The Pump – March

Let’s talk about deals. What’s a deal? Think you have one? Are you happy with your deal? Some people don’t even know there are deals.

Of course when I say “deals,” I’m talking about fuel discounts; i.e. when you’re not paying the price at the pump, but an adjusted price calculated after the purchase. This could be off a price index like OPIS (Oil Price Information Service), NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange) or DOE (Department of Energy). A common discount within fleets is OPIS “retail minus.” Retail minus simply means that you are paying the price at the pump minus that number. For example: retail minus 5 would be 5 cents off of the pump price.

So what are your deals? Are they set up through your fuel card? Do you have someone auditing them to make sure you’re actually receiving them? Assuming that your deals are OPIS based, you’d need to subscribe to OPIS, have up to date tax information, be aware of freight costs, and take the time to go through every transaction to see they were priced correctly. Believe me, mistakes are made. These are not fool proof systems.

Do you think your deal is the best? How do you know? The first step would be to compare to similar sized fleets buying fuel in similar areas. Maybe easier said than done. Not everyone has a “peak behind the curtains” like we do. We see tons of deals from all different vendors across the whole country. We know what you should, or could be, paying and can compare that to what you are currently paying. If this article hit home at any point, we should chat. We offer a free analysis and can make you look like a hero by saving you a lot of money on your fuel program.