Fuel is one of the biggest expenses for trucking fleet.
Even when it's “cheap," fuel it accounts for 19% of the vehicle’s marginal costs, according to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). However, back in 2012, fuel represented 39% of the vehicle’s marginal costs. It will be interesting to see where that percentage is for this year given that fuel was briefly near $6 a gallon in some areas of the country.
While fleets may have little control over the price of a gallon of diesel, they have a great deal of control over the number of miles they get from it. In fact, if they spec and operate their vehicles correctly, they can get free fuel for some portion of the year.
Let me explain with some quick math.
1% = 1/100. A year = 365 days. 1/100 of a year = 3.65 days.
What this means is that if you improve fuel economy by 1%, you don't have to buy fuel for 3.65 days each year. In other words, you get 3.65 of free fuel. Let that sink in. Obviously if you can save more than 1%, you get even more free fuel days.
The good news is there are a variety of things you can do to see a small improvement in fuel economy.
