BRS WESTERN Fuel saving strategy
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B RS WESTERN
• BRS Western reckons it can't lose with the new one-day fuel economy course it is offering to transport operators at a time when diesel prices can make or break a haulier.
Howard Whittingham heads the BRS Bridgend school and his claims for fuel savings are impressive. On average, students improve their fuel consumption by 5-20%; one driver achieved savings of 47%.
BRS has been gradually sending its 4,000 drivers on the course. Whittingham says this move has already saved its parent company, NFC, about £400,000. "We would have had to generate an extra £4m of extra business to get the same savings," he says.
Any transport firm can save money with fuel economy courses, says Whittingham. BRS estimates that HGV Class One drivers average more than 80,000km a year and use about 30,000 litres of diesel.
By reducing fuel consumption by just 5%, operators can save more than £400 a year.
If fuel economy improves by 20%, savings of £1,600 are achieved, says BRS. "Drivers should realise that for every mile they go over 881crivh (55mph) there is an extra 2% loss in fuel. So if they are driving at 96kmth (60mph) they are losing 10% fuel. To try to prevent this they should learn the correct system of vehicle control," says Whittingham.
Most drivers, however, are unaware of these figures and many refuse to believe them when they arrive on the BRS course. To combat this attitude problem, the training school has fitted computers in each vehicle to give exact fuel consumption figures.
"The computer gives every driver an official print-out. We could tell the drivers their fuel consumption ourselves" says Whittingham, "but they would find it hard to believe. The print-out proves it beyond -a doubt — and as a result the students start to drive better."
The course is the first of its kind to win Road Transport Industry Training Board approval. The Department of Energy is also researching the course and its results as part of a document on fuel savings which will be published next year. CI by Tanya Cordrey
The cost of the BRS Bridgend one-day fuel economy course is £65 (ex-VAT). For more details contact (0656) 6.56382.