If you are a courier driver running your own business then one of your major business outgoings is going to be the cost of putting fuel in your vehicle’s tank. Unfortunately, you will be well aware of the record fuel prices that we are currently seeing in various parts of the country. Unless you have an all-electric van, you cannot avoid having to pay for petrol or diesel. So, is there anything that you can do to lower your business expenditure on fuel?

If you operate locally then you will presumably know which petrol station is offering the cheapest price for petrol or diesel. So, you will no doubt fill up with them. Do bear in mind that just because the petrol station you have used for some time was offering the cheapest price 12 months ago does not mean to say that is still the case. So, do a little bit of research and regularly check which forecourt is charging the lowest for fuel. If you do a lot of miles then just a 1p reduction per litre could make quite a difference to how much you end up spending each year on fuel.

If you make much longer journeys then you may find that it is cheaper to fill up say somewhere in the area of where you are delivering to or somewhere on the route of the outward or return journey.

It is also worth noting that if you drive in an economical way then you may be able to reduce your fuel costs as you would need less fuel to make the same journey. For instance, don’t accelerate quickly from a standing start i.e. 0mph to 60mph in 6 seconds as this will use more fuel than if you increase your speed gradually. Make sure that you travel in the most suitable gear if you have a manual gearbox. Avoid travelling at 70mph when you are legally aloud to do so i.e. on the motorway – far better to travel at 55mph to 60mph and use less fuel.

We do hope that the above will be of some use.