Believe it or not, some people feel that diesel fuel trucks could get overtaken by gas trucks. Ok, let’s get into some of the details of this and what kinds of gas trucks might displace diesel fuel trucks. This idea relates mostly to the medium duty or smaller duty fleet management companies.
Diesel fuel prices used to be half the cost of gas prices, if not lower. Diesel fuel was considered the stuff left over after making gas. Now, diesel fuel prices, on average, are 50-60 cents more expensive and that’s before you add in your diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). This doesn’t make it as attractive to a fleet manager as it used to be.
We can also add in the fact that a medium size gas truck model is about $9,000 less expensive than its diesel fuel equivalent. Gas engines have also come a long way in Miles per Gallon, they use just slightly less than their diesel fuel counterparts.
If we used a one year example of acquisition costs and fleet fuel costs only based on 30,000 miles a year at 10 mpg, it would look like this: You would buy approximately 3,000 gallons of fleet fueling whether it was gas or diesel fuel for 30,000 miles. At 50 cents a gallon cheaper for gas then diesel fuel prices, you would have fuel savings at $1,500 plus your purchase price of $9,000 in fleet management savings of $10,500 for a gas truck.
Let’s all go buy gas trucks, right? Well, maybe. I actually believe that both fleet fuels will get cheaper in 5 years. I think that gas prices will go down faster than diesel fuel prices and the spread will be bigger than 50 cents, but what will you be losing as part of your fleet management solutions?
Most fleet management companies will tell you that you’re losing a lot. A diesel fuel engine is more robust and requires very little maintenance compared to a gas truck. In a model that most fleet management systems will use is to look over the lifecycle cost of the truck. When taking in a longer life expectancy with a diesel fuel truck, it makes the upfront cost of the gas truck not as appealing than it looked at first glance.
Clearly, a gas truck could be the way to go, for a medium duty company with fleet management solutions for a lower yearly mile application. A fleet manager is going to go with a diesel fuel truck most of the time because that is what they are used to and that is what their mechanics are used to.
Either way, you’re pulling your fuel card out and filling up with gas or diesel fuel. Your fuel management will depend, at the end of the day, on how good your driver is driving your truck. The better he drives, the more fuel savings you will have and the less stress on your fuel management system.
In an upcoming blog, we will take a look at natural gas compared to diesel fuel trucks. Again, when pulling out your fleet card or your fuel management budget, you will pay one way or another. You might be surprised what we have to say. For the gas truck over diesel fuel truck battle in the medium duty category, diesel fuel still wins in our book.
Need more help with your fleet fueling, fuel manager services, fleet fuel card, just call 267-482-6159 or click here and we will give you a complimentary fuel management review.
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