Fuel Prices are on the Rise!

The price of fuel significantly impacts your business every day and is a hot topic of discussion currently dominating the trucking and logistics industries.

We have seen a dramatic increase in the price of fuel over the past number of weeks.  Fuel is always one of the largest line items on your income statement, and we are quickly returning to 2008 diesel price levels of $1.40/L. In an environment of rising fuel prices, it is critical to maximize fuel efficiency to offset any “fuel surcharge” timing gaps.  Simply put, even if you charge your customers a fuel surcharge, it is usually only adjusted periodically, which means you are being paid for fuel at a rate that is lower than what you are paying at the pumps. 

In addition, fuel burned for excessive idling, driving out of route or over-revving the engine all contribute to suboptimal MPG results for your trucks.

Shaw Tracking offers an excellent tool to empower you to measure, manage and control fuel consumption: Performance Monitoring.  Many fleets using Shaw Tracking’s Performance Monitoring application have seen their fuel consumption decrease by 10% or more.  For a 30 truck fleet with an average of 10,000 miles per truck per month and an average of 6.0MPG per truck, this translates to fuel savings of $450 per truck per month.  The impact of implementing Performance Monitoring is real, it is significant, and it is achievable. 

"Shaw Tracking's Performance Monitoring has helped us reduce our fuel cost by 12-15%; it also helped us benchmark our drivers as a means of paying incentives. With the ability to monitor our drivers' idle time, speeds and overrevs, we're able to add incentives to our drivers who perform better, which works as a great retention tool. The savings achieved during the first year justified our purchase cost of the entire system and allowed us to see a payback in two years,"
-    Paul Eassons, President, Eassons Transportation Ltd.

To learn more about how you can reduce your fuel and maintenance costs, contact Shaw Tracking 1-800-478-9511.

Mike Ham, Vice President, Business Services