5 Tips For Improving Fuel Economy

Are you looking to make your truck more fuel-efficient? Check out these 5 practical tips for improving your truck's fuel economy. From reducing idle time to optimizing tire pressure, these strategies can help you save money on fuel costs while also reducing your environmental impact.

Reduce your idling time. It's no secret that reducing idle time will improve fuel economy. How to reduce idle time is a better question. The best tip for that is to actively monitor your idle time. If you are an owner operator, most of this information is available on your dash board or you can download it from engine reports. If you are managing a fleet, run a weekly comparison to monitor drivers against themselves from previous weeks and against other drives. Keep in mind that not all routes are the same so there might be good reason for some drivers to idle more than others.

Keep tires properly inflated. Industry studies have shown properly inflated tires can improve fuel economy by as much as .25 mpg. A sleeper running 120,000 annual miles, at 7 mpg and let's say $4.50 gallon diesel, that is $2,659 or 3.44%. That is significant money. In addition to your pre-trip inspection, most of the newer vehicles have some sort of pre-trip assistant feature. Also consider spec'ing a tire pressure monitoring system on your next vehicle.

Reduce your speed. Another obvious tip but one way to accomplish this is to set a governor on the engine. Vehicles running out west will want the governor set higher as the speed limits are higher out there.

Utilize cruise control. Using cruise control is proven to increase fuel efficiency. One way fleets encourage drivers to use cruise control is offering a higher governor on cruise than pedal. For example, se the pedal governed at 68 MPH while allowing 70 MPH on cruise.

Spec the vehicle for fuel efficiency. This will not help much for on-ground equipment but there are many features you can spec to improve fuel economy. Ask about eco friendly engine parameters, include automatic transmission, don't get more HP than you need, make sure you have enough torque, and consider fairings. These features are not free but you will get a return on your investment.