Fleet fuel savings

Tuesday, 19 July 2011 11:10

How tracking technology can help adjust driving styles and cut costs

During a time of every increasing fuel prices we’re all looking for ways to save money on topping up the tank. There has been help recently with some of the major supermarkets offering ‘5p off every litre’ deals in store. It might be small, but it’s a welcome reduction for the domestic driver.

Small adjustments to driving style can also save fuel; particularly avoiding harsh acceleration and excessive speed. For a fleet manager running several vehicles, with lots of different drivers, each with their own unique driving style; bringing down fuel costs is an on-going challenge. One Scottish council has found a solution by using vehicle tracking technology.

West Dunbartonshire council runs a fleet of 380 vehicles to deliver essential services to residents. The vehicles include cars, vans and minibuses as well refuse trucks and road sweepers. This diverse fleet was accumulating annual running and operating costs in the region of £2million.

Councils are under constant scrutiny from the tax payer so ensuring that the fleet was tracked accurately and driven efficiently was a priority. In addition, West Dunbartonshire council has a carbon reduction commitment to reduce their CO2 emissions by a third by 2015.

In March 2010, the council fitted TomTom LINK300 tracking boxes to 260 of their vehicles. Just over a year later and Rodney Thornton, the council’s head of Fleet and Waste Services, has reported a reduction in annual fuel costs of more than £100,000. Attributing this staggering saving to improvements to the way council vehicle drivers carry out their duties.

Vehicle tracking is the ultimate in big brother technology. It provides information on vehicle position allowing the fleet manager to allocate work by location; cutting unnecessary trips. On top of this it also logs trip information, standstill times, mileage and driver behaviour. Making it is easy to spot if any employees are driving in an inefficient way.

In the long term, West Dunbartonshire council expects to see reduced servicing and maintenance costs, and an extended working life of a number of vehicles. Not forgetting the additional benefit of reduced CO2 production contributing to the council’s carbon reduction commitment.

Adding TomTom ecoPLUS to a number of their vehicles is the next step for the council. EcoPLUS provides live data on fuel consumption and carbon footprint helping to achieve even tougher targets on fuel saving and carbon emissions reduction.

Even without a vehicle tracking device, it is clear that making moderate adjustments to driving style is currently one of the best ways to reduce the amount being spent on fuel. So go easy on the accelerator next time you’re off to the supermarket to get the vouchers! By Anna Livesey

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