Human factor in fuel consumption of trucks

This paper is focused on the analysis of human factor in fuel consumption of trucks. The effects of drivers and other factors are studied on a specific trucking and logistics company from Slovakia. To assess the differences among the variables affecting fuel consumption a Structural Equation Modelling function is applied to analyse the model of the relationships among variables. The model differentiates between direct drivers’ effects and indirect drivers’ effects which comprise of idling time, cruise control use, high RPM, high speed and average speed. The model results proved the drivers’ effects to be significant in respect to fuel consumption. The potential improvement in fuel consumption varies among the indirect effects. The highest potential improvement in fuel consumption due to the highest spread in the effects among the drivers was found to be in idling time followed by high RPM, cruise control use and high speed respectively.