Eco-driving courses to be available at 30 locales

ECO-DRIVING courses that claim to help truck fleet managers reduce fuel costs by 10 per cent will be made available at 30 new driving instruction centres over the next six months, according to manufacturing group C&F.

C&F, the group that engineered the recent rescue of car parts manufacturer Iralco, will invest €4.3 million in new centres for driver training operated by Sim2Learn. The expansion will involve a combination of new centres operated by the company and franchises.

C&F has bought the 24 per cent stake in Sim2Learn, held by its chief executive John Flaherty, and increased it to 60 per cent.

It intends to offer insurance and car loan products from the centres, which will provide a range of fleet training programmes, health and safety courses and other courses for all types of vehicles.

According to Sim2Learn, the eco-drive programme could help fleet managers control fuel costs, an increasing priority in the current climate of volatile oil prices.

The average large goods vehicle uses more than 18,160 litres of fuel annually. A 10 per cent cut in fuel use, achieved through eco-driving techniques, could save €2,400 in fuel per year per vehicle, based on an average fuel price of €1.32 per litre. The environment would be spared 5.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, it estimates.