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Charlotte Haye 10th November 2016

Busting The Myth – HGV’s And Fuel Efficiency

Over the last few months HGV drivers have been the target of a lot of negativity – especially around fuel. The problem is that there are a lot of misconceptions and myths surrounding fuel efficiency measures for vehicles – particularly where HGV’s are concerned. So this month we wanted to address some of the more common concerns around HGVs and fuel efficiency, and dispel some of the myths.

Myth 1 – HGV’s Aren’t Monitored

fuel2 Because they are constantly moving around, a lot of people still think that HGV drivers aren’t monitored at all. This could not be further from the truth. New incentives and best practices mean that many companies are now fitting their vehicles with a ‘black box’ in order to monitor both the drivers and the vehicles. Careful calculations are done before each journey to ensure the vehicle has the right amount of fuel on board for the journey in order to reduce wastage, and operators are being brought on board to oversee the drivers’ behaviour. This includes making sure they are obeying speed limits, taking the correct routes and not driving in a dangerous way. For example, if a driver is travelling down a motorway at night, they might find that the slip road they need to take is closed for road works – a fairly frequent occurrence. Within minutes of passing that slip road the driver will receive a phone call to confirm why the route has been changed and to confirm the new route. HGV’s are being constantly monitored to check how much fuel they are using on each run as a way of reducing the amount they use and bringing down emissions.

Myth 2 – The Way HGV Drivers Drive Wastes Fuel

fuel1 If you’re looking to waste fuel in any vehicle, the easiest thing you can do is rev your engine. Over revving the engine or driving at high speeds burn fuel very quickly, and given that HGV’s can’t achieve those kinds of speeds (we’re talking 85mph or higher here) revving is the more common allegation thrown at them. However, measures are being put in place to ensure it is physically impossible for a HGV driver to over rev the vehicle. How? Simple, by making every HGV on the road automatic. This policy is already in place, so every new HGV out there is operating with an automatic gearbox. While everyone needs to learn to drive a HGV in both manual and automatic, the tests will be taken in an automatic vehicle, which, will allow drivers to drive both automatic and manual HGV’s.

Myth 3 – HGV’s Use Too Much Fuel

fuel3 While it’s true that a HGV will use more fuel than your standard car journey, all of the fuel they do use is carefully measured and completely necessary. It requires much more fuel to move the weight of a HGV, and the amount of fuel needed for each trip is calculated by distance, weight and other contributing factors. Companies are all trying to reduce the amount of fuel needed by their drives as a way of protecting both the environment and their costs – so they are putting measures in place to prevent overuse or waste. For example, companies will need to decide whether they want to include side rails or wind deflectors on their vehicles, as these are estimated to use 5% more fuel every single year. While that might not sound like a lot, when a company is transporting hundreds of thousands of loads across the country every year, it adds up to a lot of fuel. Every addition to the vehicle is carefully considered, loads weighed and distributed for ultimate fuel efficiency and routes planned to get the best performance out of the vehicles.

As we go forward, more and more policies are being put in place across the industry to stop the unnecessary use of fuel and production of emissions. Businesses are commissioning eco-friendly vehicles, installing black boxes and limiting drivers to automatic gear boxes in an effort to improve fuel efficiency, and they won’t stop there. For more information about fuel efficiency, or to book onto our course to learn more, get in touch today.

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