PrivateFleets.com

As a private fleet, everyone understands the risk–whether perceived or real–that an outside carrier can do the job for less. Rather than letting this fear demoralize the company, savvy fleet managers know how to use this to their advantage. Drivers and other employees already know their roles; they just need a little education now and then on what they can do to help save money. 

Stationed in Maine, the private fleet for Poland Spring–a division of Nestle Waters–transports spring water to bottling facilities in the Northeast. The company wants the public to see the fleet as environmentally friendly and save money in the process. Management is always testing different fuel-saving strategies, such as B5 biodiesel, new tractor aerodynamics, synthetic oil, daily tire pressure checks, a “tornado” add-on for the air filters, and recapping tires three and even four times, says Chris McKenna, the Northeast inside manager. 

Using a resevoir of data collected by the fleet’s Cadec Mobius onboard computers, McKenna is able to benchmark any fuel saving initiative–particulary whenever drivers change their driving behaviors.

Two strategies that have made a big difference in improving mpg are posting a list of drivers in the office, ranked by fuel efficiency, and reviewing weekly performance reports with drivers, individually.

“Drivers know we are going to ask. A large portion of them want to do the right thing,” he says.

With its fleet of 40 tractors, from January through May, the company acheived a 41 percent reduction in idle time–a total of 2,300 hours of idle time, or a run-rate of 5,100 hours annually. That’s the equivalent of taking 12 cars off the road in terms of carbon emissions. In addition, Poland Spring saved more than $9,000 in fuel during the 5-month period and is on track to save over $21,000 this year.

The company’s goal for overall fuel efficiency is to reach 7.0 mpg. It is already consistently improved from 6.0 to 6.5 mpg and is well on its way.

“Results have exceeded our expectations, and we were able to affect change much more quickly than we thought possible,” said McKenna.