When I
came through orientation last year, the driver scorecard bonus program was
explained. At the end, Kathy gave us two
tips to help increase our MPG’s. Set the cruise at 63 MPH and don’t leave the Jake brake on all of the
time. Honestly, I blew her off.
The
problem with this: I wasn’t making Scorecard Bonus. Kathy’s words poked at me from the back of my
mind for months. I refused to accept
that slowing down a measly 2 mph was going to make a difference. I wracked my brains trying to figure out what
else I could be doing wrong that would keep me from meeting my MPG goals. In January I decided to give it a try. Slowing down 2 mph wouldn’t actually KILL me,
would it?
I lasted about a week; the ADD kicked in and I was back up to
65. The crazy thing was I was teaching
my trainees to set the cruise at 63, but I wasn’t doing it.
April 1st
I committed to setting the cruise at 63 for the whole month because not making
bonus was driving me bonkers. Even if it killed me. The results?
1.
None of my internal organs imploded.
2.
The sun did not fall out of the sky.
3.
I was less stressed at the end of my drive
shifts because I hadn’t spent all day playing leapfrog with all of the other
trucks on the road doing 65.
4.
I increased my MPG’s by over half a mile to the
gallon.
5.
I scored Gold on the Driver Scorecard.
Wait, what?!? Half a mile to the gallon? That’s right.
I had been averaging 6.8-6.9 and in April my MPG’s were 7.47. Half a mile to the gallon might not sound
like much if you drive a car that gets 30 MPG, but it makes a huge difference
when you’re averaging 7. Let’s look at
this. I pump on average 1,500 gallons a
month and on 9/5/16 the national average price for a gallon of diesel was
$2.22.
1,500(G) ×$2.22 = $3,300 per month (× 12 months = $39,600)
1,500(G) × 6.85(MPG) = 10,275 miles
1,500(G) × 7.47(MPG) = 11,205 miles
That’s 930 more miles on the same
amount of fuel. Not everyone is going to
get on board, but what if half of us did?
930 (miles) × 250 (trucks) = 232,500 more miles on the same
amount of fuel.
If we
as a fleet average 125,000 miles per truck, per year that saves the cost of
fueling almost two trucks every year.
That’s $79,200 a year in savings.
Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?
Awesome!
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