Fuel management 101

For landscaping companies across the country, fuel management is always top of mind. Fuel expenses typically rank among landscapers’ biggest annual operating expenditures, alongside labor, rent and costs of equipment and materials.

As fuel prices continue to fluctuate, we reached out to four landscaping companies to learn about strategies that have helped them save on their fuel bill bottom line — and how these steps have impacted their overall operating efficiency.

Smart Refueling Strategies

Since acquiring Belmire Premier Landscape Solutions in Loveland, Colorado, last year, president Brooks Zimmermann and his wife and company CEO/CFO Andrea have worked to “streamline all of our processes . . . (to be) strategic with not only how we fuel but also where we fuel and when we fuel,” Brooks Zimmermann says.

When it comes to fuel management, deciding whether or not to centralize fleet and equipment fueling on site or off is a key question — one with potential positives on both sides.

Crews and sales staff at Broccolo Tree & Lawn Care in Fairport, New York, fuel up off site at traditional gas stations using dedicated company gas cards with a preset limit. This approach streamlines fuel accounting and allows the firm to accumulate sizeable credit card points, which they later trade for cash credits that can be allocated for other purchases, says CEO Laurie Broccolo.

Other firms prefer to work with local suppliers to make their fuel available on site. Billy Van Eaton, CEO of Atlanta-metro area Cumberland Landscape Group, has found this approach not only streamlines fueling but also saves money by reducing labor inefficiencies.

Before bringing his refueling station on site roughly a decade ago, Van Eaton noticed crews were wasting excessive time at area gas stations and occasionally even charging non-approved, non-fuel purchases to the company’s gas cards.

“By having on-site fuel tanks, we’re not saving, really, on the price of fuel per gallon, but we’re saving time and adding efficiencies,” he says. “Guys are now already at the (workplace), and it takes them just five minutes to fill up.”

Central fuel storage tank

For large jobs that demand multiple pieces of equipment, Eddie Martindale, president of D&E Landscaping & Grading Inc. in Richmond, Michigan, typically sends fuel to the site in a 100-gallon skid mounted fuel tank.

This central tank has a pump, so crews can refuel their mowers and other landscaping equipment much faster — and with less spills — than using multiple, five-gallon hand-held tanks, which tend to take up a lot of room on the truck.

This approach saves time at the jobsite and also before and after shifts, since his crews now don’t need to spend time in line at his landscape company’s pump trying to fill dozens of smaller fuel carriers each day.

Staggered refueling times

Since D&E Landscaping & Grading has only a single refueling station on site, Martindale assigns staggered refueling times for each team. Some refuel in the morning, while other teams refuel in the evening. With this efficient approach, there’s no lost labor time while people wait for fuel. “It stops the traffic jam at the pump,” Martindale says.

Zimmermann adds that assigned, staggered refueling times are critical to ensure his teams don’t face bottlenecks at Belmire’s on-site gas and diesel pumps before each shift.

Efficient routing

Many companies are taking a closer look at routing strategies as a key fuel-saving technique — after all, the less crisscrossing of town their crews do, the less gas they’ll burn.

Broccolo’s firm has tried to be “strategic with computer-driven routing” for their crews, she says, including use of software to optimize route efficiencies. Her teams also know to set hard limits on the zip codes in their territory service area and not to accept work beyond those, even if only a few miles.

The focus on efficiency is paying off: Despite her firm’s recent growth, Broccolo recently noticed in comparing fuel bill statements that they had “not increased fuel usage at all” from 2023 levels.

Minimizing trucks

Driving fewer trucks to jobsites also helps cut gas consumption, as Martindale has found.

D&E has intentionally added more quad cab trucks — which can seat five to six crew members — to its fleet. Now, it can send a single truck to a jobsite with the same number of workers it would have taken two standard trucks to carry previously.

With roughly 40% of their truck fleet consisting of quad cabs, Martindale has netted noticeable fuel savings, he says.

Avoiding idling

Zimmermann and his office manager have been focused on reviewing weekly fuel reports and identifying ways to cut usage — including encouraging their teams to avoid idling their trucks whenever possible.

Photo courtesy of D&E Landscaping & Grading Inc.

“I have a full-time mechanic on site, and he’s been emphasizing that idling in our diesel trucks Is not only terrible for the engines, but also a waste of fuel,” Zimmermann says.

Careful bookkeeping

None of the firms we interviewed are currently adding specific fuel surcharges to their costs. Several, though, noted they devote careful attention to keeping accurate and thorough fuel usage records — to ensure they’re eligible to net fuel savings through local, state, or federal tax credits or other incentive programs.

For example, by keeping careful account of his types of fuel usage, Martindale is able to apply for and receive refunds of Michigan state taxes for fuel directed to equipment that does not drive on the roads.

Similarly, Van Eaton maintains careful accounting of his fuel consumption for the year, so that he can apply annually for available fuel tax credits in Georgia.

Looking at electric

Most of the firms say they haven’t fully explored or embraced battery-powered equipment as a fuel-saving strategy, citing their belief that electric battery life and power isn’t yet up to par with what’s attainable from commercial-grade, fuel-powered alternatives, generally speaking.

Still, some companies are beginning to investigate the benefits of electric sedans for their front-office teams.

Van Eaton recently acquired an electric vehicle that can go up to 370 miles on a single charge. He plans to use his fuel cost savings driving in metro Atlanta as a case study for the potential cost savings of moving his sales and business development staff to an electric fleet.

“We’re spending $1,200 a month in a car and fuel allowance for one of our business developers right now. We could go lease a Nissan Leaf or similar electric vehicle for $200 to $300 month. Our energy bill to charge it would be $100 a month, maybe. So, if you’re saving $800 per person times three to five people, that’s $4,000 a month, or $48,000 a year. That’s not insignificant,” Van Eaton explains.

Along the same lines, Laurie Broccolo’s firm purchased a second electric vehicle this year after seeing the fuel savings netted by a sales team member’s electric car.

“We were able to lease a new electric vehicle for only a couple of hundred dollars a month. We know we’re going to save well over $10,000 in gas over the next three years, maybe more,” Broccolo says.

Tracking fuel usage

To better track fuel usage and fuel efficiency, Zimmermann’s crews now have fuel usage meters on all their trucks. “It’s not to be Big Brother; it’s just to really get the operation buttoned up,” Zimmermann says. “When you’re as big as we are, things can just kind of run away if you don’t have your arms wrapped around them.”

In making these changes, Zimmermann has been careful to express that saving in small steps adds up over the scale of the business — and that those savings add to the health of the company, which in turn can then be passed on to crews in the form of raises or job advancement opportunities.

“We want everyone to understand that the bottom line affects everybody,” Zimmermann says.

“We’ve focused on really getting things dialed in from expenses to fuel efficiency and cutting wasteful spending. When you can save $1 here and save $1 there, if you get all 70 of our employees on board, then that savings is significant.”

The author is a freelance writer based in Kentucky.