How can fuel efficiency technology save your business thousands of pounds a year

John Mitchell haulage is a family owned transportation company with a fleet of more than 100 cars, traveling an estimated 7 million miles a year. This means that the introduction of fuel efficiency measures is an important goal of enterprises.

Obviously, reducing fuel consumption may bring great savings to John Mitchell haulage, but don't worry if your operation is small. Learn about John Mitchell haulage's actions and the savings it enjoys, and even the smallest organization can replicate them.

Reduce idling

It is easy to idle the engine. Sometimes people think it uses less fuel than turning off the engine and starting it again, although this is not the case with modern vehicles. Sometimes it's easier to keep it running. Also, in the case of John Mitchell haulage, some drivers start the engine in the morning to warm up their vehicles.

Idle engines use a lot of fuel, which is completely wasted because the fuel is designed to keep the vehicle running. In fact, a 420 HP HGV will burn two litres of fuel per hour. 

Therefore, the anti idle policy can save a lot of money. In fact, John Mitchell haulage can save an incredible £ 35000 a year.

This achievement was achieved purely by raising employee awareness: information was shared during driver briefings and memos were distributed together with payroll.

Once drivers know how much fuel is wasted in idling, they will consciously try to change their behavior, thus saving a lot of money for the enterprise.

Achieving your environmental goals is not the sole responsibility of your environmental officer or even your management team.

By raising awareness of problems and goals, you will find that many people in your team are willing and able to contribute to your success.

Driver training

Just as understanding the cost of idling helps to change driver behavior, education also helps drivers save more by changing their driving style.

There are many courses designed to teach the principles of safe and fuel-efficient driving. John Mitchell haulage chose to use the safe and fuel-efficient driving (SAFE) program to invest in a program to let coaches ride with drivers and teach them some fuel-efficient driving skills.

Clutch control

Double clutch (shifting to neutral, gently stepping on the accelerator, and then shifting to a new gear) has always been a necessary technology to keep the engine and transmission speed consistent during gear shifting. However, the newer HGV has a synchronous engagement gearbox, which means that there is no need for double clutch. Pressing the accelerator when the engine is in neutral will only consume fuel without any effect or benefit. It also increases clutch wear.

cruise control

Cruise control not only makes the driver's life easier; This technology helps the vehicle optimize the amount of fuel delivered to the engine, thereby improving efficiency and reducing unnecessary fuel consumption.

Gear selection

Driving in the highest possible gear allows the engine to move the vehicle in the most efficient way possible, thereby improving fuel efficiency. The driver's selection of the appropriate top gear will reduce fuel consumption.

Exhaust braking

The use of exhaust brakes can improve fuel efficiency in a number of ways. First, when the exhaust brake is applied, stop the delivery of fuel to the engine combustion chamber; Any forward movement depends entirely on power. The temperature of the combustion chamber is also higher than when using the foot brake. This means that when fuel is injected back into the engine, it burns more efficiently. Finally, the use of the exhaust brake protects the brake linings.

Forward looking planning

The high seat position of HGV improves the driver's ability to plan ahead. The driver can well avoid unnecessary shifting, which will increase fuel consumption. In addition, moving the vehicle from a stationary state consumes more fuel than moving the vehicle, even when crawling. Proactive planning can help drivers keep the vehicle moving as much as possible and avoid shifting gears, which helps to improve fuel efficiency.

Significant savings

Providing safe training for all its drivers requires an investment of £ 25000 (about £ 250 per driver), not just a driver briefing and a memo. But the savings it brings are huge.

After the training, the company recorded a 7% reduction in fuel usage per gallon and average mpg of vehicles. This means that nearly £ 275000 can be saved every year and the return on investment is as high as 1000%.

Vehicle aerodynamics

The effect of air drag is usually underestimated, but improving aerodynamics can bring incredible savings.

Any moving vehicle pushes the air in front of it. The vehicle must push the air away harder. It will burn more fuel. In fact, if a heavy truck doubles its speed, it needs eight times the engine power to overcome air resistance.

Most cars and trucks incorporate aerodynamic features in their design. But HGV, by its nature, is not aerodynamic at all. However, kits to improve HGV aerodynamics can be purchased, and John Mitchell haulage has invested in these kits for each of their vehicles.

The investment is not small: £ 75000, equivalent to £ 750 per vehicle, is by far the largest investment in fuel efficiency. But it also brings the greatest savings.

After installing the aerodynamic kit, the fuel consumption of the vehicle is reduced by 9%, saving nearly £ 355000 a year.

Contribute to success

Each of these fuel efficiency measures brings significant savings, but the real advantage of efficiency drive lies in the combination of many different measures.

When you combine the results of John Mitchell haulage's efforts, they save up to £ 664015 a year, all of which require an investment of only £ 100000.

Of course, fuel efficiency savings are not just financial costs; Your organization's reduction in environmental impact may be significant and provide a potential advantage over competitors: many enterprises prefer to cooperate with other environmentally conscious enterprises.

In addition to saving £ 664015 a year, these efforts to improve fuel efficiency have also reduced the company's annual carbon emissions by an incredible 2182 tons.

Environmental management

With ISO 9001 in place, John Mitchell haulage is well aware of the benefits of an effective management system. If you want to achieve efficiency savings for your organization, environmental management system (EMS) can help you establish environmental objectives, determine savings and reduce the impact on the environment.

Through our free online course, you can learn more about environmental management systems and how ISO 14001 can help you implement environmental management systems.

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