Savvy, money smart truck drivers know the value of regular rig maintenance.

Sure regular maintenance costs a few bucks in the short term, but in the long term there are countless benefits.

Here are a few…

1. Lower long term rig maintenance costs (if you think regular maintenance is expensive, wait till you experience the long term costs of not doing regular rig maintenance!).
2. Better rig value at resale time.
3. Lower fuel costs (yes, regular maintenance can directly impact your fuel costs).

With fuel costs at or close to all time highs, today we’ll focus on that last point. Here are some heavy truck vehicle maintenance tips you can take to help reduce fuel costs.

1. Alignment

Get your vehicle alignment done.

While alignment is critical for fuel mileage on all vehicles, it is even more important on eighteen wheelers. If even one wheel is off kilter, you are basically dragging that tire as you drive. The resistance this creates not only burns more fuel, it also wears the tire much faster (which is another massive expense). We recommend you get your alignment checked every twenty thousand kilometres, or whenever you feel your rig pulling or any steering wheel vibration.

2. Tire pressure

Low tire pressure not only wears tires faster (just like in our last point), it can reduce your vehicles fuel efficiency by up to 10%! Also if you’re travelling from hot to cold climate, or vice versa, check again. Temperatures affect tire pressure. When was the last time you checked your tire pressure.

Hopefully it was today, or even more than that if you’re travelling to different climates.

3. Engine oil

Believe it or not, by using a better grade of engine oil you can absolutely reduce fuel costs. High quality full synthetic oils reduce the amount of friction your engine creates as it operates. This in turn can make a massive difference in how much fuel your vehicle burns because a smoother running/ operating engine requires less to keep it moving.