new O/O here, 2016 Volvo i-shift d13. First Winter as an O/O. Looking for do's & don'ts to get better fuel mileage in Winter season. Thanks
You do not worry about minor things like fuel mileage in the dead of winter. You keep that engine going, fuel up at half tanks and proceed towards your delivery as best and smooth as you are able. You are not going to save fuel at 15 mph on ice or fighting headwinds out west at whatever speed you are trying to maintain. If you are really intent on saving fuel in winter at any price, then run only I-10 on the gulf coast or maybe I-8 or something like that. That way winter does not affect you much or a bit of rain. In my time we are encourage to work March through roughly end of October. Take the winter off and parked it on unemployment because the holiday season is more of a liability than it's worth.
Your mileage is going to drop no matter what just due to winter blend fuel. If you get decent mileage now then use those same driving habits to get the best that you can during the winter months. You may have to idle a bit more than normal but there shouldn’t be a big difference in idle time if you have an auxiliary heater for your cab.
Unnecessary idling is really about the only thing that you can do to save fuel, besides slowing down some.
I know this is off topic a bit, but if this is by chance your first winter with DEF on a truck, make sure you keep your def tank filled up. The DEF lines at the bulk fuel pumps freeze up in the hoses. This means you can't pump DEF to fill your tank. It's very easy to run into a situation where you can't find any DEF because all the truck stops have frozen lines, so get in the habit of topping it off when its freezing out.
Your truck already gets better mileage than anything else on the road! About the only way you're only going to improve it is to quit driving it.
