An Efficient Way to Save on Fuel Costs while OTR

How Can Owner Operators Save on 25% of their Costs?

Saving money while OTR is imperative to any trucker. For either a small fleet or an independent Owner Operator, fuel makes up roughly 25% of costs. As big as this expense is, the sheer necessity of it does not mean that business owners do not have power over its effect on their wallets [1]. The speed at which these folks work push little things out of sight, but small changes in fueling and driving habits as well as basic maintenance and upkeep can optimize fuel mileage.

After searching the web for insightful tips on fuel efficiency, these three domains are where small changes will benefit drivers and save on fuel costs:
Fueling habits
Driving habits
Idling habit

Fueling Habits:

“Pump fuel at a low setting, if you can as this will minimize the vapors; more vapors means lesser fuel filling your tank.
“Do not top off your fuel tank — Topping off your fuel tank can saturate the emissions system with fuel, and could cause a fuel spill when the fuel warms up. When the fuel nozzle clicks off, the tank is full, don’t add anymore fuel or round up the dollar amount on the fuel pump” [2].

Driving Habits:

“Be moderate with braking!”: Rules of the road maintain that drivers make full stops where needed [3]! Attentive driving, however, means being aware of speed and traffic to accommodate braking: being mindful of other drivers and the general traffic of the environment. This leads into the next point.
“Regulate Your Speed: When you maintain a constant speed, you maintain a steady fuel usage. When you accelerate, you burn more fuel. If you accelerate more quickly, you burn more fuel. That’s why it’s important to maintain a speed at the speed limit. For trucks, the speed limit is usually no higher than 65 mph” [3].
“Stay in a Higher Gear: Instead of starting and stopping, try speeding up and slowing down incrementally. You’ll have to make fewer gear changes to raise and reduce your speed, and higher gears save fuel” [3].

Maintenance Habit:

Idle reduction: idling to maintain cab temps comfortable for sleep helps the driver, however, ‘you need only let the engine idle long enough to fully circulate the oil—30 seconds is plenty. But don’t immediately put the pedal to the metal.’ If you are not in your cab, turn it off! Moreover, not idling excessively saves money on engine wear, as idling brings wear to pistons and cylinder walls and is likely to cause monetarily noticeable damage over this habit [4].

Controlling fuel use is cumulative, drivers reap savings per quarter.



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