This can't be real. This can't be real. That was my first thought when I woke up this morning and popped open the news with my morning coffee. Surely our last blog post cooked my brain and this is just a movie... but there it was; thick, black smoke billowing from the Viva Energy refinery in Geelong (news reporting here and here). It sent a shiver down my spine as I'm sure it did most of the Victorian (and Australian) business community. Thankfully the reports we have received indicate no one was injured. Unfortunately it will hurt. It will hurt everyone as we're already in a fuel crisis.
We've spoken a few times in this blog about building resilience into your business, but this is a sudden, jarring realisation of just how fragile the infrastructure we rely on really is. As one of only two remaining oil refineries in Australia, any disruption at Geelong creates an immediate ripple effect. When you combine this local disaster with the ongoing global volatility driven by the conflict in Iran, we are looking at a "perfect storm" for the Australian bowser.
Recently we have spent a significant amount of time lately discussing the concept of "business prepping." We have explored how to transition to a Work From Home (WFH) model and how to design a minimum viable office for energy shortages. That's all well and good if your business can deploy those strategies, but what about the many Australian Small and Medium Businesses (SMEs) where "just staying home" isn't an option. If you are in transport, the trades, or logistics, you represent what economists call "inflexible diesel demand". Your business lives on the road, and the road just got a lot more expensive. While we can’t control the global price of crude or the speed of refinery repairs, we can control how efficiently our businesses consume every drop of fuel.
Some technology to the rescue
Here at AFSecure, we're first and foremost a technology business, so this is where we'll start. And there are some simple low cost things you can do to save precious liters.
Route optimisation
When fuel was cheap, an extra trip back to the warehouse or a slightly inefficient route through the suburbs was often dismissed as a minor "cost of doing business". Today however, every one of these compounds. That's where route planning apps come in. There are tons of them in both the Google and Apple app stores. There are whole online platforms that give your business a dashboard for your whole fleet. You feed them all the "stops" you need to make and they plot the most efficient route. Advanced apps can even account for traffic conditions and vehicle weight. The fleet wide solutions will even split-up the day's stops between your vehicles, so your efficiency gains are fleet wide, not just per vehicle. For a fleet of three or four vans, reducing total travel distance by even 10% can save thousands of dollars over a single quarter.
Rolling Office
Beyond the route itself, we encourage businesses to rethink the "Return to Base" workflow. Every time a staff member drives back to the office to upload documents, check a database, or print an invoice, they are burning your profit. This is where a Mobile Office setup becomes a genuine fuel-saving tool. By equipping your vehicles with a secure mobile workstation (such as a ruggedised tablet or laptop paired with a dedicated 4G/5G mobile hotspot) your team can complete their admin work on-site.
If keeping your "road warriors" on the road is new, then selecting the right remote-office hardware is crucial, it's likely you will need a VPN to "phone home" to the main office. Think of a VPN as a private, armoured tunnel that runs through the public internet. It allows your staff in Geelong or Werribee to access the main server in your Melbourne office as if they were sitting at the desk next to you. By "teleporting" the data instead of driving the person, you eliminate the need for those midday trips back to base, saving litres of fuel every single week.
Power on the go
Of course these savings get eaten up if you have people parked in an industrial estate, engines idling so they can keep their laptop charged and their 5G router powered. It's practical, but it's a super inefficient way to generate electricity. For this reason you want to pair any rolling office with a high-capacity portable power station. These units have become remarkably affordable and can be charged at the office overnight for a few cents or even in the car when driving between sites. By using a portable battery to power laptops, tablets, a router and even small cooling fans, your team can remain productive during breaks or between jobs without ever turning the key. For businesses that pride themselves on being "green," it’s a fantastic way to lower your carbon footprint while simultaneously protecting your bottom line.
What about the non-technological
Putting aside speeches that could have been an email. There's tons of "obvious" ideas being floated around. I'll also be the first to admit, we're deeply in the technology camp, but still, maybe something here sends you down a road you hadn't considered:
Lighten up
According to the AI that I asked, every extra 50kg in a vehicle increases fuel consumption by roughly 1% to 2%. The problem of course, is that over time, work vans tend to become "mobile sheds" filled with off-cuts, old parts, and tools that haven't been used in ages. Set aside a Saturday for a fleet-wide "clean out." If a piece of equipment isn't required for the week’s jobs, it shouldn't be in the van.
Just the right pressure
Under-inflated tyres increase rolling resistance. It’s like trying to ride a bike through sand. Ensuring your fleet’s tyres are at the manufacturer’s recommended "loaded" pressure can improve fuel economy by up to 3%. It is the simplest, cheapest maintenance task you can perform.
Strategic Refuelling
This one is maybe a little bit technological. Don't let your drivers fill up at the first service station they see when the fuel light comes on. Ask your staff to use an app like PetrolSpy to see petrol prices around them. If you have taken the route planning step I recommended it's as simple as finding the cheapest petrol on their route. In my local area I've seen differences as large as 20 to 30 cents recently. Think about that for a moment: On a 70-litre tank, that’s a $20 saving for 30 seconds of checking an app - even if you have to drive slightly out of your way to get it. My personal pro-tip - gamify it. Maintain a "best price leaderboard" for your team to compete on who found the cheapest petrol, if you don't provide the receipt it didn't happen. The winner each week could even take home a Bunnings voucher and your business would still be saving money.
Building the resilience of our businesses
The blocking of Strait of Hormuz, the fire at the Geelong refinery, these are all start reminders that our supply chains are more fragile than we’d like to admit. They're also unfortunate reminders that we've lost some of our resilience. For a small business, the goal isn't just to survive this week’s price hike, but to build a more agile, efficient operation that can withstand the next shock, whatever that may be.
Whether it’s through secure network design that keeps your team connected without the commute, or simple maintenance habits that keep your fleet lean, every small adjustment adds up. You don't have to be a tech giant to implement these changes; you just need a proactive mindset and the right strategy.
At AFSecure, we’re here to help Melbourne businesses navigate these challenges. From securing your remote connections to auditing your business technology for maximum efficiency, we’re committed to keeping our local economy moving forward, even when the price of movement is at an all-time high.
Are you ready to make your business more resilient in the face of rising costs? Book a free consultation with our expert team today.