What drives driver behavior?

The recent insta­bil­ity of the global econ­omy has affected us on many lev­els. Indus­tries that were once boom­ing were no longer and unem­ploy­ment was at record high lev­els. Oil, a major com­mod­ity in the mar­ket­place, became a con­cern as fluc­tu­a­tions in the bar­rel cap­ti­vated the world’s atten­tion. The need for alter­na­tive vehi­cle tech­nolo­gies became preva­lent, and although mass pro­duc­tion and imple­men­ta­tion are within reach, finan­cial bar­ri­ers con­tinue to keep man­u­fac­tur­ers and con­sumers at bay. Until these alter­na­tive vehi­cles are read­ily avail­able and are finan­cially attain­able by the aver­age con­sumer, fleet man­agers and indi­vid­ual dri­vers alike must look at dri­ver behav­ior as a key com­po­nent to help min­i­mize asso­ci­ated costs.  

The Energy Infor­ma­tion Admin­is­tra­tion projects an aver­age increase in gaso­line prices from $2.35 per gal­lon in 2009 to $2.84 in 2010.¹ In order to reduce fuel costs, increase miles per gal­lon, and have the added ben­e­fit of slow­ing down envi­ron­men­tal degra­da­tion, appro­pri­ate dri­ver behav­ior train­ing is nec­es­sary. The EPA reports that dri­ver behav­ior alone can impact as much as 33% of a vehicle’s fuel econ­omy², and there are sev­eral sim­ple things that dri­vers can do to help mit­i­gate these factors.

• Reduce idling time: Idling a vehi­cle not only con­sumes excess fuel and emits unnec­es­sary car­bon diox­ide, but rep­re­sents one of the poor­est, yet man­age­able, dri­ver behaviors.
• Plan ahead: Pre-trip plan­ning is ben­e­fi­cial as shorter, more effi­cient routes uti­lize less gas and there­fore reduce car­bon output.
• Clean out unnec­es­sary items: Reduc­ing weight in a vehi­cle has a mea­sur­able impact on fuel economy.

In com­bi­na­tion, these small changes can add up to sub­stan­tial sav­ings for an organization.

Fleet man­agers are down­siz­ing, shift­ing toward more eco­nom­i­cal vehi­cle selec­tors, imple­ment­ing dri­ver behav­ior courses, and using telem­at­ics devices to help alle­vi­ate over­all spend. How­ever, costs can be uncer­tain and prices could shift sig­nif­i­cantly in the near future. Indi­vid­u­als are rarely mind­ful of their bad dri­ving behav­iors unless they expe­ri­ence a dra­matic con­di­tion. Take for exam­ple, when fuel reached $4.50. Con­sumer per­spec­tive changed rapidly and the mar­ket demand for large/intermediate SUVs and trucks dropped sub­stan­tially. There was increased con­sumer inter­est in fuel effi­cient and hybrid vehicles.

Fast for­ward to cur­rent mar­ket con­di­tions: the econ­omy seems to be improv­ing; the dol­lar con­tin­ues to strengthen; oil has sta­bi­lized in com­par­i­son to the past cou­ple years; vehi­cle sales are mak­ing their way back to his­tor­i­cal lev­els; many hybrid vehi­cles are hit­ting the mar­ket; and cur­rent leg­is­la­tion is aimed directly at fleet per­for­mance and the effects of car­bon. How­ever, ask your­self one ques­tion “Has my dri­ver behav­ior changed from the sum­mer of 2008 to now?” I am cer­tain it has. Why? Peo­ple do not make dra­matic deci­sions or imple­ment behav­iors until it is absolutely nec­es­sary. Such was the case when fuel prices hit $4.50, the mar­ket was crum­bling, jobs were being cut at dev­as­tat­ing rates, vehi­cle man­u­fac­tur­ers were not pro­duc­ing effi­cient qual­ity prod­ucts, and the mon­e­tary sys­tem was in cri­sis. Every­one seemed to be more con­ser­v­a­tive dur­ing this time, even down to their dri­ving habits. This is a nat­ural reac­tion and unfor­tu­nately it may take sev­eral repet­i­tive events for us to real­ize that “if it hap­pened once it can hap­pen again.” Dri­ver behav­ior train­ing should be imple­mented and con­tin­u­ously rein­forced in order to not only min­i­mize costs but secure a “greener” future.   

¹ http://www.eia.doe.gov/steo

² http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/why_differ_detailed.shtml

About the Author

Mark Donahue
As a Client Consultant at Donlen, Mark Donahue uses his background in statistical analysis to understand and communicate market trends and fleet behavior to customers. Mark helps identify cost saving opportunities, appropriate vehicle selection, cycling parameters, policy implementation, and trending behaviors for Donlen’s Strategic Consulting customers. Mark earned his Master’s of Economics Degree from Eastern Illinois University, with a focus on Environmental Economics.

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