One of the most important jobs of a fleet operator is the proper distribution of funds in order to maximise your profits. One of the best ways to achieve this is by having tight control over your fleet fuel costs, actively looking for ways in which you can reduce expenditure in this area. After all, in today’s economy, you could pay upwards of £20,000 to fuel just one lorry for a year.
If you’re looking for ways to reduce fleet fuel costs, explore our blog below to get informed and start saving money.
As an experienced used truck dealership, at Smith Bros, we have been helping companies optimise their operations for decades. Searching for a lorry for sale? Explore our vast collection online to find the very best vehicles from the most respected brands, including Scania and Volvo. No matter what kind of haulage job you need doing, we’re sure to have the truck you need.
Once you secure a fleet of trucks, however, you need to know how best to optimise fuel costs, otherwise your funds could drain quicker than you realise.
Why controlling fuel efficiency should matter to your business
Just how efficient are your vehicles at converting the energy in fuel into kinetic movement? Knowing the answer to this question is crucial, and not just because this knowledge will save you money. Optimising your fleet’s fuel efficiency will have the following hidden benefits:
Save money
This is the clearest benefit – by investing in practical solutions, vast amounts of money can be saved.
Regulatory compliance
Policies restricting emissions are a hot topic in modern politics, but by limiting your business’s carbon output, you can avoid fines and help to protect yourself for the future.
Reduced environmental impact
By making your fleet more fuel efficient, you’re reducing the amount of vehicle emissions that are released into the atmosphere.
Improved business reputation
By demonstrating a commitment to reducing your carbon footprint and adhering to government regulations, you can improve your business’s reputation.
10 ways you can reduce fleet fuel costs
From organising your internal business policy to getting your hands dirty with the maintenance of your fleet, there are several ways you can reduce fuel costs in order to streamline your expenditure.
- Optimise routes with fleet management software
Using fleet management software is one of the very best ways you can manage your fleet, having oversight on everything from fuel optimisation to safety on the road. Developing alongside the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI), modern fleet management software incorporates AI to optimise routing, providing the best possible solution that will allow you to avoid needless detours and time-consuming traffic jams.
AI-enhanced fleet management systems will advise your drivers to take less congested routes, reducing travel time and improving fuel efficiency in the process. By using such systems, you can avoid your drivers getting caught in heavy traffic that costs your business considerable time and money.
- Invest in telematics for data analysis
Telematics and fleet management software differ slightly from one another. A telematics system gathers essential data from the tracking of a driver’s journey, with this data often being interpreted by a fleet management software to optimise overall operations.
By installing a robust telematics solution, you can track the exact location of your fleet and monitor everything from their speed to the vehicle’s driving behaviour. Providing real-time feedback from GPS tracking data, this information, including how fuel efficient your driver is being on the road, can be used for essential feedback sessions in order to save money in the long term.
Discover below how Volo’s Dynafleet uses telematics to optimise fuel efficiency.
- Stay on top of vehicle maintenance
An unhealthy vehicle can lead to a dramatic reduction in fuel efficiency. Due to the fact that they’re used on a daily basis, trucks can easily develop issues, such as inefficient fuel injectors or clogged air filters, which can both lead to poor engine performance and a reduction of fuel efficiency as a result. An inability to recognise and address such issues could certainly lead to higher expenditure.
The best way to maintain the quality of your vehicles is to conduct regular HGV safety inspections, which involve a complete internal and external inspection of the vehicle to check for faults. To keep commercial vehicles roadworthy, you should incorporate these checks into your daily and weekly routine in order to adhere to legal requirements.
- Change the driving behaviour of your employees
It’s all well and good implementing standards to make your fleet more fuel-efficient and cost-saving, but if the drivers themselves aren’t adhering to best practices, the results won’t be as impressive as you think. Instead, the driving behaviour of your drivers should be changed in order for their habits to be in line with the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, creating a reliable, long-term solution.
So, what kind of behaviours should be avoided to optimise fuel efficiency? A whole range of behaviours can be damaging, from aggressive driving techniques, such as sudden acceleration and sudden braking, all the way to seemingly harmless choices such as the prolonged use of air conditioning. Instead, drivers should be taught that steady driving is optimal for performance and fuel efficiency.
