Petrol prices fluctuate between 130 cents per litre to 165 within one month. It is unpredictable and it can cost you if your business depends on fuel. There are fuel cards that offer some savings but often only benefit large businesses above a certain spending threshold.
In New South Wales, there is a real-time price tracker available to all consumers called Fuel Check and Tasmania is about to follow suit. Due to the rising pressure on fuel retailers to reduce the margin, price transparency will continue to enhance. It still requires research and time investment for anyone to win fuel savings better than others.
So we’ve done the work for you. If you are an entrepreneur or own a small business that’s greatly dependent on fuel, here are some lifehack tips to help you with fuel savings.
Discount Stacking
Many fuel retailers and/or fuel card brands offer various discounts based on your purchase habits. Similar to couponing, stacking on discounts offered by various retailers and combining them based on your needs and qualifications to maximise your savings. Smart fuel discount stacking requires you to track discounts offered on fuel via multiple partnerships such as grocery retailer Coles. It takes time to track all these saving opportunities so relying on key sources online that provide comprehensive updates on them would be a better way to realise the savings available for you.
Picking the Right Day
Every station has a different pricing each day of the week. It is wise for you to test out the most-frequently-used fuel stations and see which days are the cheapest. The drivers should be encouraged to use certain days to refuel.
It differs station by station but most often it is either Tuesday or Wednesday. You can use fuel cans to attain and save up some extra fuel to help you/your fleet last throughout the week so you take full advantage of price fluctuations.
The discrepancy can be anywhere between 5 to 15 per cent.
Using Technology to Track Down Best Pricing
There are government apps such as Fuel Check in NSW and MyFuel NT where you can track fuel pricing movements. Sometimes the government does not provide access to the public but allows third-party vendors to access for commercial use.
Third-party apps can download these movements to either report on real-time price changes or predict based on recent trends. You can peruse through various third-party apps to see which one is the most reliable source in your area. You can have your drivers check these apps regularly to pick the best option every time they do have to refuel. Remember that the more remote you go, the higher the prices charged might be so a general rule of thumb should be for them to find these options way in advance so they can weigh out their options.
Driving Behaviours That Achieve Fuel Savings
There are few driving behaviours you can enforce or encourage that could add up to tangible savings on fuel expenses. Driving manual rather than automatics, for instance, reduces your fuel use by up to 15%.
Driving slowly can also bring about significant savings in fuel use. Reducing speed from 80mph to 70mph could result in up to 25% in fuel use and even more so if driving on smaller, bumpier roads.
Ensuring the car is regularly serviced also ensures that the vehicle achieves maximum fuel efficiency. Incentivising your drivers to rely on abundant information sources to hunt down the best fuel station each time they refuel and being mindful of their driving behaviours is going to be key in a sustainable fuel efficiency practice in your business.
