Eco-Driving Versus Time Pressure on a Delivery Run
You hold a category B licence and drive a 2.0-litre diesel van for deliveries. Your route has 12 stops across a city and you are 25 minutes behind schedule. The van is loaded with 400 kg of parcels, tyre pressures were last checked three weeks ago, and the roof rack is empty but fitted. Outside temperature is 4 °C. You are tempted to leave the engine running at each stop to save time, to use a lower gear and higher revs to accelerate hard between stops, and to skip the tyre check until the weekend. Your employer's policy says schedule pressure is never a reason to break traffic rules.
1. Evaluate the three temptations - idling at stops, hard acceleration, skipping the tyre check - against fuel use, emissions, safety and the law.
Read the worked answer
Idling at stops. Leaving the engine running burns fuel for zero distance, emits particulates and NOx at street level, and gains only seconds. Modern diesel engines do not need long idling to 'protect' the turbo on a delivery round; switching off at stops of more than a short pause saves fuel and reduces noise. Some jurisdictions restrict unnecessary idling, and it is poor practice regardless.
Hard acceleration in low gears. This raises fuel consumption sharply and increases brake and tyre wear. It also reduces the margin to react to pedestrians and cyclists, and gains little on a route with 12 stops. Progressive acceleration and early upshifts are both safer and cheaper.
Skipping the tyre check. Tyres three weeks unchecked on a loaded van may be under-inflated. Under-inflation raises rolling resistance and fuel use, heats the tyre, lengthens stopping distance and can cause a blowout at speed. At 4 °C, pressures read cold are the correct basis, and the pressure should match the load. The check is a safety duty, not a weekend chore.
2. What would an eco-driving plan for the remaining route look like, and how much can it realistically recover?
Read the worked answer
Plan: check and set tyre pressures to the loaded-vehicle figure before setting off; remove the empty roof rack if it is not needed, as it adds drag; switch off at stops where you will be more than a brief moment; pull away smoothly and upshift early, keeping revs in the economical band; look well ahead to time traffic lights and junctions so you brake less; use air-conditioning sparingly at 4 °C and rely on the heater and demisting; avoid carrying unnecessary weight.
Realistic gain: eco-driving typically saves a few percent to around 10% of fuel on urban stop-start work, plus the idling saved at 12 stops. That may recover a few minutes at most, not 25. The honest conclusion is that the schedule must be renegotiated with the dispatcher. Chasing the gap by driving aggressively would raise crash risk and fuel cost while recovering little time.
3. Your employer pressures you to make up time. How should you respond, and what legal and licensing points apply?
Read the worked answer
Respond factually: state the remaining stops, realistic arrival times, and that you will not exceed speed limits or drive while rushed. Schedule pressure does not override traffic law; the driver remains responsible for speed, following distance and vehicle condition. If the van is over its permissible mass or the load is unsafe, you must not drive it, and your category B entitlement only covers the vehicle within its permitted limits.
Keep a record of the instruction and your reply, and raise it through the company's safety process. If pressure continues, you may refuse the unsafe instruction; retaliation for refusing to break the law is generally not lawful. Also confirm your documents: licence, vehicle registration, insurance and any required tachograph or record-keeping for the work. The safe answer is to deliver late, not to arrive unsafely.