It’s been my repeated observation over the years from getting to know AV pros all over Canada and the United States that AV pros, regardless of where they’re located, have more in common with each other than they have differences. That applies to both the people who make a career out of the AV business, as well as how they structure and run their businesses.

I have a few theories about that — mostly that the business attracts (and retains) people with specific personalities and mindsets. Additionally, successful AV companies tend to sort themselves in to similar organizational structures and best practices. It’s that latter sort of similarity that I want to address.

One obvious commonality among AV Pros is transport: Everyone needs to move people and materials to and from their jobsites. Talking to business owners about their fleets of work vehicles (I’m weird that way), commonalities emerge. Underpinning their vehicle decisions is unanimously the desire to minimize their fuel expenses.

While some made gradual changes to their fleet of vehicles, often depending on the terms and conditions of their leases, others after looking at the math with their accountant make more sweeping changes.

One business owner I know swapped out his three gas guzzling Ford E-150s for brand new Chevy Colorados. He did a lot of calculating to determine that the savings in gas covered the lease payments, so it was a sensible decision. They still own two large older Chevy Astros that are paid off, but they’re parked and are only rolled out when there’s a really big load to take to a jobsite.

That same dealer eliminated the mileage allowance for the personal vehicle usage for his three sales staff, and assigned them each a brand new Ford Focus as their company car. He confided that as a concession, as well as a sort of prequisite to make them more excited about having a company car, he did equip the cars with the deluxe options package.

My friend’s focus on numbers allowed him to tell me that his fleet’s net mileage improved from 10 MPG to 17 MPG for his work trucks, and from 22 MPG to 33 MPG for his sales force. Factoring everything in, including leasing costs, mileage and the current direction of the price of fuel, he estimated that making such a big switch will save his company about $1,900 in fleet-related costs in the first year.

The most common vehicle choices I’ve seen several companies make in the last couple of years is opting for small utility crossovers like Chevrolet Equinox (and formerly the HHR, which was discontinued in 2011) for day-to-day work vehicles, because they’ve got enough cargo space for gear and boxes of wire for most projects, with a Mercedes Sprinter, configured in its medium size, held in reserve for large loadouts to jobsites, including moving really big flat panels.

Beyond swapping out your entire fleet there are a few steps you can implement in order to better manage your vehicle expenses, if you’re not already:

• Schedule your calls, especially service calls, by geographic proximity, making a loop, minimizing criss-crossing the city unnecessarily.
• Double and triple check your load-out to ensure that you’re not missing a vital piece of kit, and have to come back for it.
• Relating to the last point, make sure that your truck’s field supplies, such as drywall anchors and cleaning supplies are in good order, so your installers don’t have to frequently divert to the nearest Home Depot mid-job.
• Evaluate your current mileage charges for out-of-town jobs. You probably have to raise them.
• Discourage your staff from leaving their trucks idling. If they’re waiting at a jobsite and it’s hot enough to have the AC on, the weather is nice enough roll the windows down and enjoy the breeze.

Nobody knows what the price of gas will do, and the recent vacation in the price at the pumps this past winter is not a good future indicator. Fuel efficiency is a fairly easy expense to manage to support your bottom line.