sarge26044

Wanna improve your MPG and Fuel Bonus Check?

, 10.14.2009 at 11.52 PM (1367 Views)

MPG Tips

You must be willing to change your driving habits. That is by far the hardest thing for most people to do. Are you willing to change? Want to go from 6.5mpg to 7.0? or 7.0 to 7.5? You can do it

Eliminate the word "won't" from your vocabulary.
Stop using the word "can't" as well
Refer back to 1. and 2. as much as necessary.
Establish a baseline--Divide miles driven on a tank of fuel by gallons to fill up the tanks. gives you your MPG. Figure this at each fillup, and fill tanks completely otherwise it will skew your results.
Be honest with yourself and reduce your average speed by 5mpg. ie if you normally run at 70, go 65. 65, go 60. 60, go 55. 5 mph does not sound like much but when it comes down to MPG, if you normally run 70 and you cut down to 65, there will be an instant noticeable improvement in your MPG.
Continue at your new reduced speed for a week figuring your MPG at each fillup taking into consideration weather, wind, terrain, traffic. Obviously running up and down the mountains is not going to give you as good of an improvement as would on flat ground.
After a week, go back to your original baseline and look at the improvement. Most will be used to the slower rate of travel and may find themselves more relaxed after a full day of driving at a slower rate of speed.
If your truck is an automatic, switch to manual shifting. In manual, your truck will shift at a lower RPM thereby reducing the amount of fuel burned and increasing your MPG. Do this for a week and compare your MPG to your baseline and your MPG after slowing down for a week.
The last of the big 3, use your cruise control as much as possible. BUT if you brake and turn your cruise control off, feather the accelorator back up to cruising speed before hitting the resume switch. If you are cruising at lets say 60, slow to 50, and hit the resume switch, the truck will put the pedal to the metal and waste alot of fuel. Do this for a week.
Now that in the last 3 weeks, you've managed to slow down, shift manually, and use your cruise control, if you go back to your original base line there should be a noticeable difference
For the naysayers out there refer to #s 1,2,and 3. When your willing to change, continue down the list.

Having never been OTR before January of 2008, I followed the expert advise of my trainer who used to be the self proclaimed "slowest on the road" Since getting my own truck, I've never finished a quarter lower than 7.2 and ended the 3rd quarter of 2009 at 7.876 MPG. 3 cent per tariff mile bonus where I work. Fuel Bonus check was over $750 net! I made miles 2400--3000 a week and got home every weekend but 1 during the quarter so there's no way I would have been able to squeeze in enough additional loads to net over $750 by hammering down.

I met a driver who was having problems obtaining the company goal of 6.5 MPG at the time. We were dispatched on the same loads 3 days straight. Each day he followed me and at the end of the third day was surprised to see his MPG had improved over two tenths. Doesn't sound like much but was enough to put him over the company goal rather than right on or below it and into fuel bonus territory. He's continued improving and has received a two cent bonus each quarter for over a year now. In other words from below 6.5 MPG to above 7.0 MPG

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Comments

Bookerz - 10.15.2009 05.22 AM
Only thing I would add is eliminate or reduce aggressive take-offs from stop lights etc and only use jake brake in the mountains. Seen to many drivers using jakes in a perfectly flat truck stop parking lot.
DDiesel - 10.15.2009 05.55 PM
some good ole mathematics is always appreciated ;-D are you 0/O??
sarge26044 - 10.18.2009 06.29 PM
tyvm. the timing of the lights and not trying to run through all the gears between them as well as using the jakes only on mountain decents is on the "big list". Posted a blog like this to possibly hep others who wanted to improve for themselves or were being told to do so by their employers. Glad to see some feedback and hope to see some more soon. Nope not O/O, company man here, but belive in the trickle down theory and if the company i work for makes more money than hopefully some of it would find its way down to the drivers.
BigKWhopper - 10.20.2009 12.30 PM
It's not always your driving - your pm's effect it too. Overhead adjustments, clean filters, and taking care of any check engine lights - the cause could effect your mpg. I picked up a 1/2 mile after I had the rack ran on my 550 CAT. That plus the points you have mentioned all helped.
Rattlebunny - 10.25.2009 09.44 AM
Also, depending on which truck / year / model / engine you have. Just seeing the check engine light can be an indicator that the engine control module is running the engine in "limp home mode". This can cause any advanced tuning of the engine to be scrapped and the engine will run in a much less efficient way.
sarge26044 - 11.25.2009 08.25 AM
so true big k and rattle bunny. With the weather getting colder nows the time to check to make sure your tires on truck and trailer are properly inflated too. Most of our trailers at Maverick have the auto inflate or whatever its called which keeps them at proper inflation EXCEPT 23067E (the one i'm under now). I noticed since picking up the trailer my MPG began to drop significantly. For some reason this trailer does not have the auto inflate thingamagiggies and when i checked them, all 8 trailer tires were at about 80psi. Not anymore and noticed as soon as i pulled out of the truckstop the difference in the roll. Long story short, daily info on the QC went from 6.7, to 7.0 on the run home from steelton, pa to Louisville, ky
sarge26044 - 12.11.2009 09.36 AM
Ok, thanks to sewerman, i know knowwhy my MPG has been steadily decreasing for about a month. Thermostat was stuck open thereby constantly circulating coolant which didn't allow the engine to heat up to burn the fuel at optimum levels. 3 hr repair at Iowa 80 and problem solved but will only be in 2 cent bonus range this quarter at 7.3. Now I know and readers of this do too
frenchy - 07.04.2010 09.57 AM
ON top of what's already described , and especially for flatbed , what about being smart about loads placement and tarping.

I see so many drvs out there with split coils and/or tarp flapping in the wind. Those 2 will increase your drag dramatically and thus decrease your mpg.

Finally, on climbing hills, my engine sweet spot is at 1250rpm.
What I do is I gear down to which gear will allow me to climb without effort at that engine speed , mostly 20, 30 or 40 mph and set the cruise control and wait for the top. Patience is important there and I usually make it thru without mpg damage and/or eng-tranny abuse.

As for Traffic light and or traffic situation, "let them pass". You are not going any faster.

Patience is the key here. It helps on your mpg and how you feel at the end of the day.

On interstate days, I stop only every 150-3hrs for load checks. Time lunch stop based on this.

On city driving, I always try to time the driving so I won't hit rush hours. (even if that means loosing 1-2 hrs of driving that day)
fulchoak - 07.05.2010 12.24 PM
I don' know if this was mentioned but, Shift @ between 1100 and 1300 ( progressive ) When ur runnin in town, use a higher gear and lower rpm. Keep in as high a gear as possible without luggin the motor. Every time you get out of that truck turn it off ! When you get back in and ur doing ur paperwork keep it off until its time to go. I guarantee you these little adjustments will get you much better mpg.