Gearing Up in 2014

January flew by and your yearly objectives haven’t changed; but the clock has already begun to tick for 2014. Every year companies develop initiatives to drive costs out of their business. One of the top 3 objectives in most companies is lower operating cost.

Reducing what you spend on fuel can be one of the quickest and easiest ways to do this. But like anything, how do you do it and where do you find the time in your already full week?

Let’s look at the areas that can affect fuel spend.

Mobile Fueling

Are your drivers hourly? Should you consider mobile fueling? It takes an average driver 40 minutes to fuel their truck. If you add in any extra time spent inside the fuel stop buying food, beverages, or waiting in line that could add up to even more time. Having a mobile operation fueling your units during off peak hours could help in reducing your losses.

Fuel Stop Networks

When was the last time you researched your fueling locations to determine if your drivers are making the best choice in fuel stops? Leaving it up to a driver to choose where to purchase fuel may not be the most cost effective method. Having timely access to this data may be difficult and expensive; and not having it could be costing you.

Truck Leasing /Rental Company Fueling

Sometimes convenient but not always cost effective; this is an area that needs to be reviewed and prices compared regularly in order to actually save money.

Terminal Fueling / Bulk Fueling

The initial investment can be expensive but long term savings are substantial. The transaction data can sometimes be linked to your fuel card to better control the purchases.

Contract / Hedging Programs,

Although risky, fuel hedging can benefit fleets who are looking to fix their cost of fuel for budgetary purposes. Some fleets will hedge their empty miles or out of route miles. There are many options on how you purchase and use these contracts. If the weekly and monthly up and down diesel prices are raising havoc on your fuel budget, this may be an option for you.

Tax Savings

Analyzing your fuel purchases to see if you’re buying fuel in an area that has unrecoverable taxes can help reduce cost. Limiting the gallons a unit can purchase or eliminating the area or State altogether may be options.

Gallon Consolidation

Shifting your gallons to a single supplier or focusing your gallons into a network of stops may help you negotiate a bigger discount. By adding more gallons to a supplier, you have more leverage to ask for better pricing.

Sokolis can take on the burden of sifting through mountains of data needed to make these decisions and allow you more time to focus on other goals for 2014.