Fuel Efficiency Tips
Get the most out of each gallon
Submitted by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers
Fuel is one of the greatest operating costs for any contractor
who owns heavy equipment and/or trucks. Working
in a way that can save fuel can save a lot of money.
“To reduce fuel use, you have to know how and when fuel
is being wasted,” said William “Bernie” Bernhard, technical
and safety services manager for the Association of Equipment
Manufacturers (AEM).
Start by examining top fuel usage influencers in off-highway
applications.
“Machines equipped with telematics can provide actionable
data by tracking dozens of data points so that workers can gain
valuable insights to help save fuel,” said Bernhard.
Idle time – A key factor
Idle time is often the largest contributor to fuel inefficiency and a
good start to manage fuel consumption.
To decrease idle times, operators can take advantage of fuel-saving
technology, such as auto-idle. Also popular is auto-shutdown,
where a machine can idle for a preset period of time.
Examine the patterns in your machine’s idle times. If a machine
idles for short periods of time (a few seconds to a few minutes)
frequently throughout the day, that may mean the machine is at a
bottleneck in the workflow.
An example is an operator having to wait for another operator
to complete a task before continuing work. In this case, either
machine selection, material location or some other jobsite factor
needs to change to reduce idle time.
However, if a machine idles for several minutes at a time or
more, infrequently throughout the day, that probably means the
operator is not shutting down the machine when on break or on
the phone, when exiting the machine, or when having their work
interrupted for a longer period of time.
In these cases, a discussion is needed with the operator regarding
company expectations, to take the necessary steps to decrease
idle time.
Equipment operation
How an operator uses a machine can influence fuel efficiency.
Small changes in behavior can have large effects on fuel use.
One easy way that operators can save fuel is by using the appropriate
work mode, which makes it easier for operators to match
the power needed to the application at hand.
In order to set up a jobsite to optimize fuel use, a company
needs to examine data related to jobsite workflow, including
DID YOU KNOW?
equipment capacities, the number of each machine on site, equipment
and material locations, terrain and more.
Maintenance is also an issue, for example, checking fuel filters
on the machines, from your suppliers, the storage tanks
at your jobsites and your base fuel storage facilities, according
to Bernhard.
“By tracking how much fuel is used in applications, the
amount and type of idle time, and analyzing other machine
data, you can get a good picture of when fuel is wasted,” he said.
“Combine this with fully understanding and using the fuel-saving
features of your machines, and you will be able to get the most
out of each gallon.” t
Visit www.aem.org for fuel-related best-practices, including
“Get CLEAN on Fuel” information to protect Tier 4 engines.
Photo courtesy of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers
Idle time is often the
largest contributor to fuel
inefficiency and a good start
to manage fuel consumption.
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