How to: Save at the pump

When fuel prices were high, everyone wanted to know how to cut them. Now while fuel prices are lower, fuel is still the highest operating cost for many businesses, right after labor. Up to 20 percent of your fuel costs are buried in labor, administration and overhead. And there’s even more in waste, inefficiency, lost productivity and misappropriation. So, how do you reduce some of these hidden expenses?

Unlike other variable costs, your cost of refueling is relatively easy to manage. There are a number of things you can do today which will eliminate unnecessary waste, and tomorrow, when fuel prices start to creep up again, those savings will be even bigger.

You don’t have to be a mathematician to understand how this can put more operating cash into your company. By employing even a couple of these strategies you can measurably – and permanently – reduce your refueling expenses.

First, make a company-wide initiative to be more “fuel-responsible.” Decide who will become your company’s fuel manager then empower them to work with you to cut your fuel consumption. Here are a few tips.

How are you getting the fuel you need today? Does it make sense for you to send your fleet to card-locks and pay the over-time, maintenance and administration? Do site tanks make sense or are there hidden expenses in that fuel related to insurance, environment or theft? Have you looked into having fuel delivered directly to your vehicles? Onsite cuts the cost of labor, reduce environmental risk, eliminates theft and converts time waiting to fuel into time getting more work done – roughly 20 minutes per vehicle per day.

This one strategy alone can save you thousands of dollars each year.

Check with an onsite delivery company and have a fuel needs analysis done and compare it with your current method of refueling. For the best efficiency, refueling is done when your equipment is idle, so productivity is not interrupted. Another benefit of having your fuel delivered to each truck or piece of equipment is time saved. On average each refueling you do can take at least 20 minutes. You’ll save the fuel used traveling to and from the card lock too. Add this all up and each month you can save a lot of fuel and hundreds of hours in labor costs. This saved time is instantly converted to productivity, rather than refueling.

Another fuel smart initiative is to plan to measure and manage your fuel. Technology exists that can help you and it is not expensive. You can record every drop of fuel consumed by each piece of equipment and have that data delivered via email. Now you can check your fuel consumption and make qualified operating decisions. With this information in hand you can talk to your operators and show them where fuel is being wasted and make suggestions on how to work smarter. Data is captured showing total operating time, time spent idling, engine revving, speeding etc. This allows you to train your operators and monitor their performance against realistic operating thresholds you set. When you have accurate information you become a better manager.

Your equipment will last longer, too. When your operators are reminded regularly about your new fuel smart initiatives and adjust their habits, less fuel will be consumed. With that, operating time is cut. The result is you will add months to the life of your equipment and cut maintenance costs along the way. And that delays making major capital expenses.

Now let’s think about the environment. A new fuel strategy can easily save you 10 percent to 20 percent in fuel costs and a corresponding amount of toxic emissions will also be cut. With a new fuel management strategy you will become part of a worldwide movement to help cut pollution. As the champion of good fuel management in your industry, you can take on a leadership role. Tell your customers what you are doing. It will attract attention and it’s good for business.

Jack Lee is the founder of 4Refuel – the largest onsite fuel management company in Canada and a global leader in technology designed to help businesses reduce their fuel expenses. Got a question about fuel? Email Jack at AskTheFuelExpert@4Refuel.com