Crores of vehicles take road everyday for their journeys. A common practise that is observed every time is that of vehicle idling owing to many reasons. Be it traffic, railway crossings, check post crossing, or any other reason. Few realise this but idling does have negative effects on the fleet business. The first & the obvious reason being the unnecessary fuel consumption by the vehicle. It also increases the fuel costs bored by the company.
Let us see the impacts of vehicle idling in details and also the measures to counter it.
Impact of vehicle Idling
The foremost impact of idling is the extra fuel consumed by the vehicles. Extra fuel consumed directly results into increased fuel expenditure of the fleet. Vehicle engine consumes fuel the most when it is idle. Roughly, one hour of idling equals to two hours of driving, in terms of fuel consumption. Thus it also decreases the mileage or the output of the fuel consumed. Extra idling results in wear and tear of the engine & other equipment; indirectly increasing maintenance costs. Also extra idling time results in increased emission from vehicles which eventually increase air & noise pollution. This may cause health hazards to the driver, de-motivating them from performing their job efficiently.
Benefits of reducing idling time
Reducing idling time saves fuel consumption which indirectly reduces fuel expenses. It also makes the vehicle more fuel efficient as less idling time means less fuel consumed. It is found that on an average, daily one to two hours of time is spent idling by vehicles and even up-to 8 hours by trucks. One hour spent idle can consume 3-4 liters of fuel. Thus a large amount of fuel can be saved. Reduced idling time can save equipment and engine from wear and tear, reducing the overhead of extra maintenance costs. Less fuel consumed proportionate to less carbon emission. Less pollution provides improved air quality making the working environment safer for employees.
Ways to reduce the extra idling time
1. Conducting anti-idling campaigns can motivate drivers to practice less idling.
2. Drivers need to be educated on this issue and its consequences.
3. There’s also a common misconception among the drivers that frequent switching engines ON & OFF consumes more fuel. Such misconceptions and notions must be addressed and the drivers need to be educated on such matters.
4. Also providing incentives in terms of awards and rewards to drivers who obtains maximum mileage form vehicles can encourage them to practice less idling.
GPS tracking system as solution
1. Many fleet businesses are opting for GPS vehicle tracking system to reduce excess vehicle idling.
2. GPS tracking system not only provides live tracking of the vehicles but also notifies the owner/manager for the fleet on vehicle’s speed, location and harsh brakes applied.
3. The manager is notified when the engine is switched ON/OFF and when a driver keeps vehicle idle.
4. This helps in assessing the driver’s behavior and further steps can be taken to curb the vehicle idling.
5. GPS tracking system can even help in selecting routes before the start of trip with its trip history data that can help in avoiding routes with more traffic.
6. The system even produces reports and alerts the time for which a vehicle is idle. This enables the fleet management to identify which drivers are idling, and even drill down into exactly where the idling is happening.
Vehicle idling can cause huge losses to the fleet managers with added fuel costs and reduced efficient fuel use. Installing telematics and OBD devices or a GPS tracking system is one of the reliable solutions for curbing vehicle idling. Other than that, idling reducing equipments too are available in market that can be used by fleet managers. Use of solar- or battery -powered auxiliary power units (APUs) while stationary can reduce fuel consumption during idling.