Oliver Bennett
Fuel Is the Biggest Lever You Control
Ask any van operator where the money goes and they will usually name fuel before insurance or maintenance. It is not hard to see why. A typical mid-sized panel van covering 20,000 miles a year at around 30 mpg will burn through roughly 3,000 litres of diesel. At current pump prices that is comfortably north of £4,000 — before you have paid for a single service, tyre or MOT.
The encouraging part is that fuel is also the most responsive cost on the list. You cannot renegotiate an insurance premium on a whim, but you can change how the van is driven, loaded and maintained this week. A steady 10 per cent improvement in economy is realistic for most operators who have never focused on it, and on the figures above that is roughly £400 a year back in the business — per van.
Drive Smoothly and Let Momentum Work for You
Harsh acceleration and late braking are the two habits that cost the most. Every time you stamp on the throttle, the engine dumps extra fuel into the cylinders for a burst of power you are about to throw away at the next set of lights.
- Anticipate further ahead. Read the traffic three or four vehicles in front, not just the bumper ahead. Lifting off early saves more than braking late ever will.
- Build speed progressively. Aim for a firm but even push on the accelerator, changing up by around 2,000 rpm in a diesel.
- Use the highest sensible gear. Modern vans will happily pull from low revs; buzzing along at 3,000 rpm on a flat road is simply wasting fuel.
- Hold a steady speed. Where it is safe and legal, cruise control on the motorway stops you drifting between 60 and 75 mph, a habit that quietly adds several pence per mile.
- Coast down to junctions. Off the throttle, still in gear, letting engine braking do the work — the fuel cut-off takes care of the rest.
Driving smoothly is kinder on the van as well. Fewer hard stops mean longer brake life, less clutch wear and a cabin that does not need retying every evening.
Tyres, Servicing and the Mechanical Basics
Under-inflated tyres are the most common and most expensive oversight on a working van. Soft tyres increase rolling resistance, wear out faster and hurt handling when the vehicle is loaded.
- Check pressures weekly, when the tyres are cold. A drop of 10 psi can cost you two or three per cent in fuel economy and shorten tyre life noticeably.
- Use the loaded pressures. Most vans list two sets of figures — one for light loads, one for full. If you carry tools and stock every day, use the heavier setting.
- Keep the tracking straight. Kerbed wheels and misaligned steering drag the van sideways down the road, scrubbing fuel and rubber alike.
- Stay on top of servicing. A clogged air filter, tired plugs on a petrol van, old oil or a lazy oxygen sensor all quietly push consumption upwards.
- Do not ignore warning lights. A faulty sensor that keeps the engine running rich will cost far more than the part itself.
Short stop-start journeys are hard on diesel vans in particular, clogging particulate filters and never letting the engine reach efficient operating temperature. Where you can, batch errands into one longer run.
Plan Routes and Cut the Idling
Time spent stationary with the engine running is pure loss: no miles covered, fuel still disappearing. A van left idling for ten minutes a day, five days a week, wastes the best part of a tank over a year.
- Switch off when you stop. Waiting at a delivery point, taking a phone call, queuing at a barrier — turn the key.
- Route around congestion. A traffic-aware sat-nav that pays for itself in avoided jams is one of the cheapest upgrades you can make.
- Shift your start times where possible. Leaving twenty minutes earlier can mean missing the worst of the school-run and commuter peaks entirely.
- Group drops by area. A little thought about the order of stops saves both miles and minutes.
Watch the Weight and the Aerodynamics
Every kilogram has to be accelerated and hauled up every hill. Vans carrying a permanent layer of unused kit, old stock and forgotten tools are paying for it at the pump.
- Empty the van of anything you have not used in a month.
- Take roof bars and roof boxes off when they are not needed — a bare roof rack can add several per cent to fuel consumption at motorway speeds.
- Carry the load low and forward where the handbook allows, which helps stability as well as economy.
- Think twice before adding racking, shelving and ply lining that you do not actually use.
Measure It, Then Manage It
None of the above sticks without numbers. Record mileage and litres at every fill-up, or use a fuel card that reports it for you, and work out miles per gallon per van rather than per fleet. A single van slipping from 34 mpg to 28 mpg tells you something an overall average will hide.
Once you have a baseline, share it with your drivers. Most people respond well to a simple, honest comparison, especially when savings are recognised rather than quietly pocketed by the business. Finally, be sensible about where you fill up: motorway services can be 20p a litre dearer than a supermarket forecourt a mile off the junction, and over a year that difference alone runs into hundreds of pounds.
