Since time immemorial, most vehicle owners have always tended to keep a close watch on the amount of fuel spent by their vehicles. Even today when electric cars and vehicles with hyper-efficient engines are quickly becoming the norm, most professional drivers are still very concerned by the rate at which their vehicles consume fuel especially considering the ever-increasing fuel costs. If you own a HGV, the amount of fuel consumed by your vehicle largely depends on the proficiency of the driver and whether they hold a cat c licence, unless the vehicle has a modern aerodynamic kit. In this month’s post, we have compiled our top tips on how you can lower fuel consumption in your HGV, and save money in the process.
1. Learn How to Block Change Gears
When driving normally, a driver usually tends to change gears linearly up or down depending on the circumstances. If you block change gears when driving, it means that you will miss out on the gears that are not relevant to your driving speed. For example, you may choose to skip from the second to fourth gear, or, from the fifth gear to the second. Studies show that a driver who block changes gears especially when driving up a sloping gradient tends to save more fuel than a driver who changes gears manually in similar circumstances. If your block change gears, you will save more fuel because your vehicle will not have to strain through unnecessary gears and you will also reduce the number of piston revs by your engine which will cut back on fuel consumption. Apart from saving fuel, your hands will not spend too much time hovering around the gearstick which means you will focus more on steering your vehicle. This essentially means you will also drive more safely.
2. Use the Cruise Control Feature
Most vehicles being produced today usually come with an inbuilt cruise control feature. The cruise control feature usually helps increase stability, allows your car to move at a constant speed and also reduces the need for unnecessary acceleration and braking. Remember that any time you hit the gas pedal, your vehicle consumes more fuel. Constantly steeping on the pedal usually means an increase in the number of revs your engine makes. If you use the cruise control feature when transporting goods over long distances, you will accelerate less which will translate to more fuel savings.
3. Learn How to Harness Resistance to Get More Fuel Savings
Every driver tends to encounter resistance when cruising down the road, but the resistance tends to be more in big vehicles like HGVs. When shuttling heavy items over long distances, the resistance caused by air flow as well as sloping gradients may end up leading to more fuel consumption. Though it is really difficult to deal with resistance that arises due to normal driving conditions, there are two things that you can do to reduce the impact that resistance has on the amount of fuel that your HGV consumes.
For starters, you can choose a driving route that is less hilly to reduce the resistance from sloping gradients.
Next, you can also invest in low-rolling resistance tyres. These types of specialist tyres can help lower your overall fuel consumption by as much as 6{a913e8830785202aa9584ffd0279db01f7dedf83effc82207b87e94894a36006}. You should always ensure that the low-rolling tyres that you install on your machine are fully inflated at all times. Remember that every drop of 10{a913e8830785202aa9584ffd0279db01f7dedf83effc82207b87e94894a36006} psi in tyre pressure usually lowers their efficiency by 1{a913e8830785202aa9584ffd0279db01f7dedf83effc82207b87e94894a36006}.
4. Avoid Leaving the Engine Idling
Sometimes, you may be tempted to leave your vehicle idling especially if you are just taking a small break or if it is cold and you want the heater to function. However, remember that every minute you leave your HGV engine idling means more fuel consumption. According to studies, you will not believe how much fuel you can save if you turn off your vehicle when you are not actually driving.