Freight Best Practice
Issue: Winter 2008
It looks like 2009 will be as challenging as it was last year for the industry; the focus, as ever, will be about driving down costs and improving efficiencies. We know that many operators have made major strides over the last year in improving fuel efficiency, but the major challenge all operators face, no matter how much they've invested, is deciding where the best place is to start on the road of fuel efficiency for 2009.
By Peter Binham
We know there are many interventions, which all promise to save you money by making your vehicle/driver more efficient, but how can you evaluate these at your desk without taking the plunge and opening your wallet? The answer is with great difficulty, but help is on hand with the programme’s new Fuel Ready Reckoner.
The Fuel Ready Reckoner is a tool designed to help you identify where best to deploy any available resources you may have to improve fuel efficiency. We have developed a user-friendly web-based tool that will provide information, specifically aimed to help you choose the most cost-effective intervention for your operation. It is the first tool of its kind and has been created to provide you with impartial information on the main fuel saving strategies available e.g. driver training, Sat Nav, aerodynamic tool kits, telematics, tyres etc.
We have estimated the average saving that could be made from a particular intervention (and several combined) on different vehicles, to help you decide the best way to spend your money, whether on the driver, vehicle, or both.
To start with, the Fuel Ready Reckoner will ask you to simply input information about your vehicles, including GVW, annual mileage and MPG. Once you have input this information, you can select any intervention(s) from the 26 provided and Overall Cost Savings will show how each intervention will impact on your vehicle. It lays out, in a straightforward way, which intervention will have the greatest impact in making your operation more efficient, green and profitable. One of the most important and useful parts included in the Fuel Ready Reckoner is the payback calculator. Using this tool, you can work out which fuel saving intervention will be of the greatest use to your fleet and identify where a small amount of investment would make the most difference to your bottom line.
Like all Freight Best Practice material, the Fuel Ready Reckoner is completely free of charge and can be accessed by visiting: www.freightbestpractice.org.uk
● Peter Binham is spokesperson for the Freight Best Practice Programme and a consultant for the transport and engineering consultancy Faber Maunsell. For further information, contact Peter via e-mail: peter.binham@fabermaunsell.com or v isit: www.freightbest practice.org.uk
Published: 22/12/2008
