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Captain Larz
Senior Member
USA
78 Posts |
 Posted - 05/15/2002 : 08:24:01 AM
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With the costs of diesel rising, what methods and policies do you employ to use less fuel?
Larz |
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rockpik98
Active Member
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 2:11:37 PM
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Larz, Eliminate all field trips. Thus less wear and tear on the School Buses.
Mikey |
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 5:18:47 PM
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After morning routes, we park buses on routes that end far away from their compounds at the schools where their runs are completed, and bring the drivers back to the compound in one bus. This eliminates needless deadhead miles, saves fuel and wear and tear. It is especially effective in geographically large district such as ours. A 50 mile round trip for 10 buses is 500 miles! Even though we have 5 compounds, our extreme routes still end a considerable distance from their home base. Drivers take turns driving the "shuttlebus" back and there is no loss of pay riding in from these locations. The "shuttlebus" returns them in the afternoon.
Joe
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Nell65
Senior Member
USA
74 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2002 : 04:58:00 AM
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Hi,
The district I used to work for had a policy that didn't allow drivers to go anywhere between runs except to a school. We weren't allowed to just go to McDonald's or our home. The exception was if your run took you out of the district, then you could stop.
My children's school district lets the drivers go anywhere between run, no matter how far off it is from their regular runs. They have 200 buses and fuel expenses can add up when they do that.
Also the district I worked for looked again at all stops and worked routes so that it wasn't running like a taxi service, stopping 3 times on a 1 block long road for example.
Nell
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cowlitzcoach
Advanced Member
USA
325 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2002 : 06:43:42 AM
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Limiting idle time is a sure way to reduce costs. I have seen buses "warming up" in excess of 30 minutes every day. In a fleet of even thirty buses, excess idling can use up a lot of fuel.
For those who live in colder climates, plugging the buses in at nights will use less energy to warm the bus up in the morning than idling will. It also will be a whole bunch easier on the wear and tear as well.
Mark O.
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BrianG
Active Member
26 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2002 : 4:29:34 PM
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for those who have the capability to access the software on their electroically controlled engines take a look at the time spent at idle...it is an eye opener, especially for those who have larger fleets.
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1983WardFord
Top Member
USA
1395 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2002 : 4:37:12 PM
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Try limiting idle time to 10 minutes. The bus still gets warm, and not so much fuel is wasted. One district I drive for has their buses (the newerones anyway) to shut off after 8 minutes of idling. Maybe that'd be something to look into (same idea BrianG was trying to get across, I think)
Superior--built tough, built to last! |
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Topic |
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Saving on Fuel
