Drive green, drive safe, drive profits

“I drive each and every day like I am on a road test being evaluated on my safe and fuel-efficient driving techniques.”

I’m quoting a statement made by a professional driver, Mr. Patrick Gervais. Patrick is a company driver for Transport Henri Dion out of St-Laurent, Que., and a member of the Quebec Trucking Association’s Ambassador de la Route team. His statement got my attention for several reasons.

First, I always appreciate meeting a professional driver. Second, his comments about fuel-efficiency and safety turned on a light bulb for me.

Fleet managers are always looking for new ways to sell the safety message to drivers and to company management. It’s easy to understand the benefits of a safe operation when you consider the impact one serious vehicle collision can have on a driver, on your equipment, on your company, and on the lives of other motorists.

Unfortunately, it costs money to develop and implement safety programs, money you have to fight to have included in your budget. When economic times get bad and companies look to cut back on operating costs, safety is often the loser. Why? Because safety doesn’t show up as a hard, bottom-line dollar figure.

Or is it? Let’s look at safe driving techniques from a different perspective. Safe driving techniques are also fuel-efficient driving techniques, and driving with fuel-efficiency in mind can save a fleet serious money.

I met Patrick at a meeting hosted by Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency. The mandate of the OEE is to help fleets improve their fuel economy and cut operating costs through better driving techniques and reduced idling. It has two main programs: FleetSmart, aimed at fleet managers, and SmartDriver, for driver trainers. In each case, the OEE has compiled dozens of case studies, success stories, training materials, and a library full of research and is offering it all back to the Canadian trucking industry — for free.

To put a fresh spin on selling safety, make use of this resource and promote conserving fuel resources and making the planet a better place for our children. Kids are a good motivator for safe operating practices, and it’s no different when you talk about the environment. We all want our children to inherit a clean and healthy planet.

Here’s a thought to get you started. A truck operating at its peak fuel efficiency is probably operating at a safe operating speed. Most highway tractors hit their sweet spot for fuel efficiency at or around 90 to 100 kilometres an hour. Once you exceed these speeds, you’re stealing directly from your profits.

I still remember Stan Kimberly’s campaign to teach drivers about the relationship between fuel efficiency and safety. Stan, a former insurance man and a longtime columnist for Today’s Trucking magazine, was trumpeting environmentally friendly driving tips back in the Eighties.

Until recently, technologies designed to improve fuel economy were dependent on how the driver operated the vehicle. It was up to him to double clutch his shifts, use the engine’s torque, control the amount of vehicle idle, and not to exceed 100 km/h.

Today, engine electronics put more control in your hands — especially over vehicle speed and idling, two areas where fuel is easily wasted. You can set the parameters for maximum speed on the pedal and on cruise, and you can automatically program engine idle shutdown times.
The payback is in safety, lower fuel bills, and the greening of our planet. But the responsibility is yours to use the resources that are available to you, from government programs like FleetSmart and SmartDriver to the advice of your engine rep.

No truck operator can afford to overlook money he can put in his pockets through cost control, and none of us should dismiss our responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Drive safe, drive green, and drive profits. It’s a winning combination we all need to start selling harder.

For information about FleetSmart, call 613/943-2403 or go to oee.nrcan.gc.ca/fleetsmart.