Fuel Efficiency - How To Reduce Your Fuel Costs

As van drivers our vehicles are in daily use within the working week. With escalated costs of van insurance, road tax and petrol costs it is important that we can save money where ever possible. You can save on your van insurance by shopping around and altering factors discussed in previous articles but road tax is on the increase again after the 2005 budget. With this in mind this article will look at ways of saving money on petrol costs associated with running a van.

The two main methods for saving money when looking at the fuel bills of running a van are to shop around for the cheapest petrol in the area and pay great attention to the fuel efficiency of your van. Shopping around for the cheapest fuel is self explanatory but the majority of drivers on the road today have very little knowledge of how they can increase the fuel efficiency of their van, prepare to be educated.

Increasing Fuel efficiency

Speed Limits - Driving to or below the designated speed limits can increase the fuel efficiency of your van. A vehicle travelling a 55mph can use up to 40% less fuel than the same vehicle travelling at 75mph. From these figures it can be seen that reducing journey speed can equate to a dramatic increase in fuel efficiency.

Gear selection - Choosing the right gear to relive labouring of the engine can also be a good way to increase the fuel efficiency of your vehicle. By making sure that the correct gear is chosen to stop reving and labouring of the engine it requires les fuel and can bring down costs.

Idle - Leaving the engine to idle in situations where the vehicle is stationary for long periods of time can decrease fuel efficiency. If you know that the van will be at a stand still for any length of time switch off the engine. Even the most efficient engines will decrease in fuel efficiency when left to idle for long periods.

Weight - Loading is a big issue with vans and it can have a big effect on the fuel efficiency of a vehicle. The basic rule is that the heavier the vehicle the less fuel efficient it will be, for every 100lbs a vehicle carries it looses approximately 1% of its fuel efficiency. The majority of the time a van driver can't avoid heavily loading their van, it's the reason we are driving a van in the first place. By avoiding carrying heavy loads when they aren't needed such as machinery that won't be required for the job at hand you can greatly reduce the fuel costs for that journey.

Organisation - Another thing that can be done to help reduce the costs of fuel is to be ultra organised. By planning jobs in the same areas it reduces the need to travel when it could be avoided. By planning out the week before it starts, short trips proven to be the least fuel efficient to pick up equipment and materials can be avoided.

Driving Style - Finally by adopting a relaxed driving approach you can cut fuel bills by cutting out stop start driving practices common in built up areas. By leaving enough room between yourself and the car in front you can reduce the need to brake suddenly and therefore have to accelerate aggressively to keep up with traffic.

By following the few techniques described in this article you could save yourself up to 50% on your fuel bills each year. With the high cost of commercial vehicle insurance and increasing road tax this could be a very welcome saving.