Diesel prices have increased significantly in the past few months. In May, the price per gallon of diesel reported at 72 cents higher than the same time last year. While it may not seem like a big cost to fleets right now, prices will likely continue to be volatile and uncertain. Here’s the good news: there’s another way to save on fuel completely independent of the cost of diesel, and it all starts by engaging your drivers.
The obvious question to ask is: of all the operational challenges facing fleets, why address fuel? It may not seem like a serious priority in the face of more pressing issues like the driver shortage. But the truth is that driver engagement/retention and fuel savings are connected. They can both be solved at the same time with the help of True Fuel®, a tool built to help the drivers manning your trucks to become dramatically more fuel efficient.
Helping Your Drivers Help You
Without some kind of incentive or personal stake, drivers have little reason to be motivated to drive in the most fuel-efficient way possible. It’s not their money being lost, and some of the ways drivers are compensated (e.g. pay by mile) can even unwittingly encourage fuel inefficient driving.
Drivers can make a massive difference on fuel if you let them, so it only makes sense to engage them constructively with a real financial incentive that genuinely motivates them to achieve maximum fuel efficiency. That way, you’re not just saving on fuel but you’re also giving the driver a reason to stick around and work harder—saving on the massive costs of turnover, recruitment, and training too.
Increased pay isn’t the only way to motivate drivers to perform at a higher level and commit to the fleet. They’re also looking for respect and recognition for the job they do. There’s so much value in finding a means to celebrate the driver’s personal role in increasing fuel efficiency and showing them that the fleet is just as invested in them as it is in the trucks they drive. Making them a part of the fuel savings mission—and rewarding them for that effort—is one of the most effective ways to do just that.
The True Fuel Difference®
True Fuel® is both a tool to maximize fuel economy and a conduit between fleet managers and drivers that gauges performance objectively. Drivers know that the feedback they are receiving is fairly given, and they know exactly what they need to do to improve.
True Fuel® only assesses the factors that drivers can control and actively improve upon, and it recognizes and respects their expertise. Drivers are given ownership of their own destiny. After that, they are empowered by incentives and rewards when they show improvement and progress. With True Fuel’s fair and reliable performance benchmarks as a foundation, the better the drivers become over time, the more they show their skills, and the more they are rewarded.
Here’s the best part: every cent of these rewards motivating and engaging your drivers can be funded by the fuel savings you are achieving with True Fuel®. It’s a self-rewarding cycle. Drivers improve their fuel efficiency, the fleet saves, the driver benefits from his or her personal efforts, and sticks around long-term. With diesel prices on the rise, there’s no better time to get started with an easily implemented program like this.