Tips For Better Fuel Economy

 
As fuel prices continue to escalate, everyone is looking for ways to save money. Here are some tips for better fuel economy. These tips are geared towards tractors, but most apply to straight trucks as well.

SPEED comes at a Price:

For every 1 mile per hour over 65 miles per hour, you are giving up 1 tenth of a mile per gallon fuel mileage. At $3.00 per gallon, these equal an average of 1 cent per mile in savings.
Decreasing speed from 72 miles per hour to 67 miles per hour on a tractor operating 100,000 miles per year can save you $5,000 in fuel cost.

Reducing the following results in the following decreases in fuel cost:

From 75 MPH to 65 MPH = 11% fuel savings
From 70 MPH to 60 MPH = 10% fuel savings

Driver tips for improved fuel economy

Slow Down.       Fuel economy is improved when drivers maintain 65 MPH as their cruise speed.

Use Cruise Control.     The use of cruise control will give better fuel performance.

Maintain Optimal RPM for the specified engine:     Each engine has a unique torque that will provide maximum fuel economy. For tractors the range is typically between 1200 to 1600 RPMs.

Minimize idling.            Every hour of idling time on an engine cost around $3.00 for tractors and $2.50 for straight trucks. Idling the engine up to 1000 RPMs uses approximately 1.7 gallons of fuel per hour. Idle speed at 800 RPMs can cut that consumption in half.

Pushing Air is expensive.         At 60 miles per hour, 50% of all fuel burned is used to overcome air resistance. As speed increases, the percent to overcome air resistance increases.

Proper Maintenance.   At FirstLease, we PM your truck at set mileages or time intervals.  Doing maintenance on time, and changing fuel filters timely can help increase fuel mileage by 3%-5%.
Also, maintaining proper air pressure for tires can help reduce furl costs.

Repair Damage.           Damage, dents, and dings and loose fairings create additional drag.

Tractor Wheelbase and Fifth Wheel settings.           The wheelbase and fifth wheel settings are extremely important. Ensuring the trailer gap is at the optimal 38” can increase fuel economy by 1% to 2%

APU use.        The attached example will give you the estimated savings available from the use of APU units. The costs of these are between $8,000 to $9,000. On a typically life of 5-6 years the monthly cost of these units is approximately $150.00. If your unit is idling 40 hours or more, there are fuel saving you can get by the use of an APU.