One police fleet is doing their part in reducing the $18 billion wasted in idle mode

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Alternative Fuel Data Center, each year, U.S. passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles consume more than 6 billion gallons of fuel—all without even moving. By taking an average fuel cost of $3.00 a gallon that means $18 billion is wasted in idle mode alone. So the obvious question now becomes; how can we find idle savings and what is the most efficient and effective way to do it?

For municipal fleet managers and police chiefs who oversee law enforcement vehicles that serve as both mobile workspaces and command centers, simply turning off the ignition is in many cases just not practical. These officers and their mission-focused equipment not only need reliable power generation in a climate controlled environment but also need the ability to respond at a moment’s notice.

Given this operating necessity, we still must come to terms with the fact that the average police cruiser consumes roughly 0.4 to 0.6 gallons of fuel per hour in idle and the average police SUV can consume almost double this amount. Using information from the Dallas Police Department where the average cruiser idled 4.85 hours per day, we can see that their fleet consumed roughly 3 gallons of fuel per day in idle alone. Even at today’s relative low fuel prices, we are still talking about an idle fuel bill of $6.75 per day. The challenge therefore becomes a balancing act of lowering a police fleet’s idle fuel bill without impacting mission performance in any manner.

An Affordable Solution to Reduce Idle Fuel Consumption by up to 30% – all while the engine is running

Derive Efficiency, a company that customizes a fleet engine’s software, can adjust idle RPM and effectively reduce idle fuel consumption by up to 30% for less than $400.  Derive delivers this value because their software does not require hardware installation of any kind – savings thousands relative to their competition.

City of Lakeland Police Fleet Realizes Savings from Idle Reduction
Don’t just take Derive’s word on the advantages of idle reduction. The City of Lakeland is a success story, benefiting from Derive’s engine calibration software.

City of Lakeland has a diverse fleet of vehicles ranging from police, fire department, utility, construction to refuse. Derive customized the engine software for 158 of these vehicles: 80 law enforcement vehicles and 78 more from the city’s maintenance division.

With approximately 6-8 hours a day spent idling, the police vehicles quickly saw an overwhelming positive impact. For these 80 law enforcement vehicles, the City realized an average savings of 26% on fuel on these vehicles.

“The low cost and the quick application is a big payoff. Literally minutes per vehicle to install, all without having to invade or leave anything behind in the vehicle,” said Gary McLean, Fleet Manager at City of Lakeland. “Some of the other technologies out there are extremely intrusive and they are costly. We chose to do things that have an immediate impact at a low cost and Derive has provided just that.”