Saving fuel: Top 5 solutions for professionals

In recent years, fuel prices have been steadily rising, whether for gasoline, diesel, or non-road diesel (GNR), for both private and commercial vehicles, to the point of becoming one of the most significant cost items in road transport, for example. Indeed, fuel is estimated to be the second largest expense for road transport operators, representing on average 25% to 30% of their costs. The same is true (albeit in different proportions) for any business that frequently uses energy-intensive equipment. At ECOLOW, we actively help professionals manage their fuel efficiently to avoid overconsumption and achieve energy savings.

Discover our top 5 fuel-saving tips, specially compiled for you!

Our 5 tips for consuming less

In this article, we want to focus our advice on the sector most affected by this issue and where we work with many clients to help them reduce their fuel costs: the road transport industry. These 5 tips are designed to provide you with solutions for lower fuel consumption, guaranteeing savings in your company's expenses… but also reducing pollution and contributing to environmental protection!

Optimize the transport plan 

To maintain a positive relationship between distance traveled and truck fuel consumption, several tips should be applied regarding theoptimization of the transport plan:

• Planning the route on a map means optimizing your route by checking the efficiency of your delivery route to cover the fewest kilometers possible and save fuel.
• Regulate the filling rate of the road vehicle, optimize its loading within reasonable limits, in order to save money on the number of journeys without compromising the operation of the engine (avoid overheating of the vehicle).
• Pooling flowsensures the grouping of several goods with commercial partners or competitors in the road sector in order to save time and money (less fuel consumed!).

Save fuel with eco-driving 

The consensus is that to help drivers save fuel and avoid unnecessary trips to service stations, it is essential to encourage them to adopt responsible driving practices by implementing eco-driving training for heavy goods vehicles.

This driving method includes several techniques that allow drivers, by implementing good driving practices, to reduce their vehicle's fuel consumption , pollution , and the risk of accidents . Here is a brief summary:

• Limit the vehicle's driving speed on roads and highways to reduce the risk of overconsumption, which is responsible for a significant emission of greenhouse gases , and thus preserve the safety of everyone, in towns and in the countryside.
• Maintain a constant speed by using cruise control.
• Avoid switching on the air conditioning system as it increases the vehicle's diesel (or petrol) consumption
• Reduce vehicle speed uphill and use engine braking downhill to save a few liters of fuel during the journey.
• One last piece of advice: adopt a smooth driving style, avoiding sudden acceleration at high revs or intense braking, in order to preserve tires and avoid excessive fuel consumption.

Maintenance of your vehicles 

In addition to choosing to maintain a constant speed for your vehicle to reduce engine consumption and save fuel , it's also essential to ensure rigorous vehicle management and maintenance. Managers are well-versed in this area

Tire condition and pressure should be checked regularly to ensure there are no punctures or tears, which can cause accidents on the road. Tire pressure is a crucial factor for safe and economical driving; underinflated tires lead to premature wear and excessive fuel consumption.

Vehicle maintenance must be comprehensive and include checking the braking system, lighting system, suspension, and fluid levels (engine oil, coolant, and brake fluid). An oil change is necessary every 30,000 to 60,000 kilometers on average to ensure engine longevity, and vehicle parts should be replaced as soon as their performance declines.

Thanks to perfect maintenance management of your fleet of road vehicles, you allow your heavy goods to extend their lifespan and ensure your professional services with complete peace of mind!

Technology at the service of fuel economy: Telematics

In the road transport sector, as we have emphasized throughout this article, close control of fuel costs is crucial for business profitability. Onboard telematics systems offer an innovative solution for optimizing fuel consumption. These devices allow for real-time monitoring and analysis of consumption-related data, such as speed, braking patterns, engine operating hours, and routes taken.

By highlighting areas for improvement, fleet managers can implement strategies to reduce their consumption.

The various telematics systems are therefore valuable tools that allow road transport companies to have better availability of information to carry out complementary analyses to all their actions.

These devices provide 24/7 monitoring of the fuel level in the vehicle's tank, optimizing fuel consumption. This investment is estimated to result in an fuel saving of 10% compared to the energy budget.

Indeed, this device, installed in the truck during their journey on the road, guarantees a saving of 3 liters per 100 km; according to Jean-Marc Platero, director of technical resources at the company STEF, "the tool makes it possible to measure the engine's consumption at idle, to detect and alert to tank siphoning, and to organize the management of refueling.".

These systems remain expensive, their effectiveness varies from one model to another, and although extremely widespread, they are often considered controversial by drivers themselves. Today, it's a highly competitive sector developing numerous innovations, such as the recent calculation of CO2 emissions even in the case of multimodal transport. However, these measures are imperfect, and while useful for many reasons, other devices exist that more directly target a reduction in your fuel consumption.