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Measure to manage
Page 9
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With the wholesale cost of diesel touching 90p/lit last week and the pre-Christmas rush ramping up demand, the pressure is on to make the best use of every drop of fuel. Paul Holland explains how.
Over the next couple of weeks the road transport industry's demand for diesel will reach its annual peak. But there's good news — it's now that fuel management techniques and strategies will have the most impact on your fuel costs. Reduce your usage now and the diesel Loll that drops into the inbox in January or February, just when you can least afford it, may be a little easier to manage. The old mantra 'you've got to measure to manage' loses nothing with the passing of time, and operators that don't take control of their fuel monitoring are risking the future of their business. For effective fuel-monitoring, operators need to ensure that drivers always fill to the brim and vehicle mileage is recorded accurately on refuelling. These two simple data points will become the launching pad for a full strategic analysis of the business, covering the following areas: • Client management: Assessing fuel use by customer will offer some real insights into your business. You might identify clients as being loss-making, resulting in some tough decisions, • Vehicle makes: The fuel use of your trucks may be dependent on operation but by analysing fuel consumption by make and model you'll discover which is best for each type of work.
• Replacement strategy: Many operators will base replacement choice on vehicle warranty or contract-hire, without a fuel impact assessment. You can make a better decision on vehicle replacement if you've got the data to do it. There is a lot of publicity surrounding alternative fuels, but you won't have a clue about the benefits, or otherwise, if you're not gathering fuel data.
These are just a few of the business insights you will be able to achieve through effective fuel data management; there will be many more.
Putting a proper reporting mechanism in place will require a little effort, but the benefits will be massive. Act now to take control of your business.
'There is a lot of publicity a alternative fuels but you won' have a clue about the benef you're not gathering data"