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I first became truly aware of the words "fuel efficiency" in March 1984, it was the month I employed my first driver. Now I have no doubt that the first thoughts that went through my mind on that memorable day, have been thought by others before me, and possibly, because of me.
%4#&* what?s wrong with my truck?
Why was it using so much fuel?
I jumped in the old girl that afternoon and took her for a spin. Everything seemed ok.
What's changed?
I had just employed a young, reasonably experienced driver, strong, fit and newly married.
But how could the fuel consumption be so different?
I pored over the figures, as only a new, struggling transport operator will, for hours.
Trip times, load weights, even weather reports.
I know he can drive it, I've watched him, but can he drive it fuel efficiently? I wondered
How do you drive it fuel efficiently?
Did I drive it fuel efficiently?
I went and saw my old boss, a man whose skill I respected and I asked him
"Not as good a figures as I could get" was his reply "but they were close enough not to cause me any concern"
I was starting to understand what it really means to be "the boss." I had naive intentions of being the biggest and best trucking company in New Zealand, but if these figures continued across all of the trucks in this futuristic daydream, I was headed to the poor house.
"I'll have to train him how to do it properly" I innocently mused. Boy, what a tosser.
That is such an easy thing to say, and such a hard thing to do.
The IRTENZ report in the February 2003 issue of the New Zealand Trucking Mag brought this early start to my training career flooding back.
Every day, fuel efficiency becomes more important.
The world is running out of oil.
The atmosphere is filling up with CO2.
The polar icecaps are melting and the lands are flooding.
Animals that have roamed the planet longer than us are dying.
Every war fought in the last 100 years has had an oil component.
Now I'm sure the "boffins" in their oil company labs are working out how to cope when the last drop arrives. The auto guys, you bet.
Euro Governments are spending millions on pollution controls and University research.
Zoos around the world are fighting to protect endangered species.
The scientists in Antarctica are devoted to planet health studies and the Kyoto agreements will not be the last or the most imposing on our rights.
But it won't be, until every human being takes it seriously, that things will truly change.
The hardest part about training drivers to drive fuel efficiently is making sure they keep it up, every time they start the engine.
Motivating every one of us that, moving from one place to another and using the least amount of fuel to do it, is the most important problem the world faces this century.
As we head towards "Iraq part III" people are once again dieing, to satisfy our need to move from place to place, and yet a litre of fuel is still cheaper than a litre of soft drink. The price of diesel in New Zealand is a false price because we have RUC's; if these two items were combined the price picture would be simpler.
The IRTENZ article while important in raising general awareness missed the point a little, because of the 407 interventions currently available to reduce fuel consumption; the driver is the most critical. While computerized this and wiz bang that compensate for the "dummy" behind the wheel to a certain degree. Training is the only answer and correct monitoring of results achieved is vital to success.
Research in the U.K has proven time and time again, that until you've got the driver focused on fuel-efficient defensive driving and can monitor for consistent performance, the rest is just icing on the cake. But this takes real commitment from us all to achieve and I believe is the mark of a true professional.
But then that's "Just an old trucker's" point of view?
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