How your HVAC business can tackle the petrol price hike

The South African government recently announced a petrol price increase. This news is terrible for businesses - especially those with mobile technicians travelling to clients and worksites every day. As summer is a busy season for HVAC businesses, we know that the increase in petrol price is particularly stressful for organisations in this industry. If you own an HVAC business, reducing fuel costs will be one of your top priorities this summer. Fortunately, there are ways you can manage the price increase. We've put together some ideas to help you tackle the petrol price hike.

Plan your routes efficiently

If you plan every journey efficiently and map out the shortest route for every job, you can reduce fuel consumption. With efficient route planning, you can also find ways to avoid road accidents, traffic, and roadblocks to minimise idling and the need for drivers to stop and start their vehicles, which can also help you save on petrol. You can do all this with a route planning tool and find the nearest mobile technician to reduce travel time and petrol costs.

Make vehicle maintenance a priority

Vehicles kept in good working condition are generally more fuel-efficient, so don’t downplay the importance of regular maintenance. Follow the oil change intervals for your fleet vehicles and change your air filters when you do oil change services. Tyre pressure also plays a role in fuel efficiency, and underinflated tyres can cost you more in petrol, so check the tyre pressure of your fleet vehicles frequently.

Focus on driver behaviour

Speeding, idling, heavy braking, and revving can increase fuel consumption, so monitoring driver behaviour is essential. You can use many different systems to keep an eye on driver behaviour. HVAC Software offers the best solution for businesses in this industry, as you can access performance reports to track the overall behaviour of your drivers. If the data shows your drivers aren’t driving efficiently, you can provide training to refine their skills and improve fuel efficiency.

Track your vehicles 

With vehicle tracking, you can see if your drivers are sticking to their routes or travelling to other locations during work hours and using more petrol than necessary. With a vehicle tracking system, you can see the live location of all your vehicles all the time. You can also look at the history of previous journeys if you think your drivers have taken an unusual route or travelled to a location that’s not on their job list. Vehicle tracking keeps your drivers accountable and helps reduce your petrol costs.

Cut your expenses 

Petrol prices are out of your control, but there may be other expenses you can cut to lighten your financial burden. It’s easier to manage all your costs with a tool like HVAC Software, which lets you record all your business expenses and gives you accurate expense reports. With a precise overview of all your expenses, you can see what costs you can afford to reduce, and you can see how much of a difference it will make once you’ve cut your bills. With HVAC Software, you can also use Smart Planning to manage and automate job scheduling based on technician availability and travel distance to save time and money.  

Invest in fuel-efficient vehicles

While this may only be an idea for your business to use in the future, investing in fuel-efficient vehicles could be helpful in the long run - especially if the price of petrol continues to rise. The petrol price has almost doubled in the past decade, and it’s impossible to predict when it will come down again. It may be time to invest in vehicles that offer the best bang for your buck.