As a trucking business, you know the importance of improving the performance and efficiency of the trucks. Fuel efficient trucks boast of several advantages. Lowered costs and prolonged vehicles’ lifespan being two of them.
Let us look at different ways you can improve trucking efficiency.
5 Ways to Boost Trucking Efficiency
- Use Efficient Technology
One of the biggest ways to improve trucking efficiency is by using efficient technology such as truck scales.
They allow you to load and unload the goods and weigh them at the same time. Using truck scales for weight management will eliminate several steps during the weighing process. If the weighing scales are located away from the truck, you would have to weigh them and carry back to the truck each time.
This wastes a lot of time and effort.
- Make Loading-Unloading Convenient
First, you need to load the truck before it begins its journey. Once it gets to the destination, the truck has to be unloaded.
Most products are shipped in drums, therefore, the fleet managers must provide the truckers with proper drum handling equipment. They cannot use a regular forklift as it doesn’t have the right attachments to secure the drums.
Provide hand truck drum handlers to the workers. They are portable and can carry up to 1,000 lbs. These handlers offer safety and utility as well.
- Practice Efficient Fuel Management
Another way to improve trucking efficiency is to master fuel management.
Fleet managers and truck company owners must actively participate in managing fuel efficiently. It could be done by:
- Optimizing the purchase of the fuel at the lowest cost possible over each freight movement, or
- Maximizing the use of intermodal
Take advantage of the various methods available that allow you to harness the data to determine the actual fuel costs.
- Prioritize Proper Maintenance
The importance of proper truck maintenance has been emphasized constantly. If you don’t maintain a truck properly, it will break down time and again. The repair costs will be high and delivery times will be affected.
Check the tires, oil, air filters and all parts of the truck on a regular basis. Make sure that all the parts are in optimal condition.
Irregularly maintained trucks will waste a lot of fuel and will be unsafe to drive. It will also shorten the vehicle’s life.
- Use Fleet Tracking Tools
It is important to keep track of all the vehicles in your fleet. But it can be quite a challenge if there are hundreds of vehicles to track. Moreover, you need to track all the drivers and the shipments being carried.
Fleet tracking tools will help you achieve this objective. For instance, a GPS truck tracking system will allow you to monitor multiple things. Some of which include the speed of the truck, breaks taken during the trip and idle time of the truck.
When you improve logistics management, you can improve your customer service too. The customers will know exactly where the shipment is and the status of its arrival.
By improving trucking efficiency, you will enjoy great profit margins. Incorporate different ways to improve trucking efficiency within your business.
Author Bio:
Kevin Hill heads up the marketing efforts at Quality Scales Unlimited in Byron, CA. Besides his day job, he loves to write about the different types of scales and their importance in various industries. He also writes about how to care for and get optimized performance from different scales in different situations. He enjoys spending time with family and going on camping trips.