August 2008 - NORTHGATE PUBLISHES FREE ONLINE GUIDE TO HELP FLEETS COMBAT ROCKETING FUEL PRICES
Fuel prices have surged about 30% in the past 12 months and are now challenging vehicle depreciation as the single biggest fleet operating cost.
To enable fleets to keep their fuel budgets in check and reduce their carbon footprint, Northgate Vehicle Hire, the UK's largest light commercial vehicle rental operator with a fleet of more than 68,500 vehicles, operating from 21 local hire companies and 87 rental locations across the UK, has compiled a free guide.
The guide, which highlights a raft of fuel-saving tips that collectively can reduce individual vehicle fuel bills by hundreds of pounds a year, can be downloaded at www.northgateonline.co.uk/savefuel
The 'Top Tips Guide to Cutting Fuel Bills and Saving Money' covers a range of topics including: choosing the most fuel-efficient vehicles, fuel monitoring, buying fuel from lower-priced outlets, eco-driving, journey planning, vehicle maintenance and how safe driving equals fuel-efficient driving.
Average diesel prices across the UK broke through the £6 a gallon barrier this month (131.9p a litre). The average price of petrol also hit a record of £5.39 a gallon (118.6p a litre). Compared to this time last year, diesel and petrol are now approaching being a third more expensive and experts predict forecourt prices to escalate even further as supplies of crude oil struggle to keep pace with global demand. Just four months ago diesel broke through the £5 a gallon mark.
The potential to cut fuel use and therefore save money is huge. An experiment by 50 AA employees earlier this year saw them drive normally for one week and then adopt a range of fuel-saving, eco-driving tips the following week with the result being an average 10% cut in weekly fuel bills with the best achieving an incredible 33% saving.
Ross Clarkson, marketing director of Northgate Vehicle Hire, said: "A slowing economy and rocketing fuel prices could be a recipe for disaster for some companies that rely on vehicles to conduct their business.
"However, pro-active companies and their drivers can significantly cut fuel bills by implementing a few very straight-forward measures that will pay huge financial dividends. Unfortunately high fuel prices are here to stay for the foreseeable future so taking action to limit their impact on business profitability is essential.
"Not only that, but with companies' environmental credentials increasingly under the microscope from customers, reducing a fleet's carbon footprint also makes business sense."
Ross Clarkson concluded: "We provide customers with a range of services such as Vehicle Monitoring, fuel cards and driver training to help them improve their fuel management, in addition to them benefiting from operating the very latest fuel efficient vehicles through our NORFLEX flexible rental product. But it is clear from both our own research and industry research that many businesses have still to take effective action on managing their fuel budgets and reducing their carbon footprint."
