Reduce Fuel Costs

Tackling unnecessary mileage - is an essential part of reducing CO2 emissions. You can also do a lot to minimise waste during the journeys that have to be made.

Plan trips and driving routes to avoid traffic congestion - Getting stuck in heavy traffic dramatically increases CO2 emissions per mile travelled. Use route planning tools in advance and set radios to receive traffic alerts. It is also worth considering that the quickest route could also be the longer route and so CO2 emissions could be higher.

Drive less - Encourage drivers to think about the trips they make and to use alternatives to driving such as video conferencing or home working. Promote car sharing, especially where a number of employees have to go to the same meetings.

Develop a corporate travel plan - Travel plans help businesses assess and simplify their travel needs. Smaller companies can pool resources with neighbours to share costs and increase their target audience The Department for Transport offers a comprehensive "Essential Guide to Travel Planning" at its web www.dft.gov.uk

What is the Alternative fuels and vehicle technology?

In response to the environmental impact vehicles have and Government legislation, technology and fuel types are being developed on a continuous basis. It is worth remembering that many of these developments require higher demand levels and infrastructure enhancements to be truly effective and offer a mainstream proposition

Vehicle Development

Car manufacturers are constantly improving the efficiency of conventional engines using techniques such as advanced combustion control, automatic stop-start, regenerative braking and lightweight materials. This will significantly reduce emissions from diesel and petrol over the next few years without requiring radical new technologies to emerge.

Alternative Fuels

Bio fuels emit less fossil-derived CO2 per mile, or are madefrom renewable sources. By 2010, all retail fuel sold in the UK will contain a 5% of renewable 'bio' fuel, which is mixed prior to distribution. This approach does not require any enhancement to engines and doesn't affect prices at the pump. It is possible to run vehicles on higher concentrations of biofuel. However, the vehicles may have to be modified to prevent engine damage. There are also warranty implications as well as the issue of whether there is a sufficient refuelling infrastructure.

How fuel cards can help your fleet reduce CO2

Although careful selection of vehicles and fuel types play amajor role in reducing emissions, fleets can still miss out on CO2 reductions if they do not closely monitor the performance of drivers and vehicles.

Fuel cards are a powerful tool when it comes to driving down CO2 emissions. They allow fleets to capture actual fuel consumption and so emissions, which enables them to plan and manage their CO2 reduction programmes. Arval provide a suite of reports for use by Fleet Managers. Using information obtained from Arval fuel cards high pence per mile figures and inefficient drivers can be pinpointed. This allows action to be taken quickly, before costs and unnecessary CO2 emissions mount up.

There are many additional benefits of using a fuel card

The cost of fuel has risen dramatically. Today, it can account for as much as 25% of your entire fleet expenditure. Our fuel card is a simple, effective way to control this cost and keep paperwork to a minimum.

Arval offers the leading fuel management service in the UK and more than 1.2 million of our fuel cards are now used in the UK. These are just some of the benefits you will experience from this service.

The cost-saving alternative to pay and reclaim

If you currently re-imburse your drivers on a fixed pence per mile rate, you may be paying them too much. Fuel card reporting gives you the actual fuel cost per mile. So, you could save substantially on business travel costs by paying staff the real cost of the fuel.

Easy access across the UK

Drivers can use fuel cards at 95% of the major UK filling stations where the AllStar logo is displayed. This includes all the leading fuel brands, motorway services and low-cost supermarket sites. With such a large network of fuel stations to choose from, your drivers won't waste time and fuel searching
for somewhere to refuel, therefore reducing their carbon footprint.

Manage your fuel costs through management information

You can quickly find out where your fuel spend is going at any time with secure access to reports over the web. Not only does this information enable you to set fleet policies and monitor compliance, you might even pinpoint potential savings too.

Taking the hassle out of invoice processing

All your fuel costs appear on a single consolidated VAT invoice. Breakdown by card and cost centre enable you to reallocate cost and produce reports with ease. What is more, the invoice is approved by the HMRC for tax records. So, there is no longer any need to process individual till receipts, saving you valuable time and resources.

Secure and Flexible

Advanced security features, such as the ability to detect suspect patterns of transactions, make fuel cards safe as well as convenient. And, we can block the use of lost or stolen cards within moments of you reporting it to us. You can also control how the card is used, restricting transactions to fuel, oil and
vehicle washes for example. You can even decide whether to allocate cards to drivers, vehicles or both, giving you flexibility as well as control. Tips and advice.

About the author: Arval specialises in fuel cards