Idling Away Your Profits

We talk to many companies about diesel fuel prices and how to control their fuel spend to help achieve better bottom line fuel savings. Have you looked at your idle time lately? When diesel fuel prices get over $4.00 a gallon, we find most companies do the following:

• Look at their fueling program
• Reduce speeds on their trucks for fuel savings
• Look at fueling optimizers
• Check how aero dynamic their trucks are
• Check tire pressure on all tires
• Check Idle time on their diesel fleet vehicles
• Look at fuel hedging

All are good ideas, except for some of them, the cat is already out of the bag. Your too late and now climbing up hill. Clearly, all of the areas above are a good start, but what will help keep fuel costs in check right away is idle time reduction. Over the last few years, companies have gotten a little lazy. It’s okay, you’re not the only company out there that this has happened to. Diesel fuel prices have been lower than they are now. And with layoffs and staff cutting during this type of economy, who did you have looking at this or who do you have?

Quick side story. A major trucking company hires a CFO a few years ago to help run the place for a couple of years in a turnaround function. The CFO gets things going, hires the right staff and a fuel manager. The CFO leaves because the turnaround is complete the fuel manager and his 1 person staff is saving the company solid 7 figures a year in costs. Times get difficult in 2009 and they take the fleet fuel manager and tell him his job is now driver recruiting and fuel management. Within 3 months, instead of fuel savings over $300,000 a quarter it was less than $100,000 because there was no longer a fuel czar. After 1 year the company realizes its mistakes and has the fuel manager return to only looking at diesel fuel costs and fuel savings return.

Idle time

Let’s look at it this way. We all have good drivers, bad drivers, drivers that like to be warm and drivers that like to be cold.

Your diesel fuel truck burns approximately 1 gallon per hour idling.

The cost of diesel fuel is over $4.00

How many hours a day, week, month or year is each one of your trucks idling more than it should be?

Let’s pick a number and say on a 10 hour route, it idles for more than 1.5 hours than it should be. Fleet driver leaves the truck idle when he goes into the truck stop to grab a coffee. Leaves it idling in the yard at your clients location, etc.

Math project

• 1.5 hours
• $4 a gallon
• $6 wasted in idling
• 22 days in a month
• $132 money wasted & increase maintenance expense
• 12 month in a year
• $1,584 a year burnt up, wasted money, pollution 100 trucks
• $158,000 gone, who’s watching. More idle time more money lost. More trucks bigger number

What are your companies next steps? Provide simple, easy to read reporting to your managers and drivers. Put more money in your fuel management budget and save. Need help, Sokolis has just started offering this service on a case by case basis. Call now 267-482-6159.