For a company operating five vehicles, fuel management may seem relatively simple. For a company operating 50, 100 or 500 vehicles, it becomes a major management function.
The first step is measurement. A fleet manager should know how much fuel each vehicle receives and how that fuel relates to distance travelled or operating hours. Without reliable records, it is difficult to determine whether fuel consumption is improving or deteriorating. A practical fleet-management system can monitor:
- Vehicle identification
- Fuel purchased
- Distance travelled
- Operating hours
- Fuel consumption
- Driver
- Maintenance history
- Load conditions
- Unusual consumption
- Fuel-treatment applications
Companies can then establish a baseline for each vehicle. The next step is identifying abnormal patterns. If two similar vehicles operate under similar conditions but one consistently consumes substantially more fuel, management can investigate possible causes such as maintenance, driving behaviour, load, tyre condition or fuel-system performance.
Fuel-treatment programmes should be evaluated in the same disciplined manner. Rather than assuming that a product automatically produces savings, companies should measure performance before and after implementation using consistent conditions wherever possible.
Fuel efficiency becomes powerful when it becomes measurable.