6 DECEMBER 2017. Today’s business sections are reporting that Britain’s services sector is “reeling from its biggest inflation shock for almost a decade.”
The number one driver of this cost inflation is sharply rising transport fuel bills says the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).
UK pump prices for diesel and petrol climbed by 20% last year and have continued to rise slowly but steadily throughout 2017. And the effect on business fuel bills is not limited to the service sector.
”Businesses could no longer fight against the tide of higher prices for food, fuel and salaries as input inflation remained close to its strongest for six years, and businesses passed these increases on to consumers at the fastest rate since February 2006”
Duncan Brock, Director of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply
But businesses actually have much more influence over their own fuel costs that they realise.
Last year, our customers saved an average of 15.4% on their fuel bills. That’s equivalent to 18 pence per litre – which means TMC customers have typically escaped most of the impact of pump price increases over the last two years.
How?
While global oil prices ultimately set the pump price, the size of your own business’s fuel bill is largely down to what happens while or after your drivers stop to refuel.
Drivers might be wasting money by choosing high-priced fuel sites or by unnecessarily buying premium blends. They might be heavy-footed on the accelerator or driving the wrong vehicle for the job. These things often go unnoticed, but they all add up.
The secret to unlocking lower fuel bills is to have a 360° view of each driver, vehicle and journey.
That’s where TMC comes in. We audit every single journey and consolidate all of your fuel and fleet data to build a complete picture.
This enables us to see patterns and identify things that don’t quite add up. We follow up every anomaly with the driver and run a traffic light system so drivers can see where they can make improvements. And we do all of this in-house – metaphorically herding all those cats so your business can focus on trading profitably.
In short, many businesses struggle with rising fuel bills because they cannot single-out preventable costs from the general background ‘noise’. We get into the detail and work with businesses and drivers to improve their fuel purchasing and driving habits.
You can read more about how we can help here
