LIQUI ASSETS
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The ever increasing cost of diesel may be the bane of every haulier's life, but no operator can move a single pallet without it. To enable you to achieve the maximum benefit from fuel usage CM presents a two-part focus on fuel management, highlighting ways in which the efficient handling of this resource can be improved. We begin this week with tips on fuel management and an investigation into the efficiency of green fuels, which now attract preferential tax treatment. Next week we'll offer a comprehensive guide to fuel cards, a review of the future of smart fuel cards and everything you need to know about fuel and the law. But to kick ofi, what's new in the fuel industry? Steve McQueen has been quizzing some of the key players...
• Identify your most fuel-efficient vehicles and use them on the most fuel demanding routes.
• Tippers with easy-sheets should have them closed when running empty to prevent the airflow hitting the inside of the tailboard.
• If an air deflector is fitted too low you will see a "tide mark" on the front of the trailer.
• If you are buying a second-hand vehide, note the engine speed at 6mph on the test drive. if a vehicle is being acquired for medium or long-distance work, you do not want one that is geared for local work. Get this wrong and you will end up cruising at toe high an engine speed and wasting a lot of fuel,
NEW CARD DEAL
Shell has introduced a fuel card that will give users of over 100,000 litres a year a price per litre based on the best price. This is calculated according to a "Platt's lagged average" rate, which is related to current commodity prices over a given period. The customer can choose either the previous week or 14 days.
It will be used throughout the core network of 450 HGV-suitable sites on the Shell network. If the customer is compelled to refuel outside the core sites he will pay the average pump price.
This is essentially a EuroShell card for the UK market, and it includes all the usual benefits, such as a fuel/lube option and management information data including fuel consumption and exception reporting.
VOICE YOUR CONCERN
Operators are being urged to voice their discontent about the price of ultra-lowsulphur diesel (ULSD).
The Budget left the duty on the new cleaner product 3p below the standard product, but many suppliers are failing to pass this benefit on to the user.
"It costs more to produce, but before the Budget the duty difference was 2p and the few oil companies that sold it did so at the standard price," says independent fuel consultant Peter Rock of Huddersfield-based Rock Fuels. "Now they are all selling it and often claiming the extra penny as well."
Keith Greenhead is director of the fuel division at PHH Vehicle Management Services, which runs card brands AllStar Overdrive and Dialcard. He is not impressed by the reasons he hears for the missing pennies. They are mumbling excuses such as 'it costs more to refine' and `we didn't charge people before but we are forced to make the charge now'," he says.
It seems that many operators are unaware of the difference in price, or have been unable to achieve the reduction because they are locked into a longer-term contract.
Greenhead says operators should encourage drivers to register their views at the filling point.
"I'm suggesting that if the operator finds sites where they are being fair and selling at the cheaper price, they should support those sites," he says. "Where ultra-low-sulphur is being sold at the same price as standard diesel they should point out to the site operator that they are unhappy. The dissatisfaction will get through. Silence could be taken as tacit approval."
FUEL FOR THOUGHT
Volvo has developed a heavy-duty engine that runs on DiMethylEther (DME). DME is said to have several advantages over diesel fuel. Its chemical properties help suppress emissions during combustion; it requires less energy to make; and it can be manufactured from renewable raw materials in a way that does not contribute to global warming.
This alternative fuel requires a different type of fuel tank and injection systern—a network of component suppliers and academics are contributing to the project, in co-operation with Volvo Truck and Volvo Bus.
REDUCE YOUR FUEL BILL
The transport and logistics department at the University of Huddersfield has published its top 20 tips to fuel efficiency. These include: • Check that weekly or monthly averages are produced by total distance divided by total fuel used—not as an average of the daily averages.
• There is a seasonal pattern to fuel consumption—It often peaks in July and August, bottoming out in December and February. This is worth noting if you are testing products that claim to reduce consumption.
• Driver training improves consumption, but unless it is reinforced, it will fail. Try feedback via the notice board, letters to drivers, or fuel bonuses,
TYRED OF FUEL BENEFITS
Dieseline aims to extend the services offered by its fuel card thanks to a deal with a national tyre provider.
The new service could be on line by the summer; it will include everything from breakdown cover to new tyre purchase and re-grooving.
• Thanks to drivers who have waived their right to points that qualify for Argos gift vouchers, Dieseline is donating 8750 to good causes. "Considering the present protests by hauliers about fuel prices, the drivers have lost none of their charitable spirit," says a spokesman.
The money will be shared between the charities Guide Dogs for the Blind and Cancer & Leukaemia in Children.
FOOD AWARD
Fuel card operator CH Jones will announce the winner of its first Keyfuels Transport Cafe of the Year award at the end of this month. it already gives awards to the Truckstop of the Year and Keyfueis Service Station of the Year with nominees drawn from sites in the 800-strong Keyfuel network.
However, the Transport Cafe of the Year Award is open to all corners, and al nominees will be forwarded to Egon Roney for possible inclusion in a forthcoming Transport Café Good Food Guide.