You want to run your street sweeper operation as efficiently as possible. Maybe you want to grow your sweeper fleet while ensuring it is profitable. Monitoring fuel expenses and using clean energy alternatives are some ways you can save money on your sweeper fleet. Sustainable solutions like recycling and using low-volume energy sweeper equipment can help make your business more energy-efficient, helping you earn and save more.
How to Save Money on Your Street Sweeper Fleet
Sweeper fleet management can be complex, with various operations to oversee, such as monitoring drivers and fuel consumption. Managing your operational expenses is an excellent way to ensure your fleet is productive and cost-effective. Implementing methods for managing fuel expenses and increasing energy efficiency can help save on your sweeper fleet overhead costs.
Here are five tips to help you save on your street sweeper fleet.
1. Get a Fleet Fuel Card
You can monitor your driver’s fuel consumption and expenses by implementing fuel cards. Fuel cards offer many perks like convenience, accountability and reduced street sweeper costs. Drivers can use their cards to get preference at various gas stations and skip long lines, helping them stay more productive throughout the day.
With fuel cards, you can set parameters for when your drivers fill up. Parameters like fill-up times can help ensure that drivers are refueling for work purposes. You can also supervise the number of gallons drivers use daily and control their refills by setting gallon limits. Drivers can provide details like e-receipts and mileage information, helping you record refills and fuel expenses.
Fuel cards can also keep drivers accountable. Setting various parameters like vehicle registration verification can prevent fraud. You can put driver registration numbers on their fuel cards, ensuring they only refuel their vehicle. Fuel cards can come with innovative cardless swipe technology. Drivers can use their smartphones to pay for refills and gas stations, eliminating the need to carry a physical card and the risk of theft.
2. Use Alternative Fuel Types
The price of gasoline can become overwhelming, especially with a large fleet. Gasoline prices can constantly fluctuate, and rising prices can be challenging to manage. Considering alternative fuel types like natural gas, ethanol, biodiesel, and compressed air can help you save on fuel expenses.
Alternative fuel prices can be substantially lower than conventional fuel types. World markets and economies can have less influence over alternative fuel prices, preventing extreme price fluctuations and increases. Alternative fuel types can also be more energy efficient, requiring fewer refills to fuel sweeper fleet vehicles daily. They can also have fewer emission regulations than gasoline and diesel, making fueling your fleet more affordable.
If you have diesel sweepers, you can likely use alternative fuels without getting new equipment. Diesel engines can also run on biodiesel and renewable fuels such as E10, E15 and E85 flex fuel. These fuels may be more difficult to find but generally cost less and are better for the environment.
3. Maintain Your Sweeper Fleet
Maintaining your sweeper vehicles can help extend your vehicles’ life spans and save money. Neglecting your vehicle maintenance can result in frequent repairs and costly replacements. Inspecting and cleaning your sweepers’ parts ensures they perform optimally, reducing the need for repairs.
Regular maintenance and tune-ups can also extend your fleet’s life span, reducing the time between vehicle replacements. Breakdowns can halt productivity and cause revenue loss. Servicing your vehicles regularly can prevent breakdowns and help drivers stay productive. Breakdowns and other vehicle issues can cause slower or inefficient operations. Taking care of your vehicles ensures your services are fully operational, maintaining streets and keeping customers happy and satisfied.
Ensure your maintenance plan includes your brooms. Check that your brooms are in good condition and replace them when they get worn or per the manufacturer’s recommendations. Replacing brooms frequently may seem counter to saving money, but having a quality broom means you can clean well the first time rather than spending resources going over the same area multiple times.
4. Implement Sustainable Solutions
You can also save by making your sweeper fleet operations more sustainable. Sustainable fuel methods like natural gas and biodiesel are better for the environment and can help you cut costs on debris and garbage landfill hauls. Transporting waste to landfills can be costly, especially with a large fleet.
By recycling your debris or using it to fill giant sand and gravel pits, you can save money on garbage hauls and be more eco-friendly. Many sweeper fleets companies partner with paving or landscaping companies and implement smart methods for recycling debris like leaves and gravel. Sustainable initiatives can increase your contribution to clean vehicle energy solutions and can help you save money.
5. Invest in an Energy-Efficient Sweeper
Energy-efficient sweepers like mechanical sweeper trucks offer innovative designs that make picking heavy and bulky materials more efficient. With rotating cylindrical features and abrasive action properties, a mechanical sweeper truck can break down large debris into tiny particles, making them easier to pickup. They can operate in various climates, remove sand and snow debris that builds up on streets, and pickup trash without clogging.
They also offer features like spring-balanced main and gutter brooms that adjust to clean uneven surfaces better. Energy-efficient sweepers can sweep various clean sizes of debris in city gutters and state highways. Energy-efficient sweeper machines can be quieter and fuel efficient. Sweeper brooms can use energy-efficient fuel like natural gas and require low energy volumes to pickup debris. Low energy volumes also help prevent wear from sandblasting that can affect regenerative or vacuum alternatives.
Increasing the size of your sweeper trucks can also help you increase efficiency. A larger sweeper lets you sweep more area in less time, which means you spend less energy.
Save Money on Your Sweeper Fleet With Help From Stewart-Amos Sweeper Co.
Energy-efficient sweepers can help you save money and run your fleet more efficiently. Stewart-Amos Sweeper Co offers high-quality and energy-efficient street sweeping equipment. With over 75 years of industry experience, we know how essential it is to save money while providing quality services.
Our energy-efficient sweeper equipment offers innovative features like abrasive action to break down debris more easily and effectively. You can use our sweeper machines effectively in various climates and applications like cleaning gutters, state highways and parking lots. Our sweepers are air quality certified and help to promote sustainable and profitable sweeping.
Our expert dealers can help select cost-effective sweepers for your specific cleaning needs. Get a more energy-efficient sweeper and start saving money. Contact us online or give us a call at 800-482-2302 to learn more.