Driving context when looking at fuel consumption. At Transpoco we look at fuel consumption every day because context and understanding are important. In some fleets we analyse, it's easy because they have a fleet with the same vehicles all doing similar tasks. In other cases it is not so easy because there are a number of vehicles performing different tasks. Below is a summary of the challenges that fleet managers with mixed fleets face on a daily basis:
- Different types of vehicles
- Different types of routes
- Large differences in load weights
In these scenarios, we need to help the customer understand the relationship between driving style/behaviour and fuel consumption. Once we understand this relationship and present the performance of similar vehicle makes and models, we can begin to understand performance and set targets.
Let us go through a practical example:
Customer situation:
We have a customer with 10 vehicles, including large vans, small vans and cars. Some of the vehicles occasionally need to pull a heavy trailer with additional equipment, and there is no easy way to record when a vehicle has this trailer...
How to proceed?
Ok, for vans we can rule out ranking based on fuel consumption alone. We have no overview of when the trailer is towed. We can find out from the customers that the trailers they have are in constant use, so we can do some smoothing of the data over time.
The approach in this case is to look at the fuel consumption of the group of vans to assess how much they consume overall. For this group, we now need to focus on performance indicators rather than actual fuel consumption. So we will set targets based on acceleration, braking and speed compared to the prescribed maximum speed.
If we look at the average fuel consumption of the whole fleet and take into account the distance travelled, we should work towards reducing overall fuel consumption. Drivers will not focus on their mpg/L/100km figures, but on their mileage.
Are you confused about your fuel consumption? Or even already confused (you do not have any data at all). If so, give us a call.
