Barry Saad of Truck Tech writes on the practical fleet changes that deliver immediate fuel savings for SME operators.
What’s happening: Barry Saad, founder and CEO of fleet maintenance company Truck Tech, argues that many operators can reduce fuel consumption by up to 30 per cent without replacing vehicles or major capital investment.
Why this matters: For small businesses dependent on vehicles, fuel is not a fixed cost. It is a variable one that responds directly to how fleets are operated and maintained.
For years, fuel inefficiency in small business fleets was a tolerated overhead. Diesel was cheap enough that idling trucks, underloaded runs and inconsistent driver habits were absorbed into margins without too much scrutiny. That calculation has changed.
With diesel pushing towards $4 a litre, driven by global supply constraints and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, every litre of avoidable fuel burn is a direct hit to the bottom line.
Barry Saad, founder and CEO of Truck Tech, Australia’s independent heavy vehicle fleet maintenance provider, argues that the response should not be to wait for prices to stabilise. “Waiting for prices to stabilise is not a strategy,” Saad writes. “Reducing fuel consumption is.”
His case is that most fleets already have what they need to cut fuel use significantly. The data exists. The vehicles are the same. What changes is whether operators act on what they already know. Saad identifies six operational and maintenance areas where small fleet operators can make immediate, measurable gains.
The first is idling. An idling truck burns roughly 3 to 4 litres of fuel per hour while stationary. Across depots, loading queues and driver breaks, that waste accumulates quickly. Most fleets with telematics already track idling data, but few enforce limits against it. Setting hard idle limits per shift, using geofenced alerts and making idle time a visible performance metric for drivers can deliver 5 to 10 per cent fuel savings in operations where idling is currently unchecked.
The second is load efficiency. A vehicle running at 60 per cent payload burns nearly the same fuel as one fully loaded. Better trip consolidation, reducing empty return legs and identifying chronic under-loading patterns can unlock up to 15 per cent improvement per tonne per kilometre, a gain that compounds quickly across a working week.
The third, and often the most underestimated, is driver behaviour. The same truck on the same route can produce up to a 25 per cent difference in fuel use depending on who is driving. Harsh acceleration, over-revving and poor gear selection all add unnecessary fuel consumption. Most fleets already have this data through telematics but, without structured coaching, it goes unused. Regular fuel performance reviews, peer benchmarking and efficiency incentives can remove 10 to 25 per cent of avoidable fuel burn from a fleet.
The fourth area is emissions systems. Diesel Particulate Filters are often treated as a compliance issue rather than a fuel one. A partially blocked DPF can trigger constant regeneration cycles, with active regeneration alone adding 8 to 12 per cent to fuel consumption per affected vehicle. Proactively monitoring regeneration frequency and intervening early prevents a hidden cost that many operators do not realise they are carrying.
The fifth is air intake. A restricted air filter forces the engine to work harder, directly increasing fuel consumption. In high-dust environments, filters can clog well before standard service intervals, yet many fleets still run time-based replacement schedules regardless of operating conditions. Installing restriction indicators and tailoring maintenance to actual conditions rather than a calendar can deliver 2 to 5 per cent fuel savings per vehicle.
The sixth is tyres and alignment. Rolling resistance varies significantly between tyre types, and poor alignment, particularly on trailers, creates continuous drag across every kilometre travelled. Aligning tyre choice with duty cycles and extending regular alignment checks across the full fleet can unlock 3 to 8 per cent in fuel savings.
Individually, Saad notes, each of these changes appears incremental. Together, they compound. For a fleet running daily across multiple vehicles, the aggregate saving can reach 30 per cent of current fuel spend without a single vehicle being replaced.
Turning efficiency into resilience
The broader argument Saad makes is that fuel efficiency has shifted from an operational concern to a financial and strategic one for SMEs. At sustained high prices with ongoing volatility, businesses that actively manage fuel consumption carry a structural cost advantage over those that absorb it passively.
“In periods of disruption, the businesses that act early gain the edge,” he writes. “For small operators and fleet owners alike, now is the time to make practical changes that deliver immediate, measurable improvements in fuel efficiency.”
For SME owners running even a small number of vehicles, the starting point is the same regardless of fleet size: look at the data already being collected, identify where the avoidable waste is concentrated, and address the highest-impact items first. The fuel price environment makes the return on that effort faster than it has ever been.
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