Setting fuel norms in a Lithuanian company: winter norm

Every November the same question comes back in Lithuanian companies with a fleet: from when does the winter fuel norm apply, and how much higher should it be? The answer is no longer in a national table. The 1995 vehicle fuel-norm methodology has been out of force since November 2015, and nothing official replaced it. The company sets its own norms. This article covers how to justify a norm, what to put in the director's order, how to handle the winter norm, and how to check later that the norms still match reality.

Who sets the fuel norm

There is no state-approved consumption figure. The company approves its norms by an order of its head, and the norms must be technically justified. The old methodology was only a recommendation even while it was in force, so copying its tables into an order does not by itself justify a norm. Why that matters when fuel is written off is covered separately:

Three ways to justify a fuel norm

• •Manufacturer data: the consumption in the vehicle's technical documents or specification. The simplest option, but it is measured in ideal conditions and is often lower than what the vehicle actually burns in your work.
• •A control drive: several drives in normal conditions, filling the tank to full before and after, and taking the average. The result goes into a short report signed by the people who took part.
• •The company's own method: a procedure approved by the head, for example a norm based on several months of the same vehicle's actual consumption when the type of work does not change.

The company decides which method to use. What matters is that the choice is written down and applied consistently, and that the evidence (the specification or the control-drive report) is kept together with the order.

What the fuel-norm order should contain

• •the vehicle: registration number, make, model, fuel type;
• •the base norm (l/100 km) and what it is based on;
• •the winter norm and the period it applies to;
• •any extra norms for special conditions (a trailer, dirt roads) and who marks the trips they apply to;
• •the date the order takes effect and when the norms are reviewed;
• •who is responsible for checking fuel records.

A norm belongs to a vehicle, not to the whole fleet. One shared figure is easy to write down and just as easy to challenge: a van, a car and a hybrid do not consume the same.

The winter fuel norm: period and size

There is no national winter period or percentage. The company sets both and writes them into the order. In practice most companies pick fixed months, for example 1 November to 31 March; others tie the winter norm to the actual air temperature. Fixed dates are simpler to account for, and a temperature rule is more precise but has to be documented each time it is used.

How much higher the winter norm is also belongs to the company. The safest way to justify it is the same as for the base norm: your own vehicles' actual consumption in winter months, or a control drive in winter. A percentage copied from the old methodology or from a sample order is harder to defend than a figure you measured yourself.

Checking that the norms still fit

A norm is set once, but the vehicle ages and drivers and routes change. Once a year it is worth comparing each vehicle's actual consumption with its norm, month by month. If actual use keeps running above the norm, either the norm is too low or the fuel is not only going on business trips, and in both cases it is better to find that yourself. Fuel above the norm is not a deductible expense and, depending on the circumstances, can become a benefit in kind.

Apply a changed norm from the date of the new order. Recalculate trip logs for months that were already submitted only on purpose, when an error is clear, and never as a side effect of changing the norm.

How Ezura applies the norms

In Ezura the norm is set per vehicle, and winter months can carry their own value. Trips with a trailer or on dirt roads can use a third norm, applied only to the rows the driver marks. Fuel used and the month-end balance are calculated from the norm, and the yearly summary shows which vehicle's consumption drifts from its norm and whether the drift repeats. The system will not invent the norm for you, but it will apply it consistently across every month.

Is a winter norm mandatory?

No. A winter norm is a way to justify higher consumption in the cold season. If you do not set one, the same norm applies all year, and the winter excess will show up in your records as fuel above the norm.