Diesel prices may have dropped, but fuel still may be your biggest manageable. Better monitoring and control saves real money.

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The fervor to fight fuel costs was unprecedented last summer as diesel prices surged toward $5 per gallon. No tactic or device was too insignificant to overlook. Fleet owners even were worrying about something they typically didn’t consider a problem: fuel theft. Thieves siphoned and drilled fuel from parked vehicles, and there even were reports of hijackers taking control of loaded fuel tankers. Some drivers were caught selling fuel using company fuel cards.

Maverick Transportation responded to the climbing diesel prices by tightening up its fuel network. The Little Rock, Ark.-based flatbed carrier also uses a fuel optimization software system that gives drivers fueling locations along their routes. Driver compliance to fuel plans is high because drivers don’t have many options for where they can fuel, says John Coppens, director of operations. “We have a fairly tight fuel network compared to other carriers,” Coppens says.

Although fuel prices have receded for now, no one knows if – or more likely, when – the cost of diesel will fly sky-high again. Consider that in the last downturn in trucking, today’s diesel prices would have been distressingly high. Look at ways now to monitor and control drivers’ habits behind the wheel and at the pump. Fleets and technology providers now are pushing the limits of what can be done to control fuel costs.

Driving down costs
Any real effort to conserve fuel must start with the driver. Getting drivers to change their behaviors requires a mixture of technology, training and incentives.

This year, Linde North America implemented a new training and incentive program that management hopes will deliver significant results. Linde North America is a division of the Linde Group, a global producer and supplier of industrial gases with U.S. corporate offices in Murray Hill, N.J. The largest division of its private fleet, Bulk Distribution, operates 750 power units.

At each location, driver trainers demonstrate proper shifting techniques, says Dennis Woods, senior fleet trainer for Linde’s southern division. Even veteran drivers can learn to save a significant amount of fuel by better understanding how newer engines operate best by shifting to stay in a lower rpm range for peak torque, Woods says.