Between equipment, tires, tolls, maintenance, and fuel, owning a fleet or driving a truck can cost a fortune. Instead of making detrimental cuts, however, there are several ways to decrease costly demands. Budgeting, outsourcing, insourcing and educating employees can save you a lot of money, but the most effective way to cut expenses is by improving your truck’s fuel economy. These 5 tips will help you save big.
1. Clean Your DPF
The most important tip for effectively improving your fuel efficiency is to maintain a clean DPF, or Diesel Particulate Filters. DPFs collect ash, soot and other contaminates that can be harmful to your engine and bring down your truck’s performance. A 24-hour DPF Cleaning Service cleans your filter and gets it back to practically new condition.
Aside from increasing your truck’s fuel economy, a clean DPF also improves the overall horsepower and performance of your vehicle while also lowering maintenance costs and frequent DPF replacements and much more.
Before you follow any of the following fuel-saving tips, be sure your truck is running strong with a clean Diesel Particulate Filter.
2. Fill Your Tank Appropriately
When fuel is heated it tends to expand, which can create an overflow if you fill your tank to capacity. Not only is this wasteful, but it also poses a great danger to other drivers on the road. By filling your tank to appropriate capacity, you’ll also prevent your truck from being loaded down with extra weight.
3. Break and Accelerate in Moderation
Breaking forcefully and speeding aggressively can put a real dent in your gas mileage. When approaching a stop sign or stoplight, try to use breaking techniques that minimize unnecessary complete stops. You should also maintain a steady speed in order to use a minimal amount of fuel. The suggested speed for trucks in terms of maximizing on fuel is no faster than 65-miles-per-hour.
4. Idle Only When Necessary
Though common amongst many truck drivers, leaving your truck idling while stopping for a quick break burns an extraordinary amount of gasoline. Even if the temperature is very high or very low, and even if you think restarting your vehicle will burn more gas, the reality is that a truck idling for an hour will burn an entire gallon of gas. If you leave your truck for more than five minutes, you’re better off completely shutting down your vehicle.
5. Keep Your Tires Inflated
In order to improve fuel efficiency, it’s important to maintain correctly inflated tires. For every 1 psi drop in pressure, you’ll lower your gas mileage by .3 percent. Aside from saving money on gas, you’ll also improve the lifespan of your tires and their grip on the road.
For more information on ways to improve your truck’s fuel efficiency and for thorough recommendations on how to keep your truck or fleet in prime condition, visit FleetServ today.