How To Save on Gas While Drive a Truck

How To Get Better Gas Mileage in a Truck

If you drive a truck for work or pleasure, you’re well aware of how much fuel they burn. But if you need to haul a heavy load or pull a trailer, a gas-guzzling pickup may be your only option. 

1. CALIBRATE THE TIRES

We've already talked about this issue in other articles, but it's always worth reinforcing. Running with improperly inflated tires can affect vehicle performance and cause the engine to work harder, increasing fuel consumption. Therefore, make sure that this item is duly attended to in vehicle maintenance.

2. DO NOT EXCEED THE VEHICLE LOAD

In addition to being an illegal and highly dangerous practice, excess weight in vehicles also requires the engine to work harder, consequently increasing fuel consumption.

3. DO NOT DRIVE IN NEUTRAL

Although some drivers believe that this practice helps to save fuel, driving in neutral can cause just the opposite: increasing consumption. Therefore, during the training of your drivers and employees, be sure to emphasize this point.

4. CARRY OUT THE GEAR CHANGE CORRECTLY

Shifting gears at the ideal time helps to avoid unnecessary acceleration or loss of speed. It is also important to point out that, far beyond just dealing with the mere maintenance of vehicles in the truck fleet, this is an essential safety issue for your team. See also other 5 tips to avoid accidents.

5. PERFORM PERIODIC MAINTENANCE

Periodic maintenance helps to find certain problems in advance so that you can carry out the repair before they develop and lead to greater losses. This is because some parts — such as the air filter and fuel filter — contribute to increased fuel consumption when they are not working properly.

6. MAINTAIN A NETWORK OF RELIABLE SUPPLY STATIONS

Unfortunately, fleet managers are used to dealing with poor quality fuels, dubious suppliers, among other recurring factors. Therefore, it is important to develop strategic contacts and create a true network of reliable service stations and partners, in order to know the origin of the fuel and have confidence in its quality.

7. PLAN ROUTES

Route planning helps to trace optimal paths, taking into account, of course, the most obvious aspects, such as road conditions, local traffic and even vehicle restrictions.

8. AWARENESS AND MONITOR THE TEAM

None of these tips will be helpful if drivers are not trained and made aware of vehicle care and proper driving. Therefore, conduct training to pass on these good practices, emphasizing their importance.

In addition, it is essential to be aware of everything that occurs in the operation. Therefore, it is very important that the company invests in an embedded monitoring system, using a quality vehicle DVR. In this way, managers will be able to monitor all occurrences and conduct a behavioral analysis of drivers.

In order to save fuel, it is essential to change some routines, make a plan and follow it. However, it is also essential that this idea is transmitted to the team and that the economy is part of the day to day of the entire company.

Use Cruise Control

A common cause of poor mileage is inconsistent speed. Put simply - ittakes more gas to accelerate than it does to maintain the same speed.

Unless you’re focused solely on speed while driving, you’ll invariably speed up and slow down, getting fewer miles per gallon (MPG). To avoid this, use cruise control on the highway, so you maintain a consistent speed.

Avoid Idling

Almost by definition, idling is a waste of gas. The less you idle, the better. That said, there’s a rule of thumb for stoplights: one minute of idling burns about as much fuel as starting the engine. If it’s a short light, keep your engine running, and you’ll probably burn less.

On a similar note, avoid drive-thrus when possible. Park your truck and pick up your food inside when you can.

Plan Ahead

If you have multiple errands to run, do them all in one trip to save gas. While you’re at it, plan your route to be as efficient as possible. Most modern GPS apps (like Waze) can find the fastest route, which is not necessarily the shortest. This helps you avoid wasting fuel in stop-and-go traffic.

Lighten The Load

The less weight you’re hauling or towing, the less gas you’ll burn. Look at what’s in your truck bed, and ask if that rusty toolbox or bag of cement really needs to go everywhere with you. The same principle applies to any gear you’re hauling in a Jobsite trailer.

Use A Lower-Viscosity Oil

Your oil pump efficiency has a major impact on your gas mileage. Thick oil increases the load on the pump, directly impacting how many MPG you get. This is particularly true in the winter months when oil gets thicker in the cold.

One solution is to use a lighter oil, particularly in winter. Always follow your manufacturer’s recommendations, though. Also, remember that heavier loads require thicker oil. Whether you’re hauling dry brush or towing a mobile home makes a big difference in what oil will be acceptable.

Even if you can’t use lighter oil, regular oil changes will keep your oil from getting excessively thick. Have these performed every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, just before winter, or whenever your manufacturer recommends.

Stay Up-To-Date On Maintenance

Tire pressure, brake quality, and the state of your transmission all impact your fuel economy. The better-maintained your truck is, the more efficiently it will run. Wheel alignment and proper tire rotation are also crucial to maintaining peak efficiency.

Are Modifications Worthwhile?

Because trucks are so fuel-inefficient, many drivers outfit their rigs with cold air intakes, modified computers, vortex systems, and free flow exhausts. These modifications can indeed improve your gas mileage. However, the benefits may be negligible at best.

Now, if your only concern is saving the environment, you can skip the rest of this section. Whether or not you want to invest in a particular upgrade will be a personal ethical decision, and that’s beyond our purview. Instead, let’s look at the cost benefits of modifying your pickup.

And because every modification and each truck is different, there’s no single yes or no answer. Instead, you need to do the math. Here’s how:

  • Divide the number of miles you drive in a year by your truck’s miles per gallon

    to find the number of gallons you burn per year. If you get 20 miles per gallon and drive 10,000 miles a year, you would calculate: 10,000/20 = 500, so you burn 500 gallons per year.

  • Multiply that number by the average cost of gas in your area.

    If gas costs $3 per gallon and you burn 500 gallons per year, you would calculate: 500 x $3 = $1,500, so you spend approximately $1,500 on gas per year.

  • Now, it’s time to figure out how much fuel the modification will save you.

    Take the estimated MPG savings and divide that by two because manufacturers tend to exaggerate. If possible, check reviews to see how much better others performed.

  • Redo the same calculations using the new MPG number.

    Let’s assume that a new exhaust system is advertised to save you 4 MPG. You would divide that by two to get a savings of 2 MPG. Add that to 20, and you get 22 MPG. Ten thousand miles at 22 MPG burns about 455 gallons. Four hundred fifty-five gallons at $3 per gallon is $1,365 per year in gas.

  • Subtract that number from whatever you’re spending now.

    In this case, $1,500 - $1,365 gets you a savings of $135 per year with the exhaust upgrade.

  • Divide the cost of the modification by the estimated savings.

    This tells you how many years it will take for the modification to pay for itself. Let’s assume the upgraded exhaust costs $700. $700/$135 is 5.18, so our hypothetical $700 exhaust will take a little over five years to pay for itself.

Once you know how long it will take for a modification to pay for itself, deciding whether to invest in it is easy. For our example, you’d ask yourself if you’re going to drive that truck for another five years. If so, you’d want to install the new exhaust. If not, the exhaust would cost you more than it saved.