- Select fuel-efficient vehicles
But a conscious driver is nothing without a fuel-efficient vehicle to drive. This should start by making sure the appropriate task is matched with the appropriate truck. Not only does this choice optimise fuel efficiency, but it will also improve driver comfort and overall safety. Match the size of the vehicle to the needs of the task, with the fuel efficiency of a flatbed truck and a rigid, for example, being very different.
Some truck types and brands are more fuel-efficient than others, with Scania priding itself on its economical features that are installed into each of its contemporary models. Enjoy an Opticruise gearbox, a specially designed aerodynamic body, Eco-roll and much more with Scania’s range of trucks for sale at Smith Bros.
- Invest in electric
Speaking of fuel efficiency, nothing is quite as optimised for saving you money as electric trucks. Since the technology is still developing, investing in electric vehicles has positives and negatives, but when it comes to saving you money on fuel, nothing beats an EV. More fuel-efficient than traditional internal combustion engines, electric trucks can convert much more of their stored energy into kinetic motion in comparison to petrol or diesel.
Not only will this switch save you money in fuel costs, with charging an EV being far cheaper than refilling your traditional vehicle with fuel, but there are hidden benefits to investing in electric, too. The government offers an electric vehicle infrastructure grant for business fleets, among other useful tax breaks that make EVs an economical solution to your cash flow.
- Shop around for the best fuel card
Every haulage company should have a fuel card. If you don’t, having one means you can save money on fuel costs, so make shopping around for the best one a priority. Most fuel cards operate with volume-based pricing, which means you can receive increasing benefits depending on your loyalty to the brand, saving you money on fuel while also giving your fleet manager an efficient way of tracking fuel efficiency.
Much more than just a money-saving perk, fuel cards allow management to track fuel purchases and manage consumption on the road. Since they can only be used by verified employees to purchase fuel for specific vehicles, the use of a fuel card also helps to protect against fraud.

- Replace vehicles that are inefficient
This may seem counterintuitive when trying to save money, but replacing your old, inefficient vehicles will ultimately save you fuel costs in the long run. Vehicles that are not operating to their maximum potential will cost you money in maintenance costs and will continue to be a burden on your fleet’s general fuel efficiency performance. But, purchasing new fleet vehicles doesn’t have to be expensive.
If you’re looking to upgrade your fleet vehicles, why not consider selling us your current truck in order to get money off the purchase of a quality second-hand replacement? Every single one of our vehicles goes through a rigorous evaluation before sale so that you know you’re getting a high-quality truck that’s ready for the road. Want to explore our collection? Why not start with our excellent tractor units?
- Optimise your tyres
We’ve already talked about staying on top of the maintenance of your vehicle, but one area that is easily overlooked is your vehicle’s tyres. While it can be tempting to save money by buying budget tyres, this choice will cost you later down the road in fuel inefficient vehicles. Therefore, it’s better to invest in the best and most durable tyres – making sure that they’re appropriately inflated before setting off.
One of the key things to consider when purchasing tyres is rolling resistance, which accounts for a good portion of the truck’s total fuel consumption. Long-haul trucks should have low rolling resistance in order to improve the overall performance and fuel economy of your vehicles. Indeed, truck tyres contribute around 30% to the vehicle’s fuel economy, saving you money on fleet costs while also helping to reduce your company’s carbon footprint.
- Refine your fuel procurement strategy
This solution to reducing fleet fuel costs is a more long-term option, providing gradual savings over years of operation. An optimised procurement strategy would cover everything from how vehicles are leased or bought to a list of requirements for fuel efficiency and truck maintenance. A robust strategy would also include guidelines for preferred fuel suppliers to make sure your drivers are saving as much money as possible on the road.
By implementing this you can help your business get the best value for money, support internal sustainability goals and further improve the fuel efficiency of your fleet.
As haulage experts, at Smith Bros we are ready to help your company in matters both big and small. Looking for advice about fleet management? Contact us and reach out to our team. Need to update your fleet with more fuel-efficient vehicles? Our collection of high-quality vehicles can certainly help.
No matter what you’re looking for, our one-stop solution for all your trucking needs can be of service, optimising your cash flow and overall operations.