Heavy Construction Equipment: Tips for Saving on Fuel

The price of fuel continues to creep up. Blame increased demand or whatever you want, but this doesn’t surprise individuals who have been in the construction equipment industry. I’m a Heavy equipment dealer myself, and provide renting services too. But, the fuel price hike can put a damper on my mood when I’m contacted to take construction vehicles to the sites where construction projects are in progress. Due to the recent increase in fuel prices, I decided to share some of the smart fuel-efficient driving techniques with people owning or renting heavy equipment.

The way you drive and the condition of your truck, trailer or any other buy and sell heavy vehicle has an impact on the amount of fuel your vehicle uses. Here are a few tips to cut down on fuel consumption.

Buy a Fuel-efficient Vehicle: First things first, whether you purchase new or used construction equipment, examine the vehicle’s fuel-efficiency, quality, and ease of use. Usually picking out any vehicle with a manual transmission turns out a better option as it provides the drivers with smart fuel economy. Also, it’s my personal experience that Diesel engines can give a great gas mileage on heavy construction sites. Perhaps, that’s one of the reasons for Diesel trucks and trailers being a popular choice when it comes to buying fuel-efficient vehicles.

Regular Vehicle Maintenance: Keep your equipment well tuned and regularly maintained. Regular vehicle service keeps away from poor fuel economy, cleans up dirty air filters, identifies old spark plugs, and/or maintains fluid levels. It is best that you get your vehicle serviced at regular intervals. This can improve your vehicle’s fuel mileage by as much as 15%.

Slow & Steady Acceleration/Braking: Don’t accelerate or brake too hard; it wastes fuel. Instead, get used to applying slow and steady acceleration and braking. This enhances fuel economy by up to 25%.

Don’t Let Your Vehicle Idle For Long: Most vehicles don’t require a “warm up start”, which entails keeping a machine idle before it sets off. This simply wastes good amount of fuel. Avoid idles, and start your vehicle when you’re ready to do the job.

Pre-defined Trips: Almost every site, where construction is taking place, has dedicated remote and secure staging areas. Use them instead of wasting fuel in finding a parking place for loading/unloading of materials.

This list of tips continues. However, the more you spend time in construction equipment business, the better you’ll learn about ways to improve fuel mileage. If you have any cost-saving fuel suggestions, please post them in the comment box below so we can pass them on.