Don’t be fuelish

OK – so any of us responsible for company rolling-stock for any period of time have gotten sucked into discussions with our management about how to better control fuel consumption. Rationale varies depending on employer/workforce relationship and how much expense fuel constitutes in the budget.  But statistics from whatever source indicate that fuel is in the “Top Three” category of fleet expenses; so if the topic hasn’t been addressed, it will be.

So – what fuel issues burn in the back of senior management’s mind?  Probably topics such as theft, waste, and personal use, among others. These are the high level concerns that typically come up when the topic is discussed. But what of fleet managers?  What factors cross our minds regarding fuel consumption?

Naturally, those same topics are front and center, if for no other reason (and there are other reasons) that if they burden our boss, they burden us. But let’s not stop there.

A responsible fleet manager knows that budgets are made or broken on details. While excessive fuel consumption is often caused by poor driver ethic and theft, can’t it also be indicative of other problems? Overloaded vehicles, tuning out of spec, brakes sticking, A/C compressor dragging or the vehicle being worn out -- all these can, and will, affect the fuel consumption of a vehicle.

These factors cost money to repair, but if we put off addressing the issues, they will cost more money yet. We will not only lose the fuel-related money, but likely the repairs or solutions to address the issues will become more involved and more expensive the longer we put them off. So if we are going to be proactive rather than reactive managers, we need to think ahead of immediate concerns.

Theft is a huge concern, sure. So let’s not steal money from ourselves through inattention.