vehicles—significantly larger vehicles like work trucks and vans.
Switching to electric or hybrid vehicles would require you to completely change your fleet for new cars, trucks, and vans. If this isn’t a reasonable option for you (for example, if the vehicles in your fleet are relatively new already), you could instead consider adding solar to your vehicles. A portable solar charging kit can be mounted to the roof of a van and paired with an inverter/charger so that the vehicle can run using solar power. While this may not entirely replace your fuel usage, it can supplement it so that you use less gas and save money over time.
If you’re searching for solar options for small applications like your fleet of commercial vehicles, contact The PowerStore, Inc. today. We’ll help you to determine precisely what you need, such as a Samlex inverter with pure sine wave output and a portable solar charging kit that will fit the vehicles in your fleet. Give us a call today, or check out our available products in our online store.