Green Fleet Driving Tips for Earth Day
22 Apr 2015Driving green helps the earth and helps your bottom line. Earth Day is April 22. It’s a good time to investigate ways to make vehicles more efficient and to save on fuel.
Can I Make a Difference?
Yes! Every single truck can make a difference. Consider this fact: each gallon of fuel a vehicle burns can put as much as 20 pounds of unwanted carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere. Gallon by gallon, you can save the planet from the damaging effects of pollution.
This also helps you budget. Though fuel prices are in a downward trend, they are volatile. Costs will go up. Each gallon of fuel you don’t have to buy adds to profitability.
7 Tips to Drive Green
1) Plan routes for efficiency. This is where GPS fleet tracking shows its worth. Avoid delays and detours by checking for the best way to your pickup point. Your vehicle will use less fuel. Each delivery will also take less time, letting you fit more work into the same number of work hours.
2) Don’t idle. If it’s for longer than 30 seconds, idling actually wastes more fuel than turning off and then restarting the engine. GPS fleet tracking can help you control, or even eliminate, idling time in vehicles.
3) Use recommended fuel types for each vehicle. That means using higher-octane fuels only when your company fleet policy dictates. Fuel needs to be the right match for the type of engine in each vehicle. Don’t put diesel in a gas tank and vice versa. In the short term, it results in poor fuel efficiency. In the long term, it voids your warranty and damages the engine. It also puts more pollution into the atmosphere.
4) Reduce speed. Rapid acceleration, hitting the brakes and speeding all reduce vehicle fuel efficiency. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it lowers the mileage you get by 33% on the highway and about 5% in town.
5) Do preventive maintenance. A vehicle that is in good repair uses less fuel and contributes less to pollution. This includes keeping tires properly inflated, checking for leaks, doing routine tune ups, and keeping proper lubrication.
6) Reduce use of the air conditioner. This can be hard, but even small reductions are helpful. Using it contributes to wear and tear on the engine and increases pollution output. In addition, it can add 3% to 10% to your fuel costs, reports the U.S. Department of Energy.
7) Declutter your vehicles. Every 100 pounds of excess weight reduces fuel economy by 1%. It pays to take heavy objects out of the truck cab or car trunk.
Earth Day is just one day out of 365 days this year. Putting these tips into practice all year long helps with climate change and saves you money at the same time.
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