CHEVIN FLEET The Impact of COVID-19 on Fuel Consumption Although the COVID-19 pandemic halted the business operations of many fleet companies, it had a positive impact on fleet budgets. The lockdowns and remote working status caused a reduction in business activities, which also caused operating costs like fuel consumption to decrease. However, the economic shutdown divided the companies into two segments - essential and non-essential businesses. This is where the effects of fuel consumption results in contradicting impacts. Essential fleets involved in transportation, delivery or food and medical supplies are flourishing during the pandemic, resulting in higher fuel consumptions. For non-essential fleets, most of the vehicles are parked in a storage area for an extended period, unfortunately resulting in under-inflated tires, dead batteries and theft. Non-essential fleets are actually not contributing to fuel costs, but thieves are stealing batteries and even fuel from parked fleet vehicles. This compelled owners to move the vehicles to a more secure location, but it added higher maintenance costs for these assets that were not producing revenue. This pandemic brings a lot of changes which fleet owners should be able to adapt to. For instance, petrol and diesel prices increased by more than 3% per litre in February 2021. Investing in fuel management systems is a good way to keep tabs on fuel usage and costs. Essential vs. Non-Essential Fleets Fuel is a significant part of the fleet budget. Monitoring it will help fleet managers measure and manage its usage within the entire operation to help reduce the big chunk that it consumes. The accurate data can help make other improvements in the operation. Using a fleet fuel management software, companies can easily identify and resolve problems through in- depth fuel data reports and control fuel costs and transactions. It can also help reduce environmental impact by monitoring carbon emissions, fuel consumption and engine idling. Seamless Fuel Management Sources: https://www.chevinfleet.com/gb/solutions/fleet-fuel-management-system/ https://www.hayesparsons.co.uk/blog/covid-19-blog;-car-theft-warning https://www.businesscar.co.uk/news/2021/mar-1-7/another-monthly-uk-fuel-price-rise-reported