How a Radom Transport Company Cuts Fuel Costs by 12.4%

Mess in Fuel Cards and Lack of Control

In November 2023, Mr. Andrzej, who has run a transport company in the Radom region for 14 years, approached us. He had 47 road sets and a growing problem with costs. His net margin fell to 3.2%, which against rising energy prices and insurance put the company against the wall. We carefully reviewed 2,348 fuel invoices from the last six months. It quickly came to light that fuel card data diverged from odometer readings by over 4.7%. This wasn't the result of theft, but total chaos in settling refuelings and lack of link with GPS data.

Most transport companies believe it's enough to have fuel cards and telematics reports to know what's happening. Numbers don't lie: without integration of these two sources into one clear report, the owner sees only the tip of the iceberg. In the case of Mr. Andrzej's company, drivers often refueled at stations that had a signed agreement but were 12-18 kilometers off the optimal route. Every such detour is additional consumption and working time that no one controlled. We calculated that these 'small course deviations' cost the company an average of 14,620 zł in every operational month.

Without integrating fuel cards with GPS, the owner sees only the tip of the iceberg.

38 Hours of GPS and Tacho Data Analysis

In December 2023, our team spent exactly 38 man-hours on cleaning and analyzing GPS data. We focused on a parameter many underestimate: engine idling. Analysis showed that 14 drivers regularly left engines running during breaks lasting over 15 minutes. On average, the engine worked unnecessarily for 42 minutes a day per vehicle. At the current diesel price and idling consumption of 2.1 liters per hour, these minutes added up to 18,430 zł monthly thrown straight into the mud.

The next step was checking driving style. We selected 9 most popular routes, including regular runs on the Radom - Dortmund line. It turned out that the difference in consumption between the best and worst driver on the same route was as high as 11.4%. The worst driver generated 3,140 zł higher monthly costs than his colleague driving an identical set with a similar load. We check facts, not promises – these data were in black and white in the onboard computer logs, but no one had previously put them together in such a way to draw financial conclusions.

Route Optimization: Radom - Dortmund

For 4 years, Mr. Andrzej's company drove the same route to Germany, trusting the dispatchers' habit. We found an alternative variant that was 23 kilometers shorter, but more importantly – avoided one of the most congestion-prone junctions near Poznań. In January 2024, we introduced new guidelines for 11 vehicles on a test basis. Results came faster than expected. Average consumption in this test group fell from 31.8 liters to 28.3 liters per 100 km. That much stays in your pocket with every single trip, which at the scale of 18 departures monthly provided tangible relief for the budget.

Route analysis is not just about kilometers; it's also about analyzing terrain topography and traffic intensity at specific hours. Thanks to our reports, dispatchers changed start times by 45-60 minutes, which allowed for avoiding the biggest jams during peak hours near Warsaw and Poznań. Fewer jams mean smoother driving, and smoother driving means fewer brakings and accelerations. It was these minor corrections, backed by hard data from the last 184 days, that brought the greatest cost stabilization. The company stopped guessing how much it would spend on fuel in a given week.

That much stays in your pocket with every trip, which at the scale of 18 departures monthly gave tangible relief.

New Fact-Based Bonus System

In February 2024, we presented Mr. Andrzej with a driver bonus model that isn't based on liking but on efficiency. Instead of general 'seniority' bonuses, we proposed that 34% of the salary supplement should depend on fuel consumption adjusted for load weight and route. It's a fair approach because it considers the task's difficulty. Drivers who had previously driven aggressively suddenly began caring about eco-driving because they saw it had a direct impact on their wallet. We provided a progress report every two weeks for each of the 47 employees.

The psychological effect was immediate. Mr. Marek, working at the company for 8 years, was initially skeptical of 'charts from Radom'. However, when he saw that thanks to changing gear shift technique his consumption fell by 2.4 liters and he received a 480 zł higher paycheck, he became the biggest ambassador of the new system. Numbers don't lie – financial motivation backed by precise data works better than any theoretical defensive driving training. The entire process of implementing the new system took us just 22 business days.

Final Result: 112,340 zł Savings in Half a Year

In June 2024, we summarized the first 184 days of the new strategy. Mr. Andrzej's company saved exactly 112,340 zł on fuel alone. This is real money that stayed in the company's register instead of going to gas stations. The cost of our analysis and system implementation paid for itself after just 19 operational days. The company's net margin rose from 3.2% to 5.8%, which is an excellent result in the transport industry. Thanks to these savings, the owner could finance the purchase of two new semi-trailers without taking another bank loan.

Our approach is simple: we don't promise miracles; we check facts. In Radom and the surrounding area, many companies struggle with similar problems but are afraid to look deep into spreadsheets. We show that data are not boring bars but a specific tool to fight for survival in a difficult market. If you want to know how much your company is losing through lack of fuel control, visit us at Malczewskiego. We will calculate it for you without fluff or complicated theories that no one understands.