Shopping for a Fleet Vehicle?

Look for these 3 ways to save on fuel costs

If you’ll soon be in the market for a new fleet vehicle, check out this posting from www.lubbockonline.com. They recently ran an AP story that highlights a few car-shopping strategies that could save your business some cash at the pump.

All about the GPMs

Miles Per Gallon aren’t the only way to measure fuel economy. Flip the formula and measure Gallons Per Mile. Here’s how: Pick the number of miles you drive over a period of time. Divide that number by a vehicle’s mpg to get the gallons of gas a vehicle burns over that distance.

The article quotes professor Richard Larrick of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, “You get a much more precise idea of how much gas and money a new car will save you.” But if you’re no mathlete, let GPMCalculator.com do the number crunching for you.

Turbo-charge it

Fuel efficiency isn’t limited to high-end hybrids, electric cars and vehicles that run on French fry grease. Ford Motor Company will have an EcoBoost engine with turbochargers ready to roll in 90 percent of its models by 2013. “Ford says it improves fuel economy by up 20 percent and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 15 percent without sacrificing power,” according to the article.

Do Diesel

Enlightening on several levels. Diesel fuel costs slightly more, but your long-run savings might be worth it, especially as summer fuel prices creep up. The report states that the average diesel driver goes further with 20 percent to 40 percent better mileage — and 50 percent more power. And buyers of some diesel vehicles are eligible for federal tax credits. Visit http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ to learn more.

Ok, so you’re not ready to buy. The good news is you don’t have to outfit your fleet with a fuel-efficient car today to cut fuel costs tomorrow. Instead, try a fuel card that is custom-fit to your business.

Did you know the right fleet card lets you fill-up at the best prices, track use online in real-time and prevent unwanted purchases altogether? See how quickly your savings add up. Savings you can use for a down payment on that new fleet vehicle.

Photo copyright of  Peterr under the Creative Commons license.

Tags: car shopping strategies, Diesel, fleet cards, fleet vehicle, Fleetmatch, Ford Motor Company, Gallons Per Mile, Miles Per Gallon, savings

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 6:06 am and is filed under Fleet Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.