Europe’s oil prices rise: Truck fleets continue to seek information to support fuel savings

06/12/2011 As fuel prices rise, Europe’s truck fleets are calling out for more information to achieve significant reductions in their fuel consumption, according to new research from Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe.

Europe’s truck operators to gather in Brussels to discuss the factors impacting their fuel bills

Perhaps unsurprisingly, fleet operators are almost universally (92%) taking steps to improve their fuel efficiency. However, despite these efforts, Europe’s fleet operators believe much more could be done.

Nearly a third (28%) say they could achieve greater fuel savings if they were better informed on which factors will have the greatest impact on their truck’s fuel consumption.

This lack of information means many fleet managers remain unsure about the future. Almost one in six (15%) worry they will not be able to remain profitable over the coming decade, and a fifth (19%) of fleets are not confident they will be able to make any further improvements to their fuel efficiency in this same time frame.

Eastern European fleets, however, are more optimistic about the potential to achieve greater efficiency savings, possibly because the cost of diesel and national environmental regulations have affected them less than their Western neighbors over the last five years. For example, a third of Polish fleets (33%) say they can achieve over 20% fuel efficiency savings by 2020 compared to 12% across Western Europe.

hese findings come two months before Goodyear Dunlop gathers Europe’s largest fleets in Brussels to discuss how road hauliers can work smarter to significantly cut their fleets’ fuel consumption in the coming decade. An important focus in the debate will be the role of the tire to improve fuel efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions, while also meeting other essential performances, for instance in relation to road safety.

What: Driving fuel efficiency in Europe’s road freight transport - A Goodyear Dunlop Fleet Symposium

When: 25th January, 2012, 08:00 – 16:30

Where: Brussels

“Our customers are making significant steps to reduce fuel consumption, but at a fundamental level, they still require more information about exactly which measures will deliver maximum fuel savings. Operating in such tough economic conditions, fleets need to be certain that any measures they make to save fuel will actually deliver the promised fuel savings,” said Boris Stevanovic, Marketing Director Truck Tires, Goodyear Dunlop EMEA.
“Vehicle manufacturers, equipment suppliers, tire manufacturers and fleets must work together even more closely to find the best solutions. Fleets must be confident that any investment into their existing fleet will deliver the return in fuel savings and reduced CO2 emissions that make good business and environmental sense in this challenging economic and regulatory environment.”
European policy makers, industry experts, and transportation academics will share the latest innovations, legislative trends, and research to help fleets across sectors and regions substantially reduce their overall fuel consumption by 2020.

Symposium highlights will include:

• An update from the European Commission, Directorate-General for Transport
• A debate on effectiveness of an industry-wide self-imposed fuel reduction target
• A series of workshops for fleets to: share best practice, learn about the upcoming tire labeling scheme, and prepare for future regulation.

About the research

Goodyear Dunlop set out to learn the challenges European fleet managers are currently facing and conducted a quantitative survey of over 400 European long- and regional-haul fleet managers between September and November 2011. Respondents from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Benelux were contacted via e-mail and phone and were asked 20 quantitative questions about their experiences and opinions on managing fuel efficiency. Survey results represented a wide range of firms in the sector: 60% fleets of 1-50 trucks (these are the fleets most at risk from rising costs), 30% managed fleets of 51-250 trucks, and a tenth managed fleets above this size. Full results will be revealed at Goodyear Dunlop Fleet Symposium on 25th January 2012.

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