Ride-hailing may look like a game of kilometres and ratings, but your actual scoreboard is cost per kilometre. In Ghana, fuel alone can swallow 30 – 40 percent of a driver’s monthly income. Shaving even a fifth off that bill instantly adds about GHS 300 – 500 to your profit, roughly the same money you would earn from thirty extra peak-hour trips. Below are practical habits you can start today to keep more cedis in your pocket without adding hours behind the wheel.
A typical Bolt or Yango driver spends between GHS 1,000 and GHS 1,400 monthly on petrol. Because that outlay is so large, minor improvements pay off fast. Cutting just 20 percent of your fuel spend translates into hundreds of extra cedis you keep rather than pour into the tank. When you view petrol as your most considerable controllable expense, trimming waste becomes as essential as chasing five-star ratings.
Fuel economy starts with the way you press the pedals. Gradual acceleration—aiming to reach 40 km/h over eight to ten seconds—can reduce consumption by about fifteen percent because engines burn least at moderate throttle. Keeping a steady pace once you are at speed adds another ten per cent saving, as every surge of acceleration dumps extra fuel into the cylinders. Even braking style matters: when you ease off the accelerator early and let engine resistance slow the car, you conserve momentum instead of turning it into wasted heat on the brake pads. Combine these three techniques, and you can cut roughly one in every five litres you burn without driving any fewer kilometres.
Your tyres and cargo also decide how thirsty the engine feels. Checking tyre pressure every Sunday, before the rubber heats up, keeps rolling resistance to a minimum and avoids the five-percent fuel penalty that comes with under-inflated tyres. Clearing unused tools, bottles, and boxes from the boot helps too; every extra fifty kilograms knocks about one percent off your mileage. Finally, stay on top of oil and filter changes. A clean, well-lubricated engine runs cooler on long climbs and needs less petrol to deliver the same power.
When you do need to fill up, a little strategy stretches each cedi. Fuel is densest at dawn, so refuelling before the sun heats the underground tanks gives you a slight bonus in litres. Track the posted prices of five stations along your usual route; a twenty-pesewa gap may not feel like much per litre, but it multiplies over a full tank. Many taxi or driver associations negotiate bulk-buy cards that shave three to five percent off pump prices. And whenever possible, fill the tank in one go. Fewer stops mean less idling in queues—and fewer impulse snacks that eat into net earnings.
Good habits stick when you measure them. Stapling fuel receipts by week lets you spot creeping costs early. If you prefer digital, a simple Google Sheet or a free expense app such as Expensify can calculate cost per kilometre automatically. Set a monthly fuel budget alert: when your spend hits eighty percent of the target, you still have time to adjust routes or shift timings before the month ends.
Your smartphone already hosts powerful fuel-saving helpers. Traffic-aware navigation on Google Maps or Waze steers you around choke points where fuel burns for zero distance. The demand heat-maps inside Bolt and Yango keep you parked where riders appear every few minutes, which cuts “dead mileage” between trips. For an extra edge, inexpensive Bluetooth tyre-pressure caps send an alert when PSI drops, saving a stop-start guessing game at the pumps.
None of these hacks require special gadgets or longer shifts—only a fresh approach to daily driving. Begin with two or three habits this week, record your spend, and compare it to last month. You will see your take-home pay rise without adding a single kilometre. Happy driving, and keep those earnings rolling in.
