How to reduce the impact of fuel price increases

What can delivery fleets do to mitigate the effects of ongoing fuel price increases?

As Diesel hits a new high of 162.08p per litre (24th Oct 2023), the highest since April 2023 (According to the RAC fuel watch), delivery fleets will be considering the impact and additional costs for their deliveries.

Whilst some delivery companies are changing smaller vehicles such as vans over to being electric powered as one solution, which will also help reduce the impact on the environment from engine emissions, this is not yet possible for larger vehicles. Companies operating larger fleets of HGV’s will of course be hit the hardest by the fuel price increases. So, what can be done?

Companies need to be considering any solution that will reduce fuel usage and reduce the cost per mile and delivery. One option is to optimise the route a vehicle will drive, ensuring that it is the best route possible and uses the least fuel. This is relatively easy when a vehicle is making just one delivery, but as soon as the number of deliveries increases above 3 the number of possible options increases rapidly, especially when loads could be moved between vehicles to improve delivery routes even further. The task then quickly becomes too complicated for humans and spreadsheets to calculate in a sensible time frame.

Using the latest delivery scheduling and route optimisation software can help planners ensure that all their vehicles’ deliveries are optimised along with the routes they will be driving, while also ensuring the best vehicle is being used for each delivery and that the timed delivery windows for customers will still be met. Optimising deliveries across vehicles over several days can help reduce fuel costs and also improve the overall delivery capacity of the fleet. Ensuring each vehicle is delivering the maximum each day ensures operators can do more with the same number of vehicles. An important factor in the current driver shortage.

Delivering to a customer when you say you are going to deliver is also important, if not more so sometimes, than getting it there quickly. delivery scheduling and route optimisation software can provide you with the confidence required to narrow the time of delivery windows notified to customers and still deliver on time, whilst also reducing your fuel costs per delivery.

See what you could save using our Fleet Savings Calculator.

To find out more and discover how delivery scheduling and route optimisation software can help your company reduce its fuel bill, improve customer service and increase the fleet’s capacity with existing vehicles contact us or email us at info@descartes.com 

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