Critical News & Information for Businesses
that Depend on Fuel and Fuel Services
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| FUEL FEVER
What is all of the excitement about fuel?
Let's count the ways:
1. Diesel fuel is down at least $1.50/gallon since it's high. That's great news for the trucking industry.
2. Regular gas is also down at least $1.50 a gallon since it's high. That's great for our car fleets and personal vehicles.
3. The stock market has our net worth spiraling, but at least fuel is cheap.
4. We can make a delivery or go to the store without applying for one of those second mortgages from Fannie or Freddie Mac.
5. It's heading in the right direction............down.
With positives, come negatives:
- With lower prices, will there still be a push toward alternative fuels?
- Will we switch to using smaller cars instead of Hummers?
- Will we still reduce the amount of driving we have been doing?
- Will we try drilling more in our country?
- Will we go back to our old ways, the way we did in the 70's, late 80's and early 90's after we saw record high prices.
Whatever your thoughts and views are, one thing is for sure, it will be exciting one way or another. | |
| Greetings!
As we have said in past newsletters, what goes up must come down. On July 17, 2008 new records were set for national prices of diesel and gasoline at $4.845 and $4.114, respectively. In most parts of the country the diesel price was over $5.00 and gas was over $4.25. If you spring ahead a little more than 100 days, the national diesel cost was $3.417 and the national cost of gas was $2.629, with some areas of the country as low as $2.00.
Let's not get comfortable with this scenario because prices will probably continue to slide a bit more but again, what goes up most go down and conversely, what goes down must go up.
Enjoy this newsletter and look forward to our fuel survey later this month.
Sincerely,
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Sokolis
Solutions
Yes, fuel prices have gone down but let's not burn it up for no good reason. If you follow these rules more money will follow into your bottom line.
1. Plan your route-use routing software whenever possible.
2. Avoid left turns- left turns take longer to make than right turns. In addition, right turns are safer. Try to route around left turns.
3. Drive responsibly- steer clear of jack rabbit starts or hard breaking. Reduce or eliminate idling.
4. Continue regular vehicle maintenance-
5. Reduce the weight of vehicles- you should only carry the essentials on the vehicle. Any extra weight translates into a lower MPG.
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DOE Prices
as of Oct. 27, 2008
US = $3.288
EastCst = $3.397
NewEng = $3.573
CenAtl = $3.509
LwrAtl = $3.333
Midwst = $3.244
GulfCst = $3.219
RkyMt = $3.375
WCst = $3.233
CA = $3.286
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Your company can help lead the country in Environmental Stewardship with these 3 Golden Rules.
-Recycle
-Reuse
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NOT A SOKOLIS GROUP CLIENT?
Contact us online or call 267-482-6155
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Sokolis Strategic Alliances
Here is a selection of companies with whom we share a strategic relationship. These companies do not pay to be promoted by us, however, we feel strongly that they can help your company.
Carbon Fund 
Smartway 
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November 17th Is Our Election Time For Fuel Line  Fuel Lines will have a new survey out November 17th. Your participation is essential to help identify and understand the issues you are facing with your fleet. Your answers may be blindly shared with government energy departments, truck manufacturers or oil companies. Again, we strongly urge your participation in our FUEL '08 survey coming in November. Survey responses will be accepted from November 17th through December 2nd.
Your vote counts! | |
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Testimonial
"I feel like we are doing the very best we can to control our fuel expenses and I really appreicate your help."
Douglas Dolinar, General Manager
Guidemark, Inc
Click here for more information
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Crude Oil Could Hit $20 A Barrel
It wasn't long ago that a lot of very smart people were predicting $200 a barrel. We even thought,when it was $110/barrel, that it had a chance to break $150/barrel. Now some are saying $20 a barrel. Peter Beutel, of Cameron Hanover, says if we look at every Bear market over the last 30 years we always cut the high by four. This would get our number to $37/barrel and he says $20/barrel is not out of the question..
We agree that prices have been on the downswing. Almost everyone's economy looks bad. There is less driving and a decreased need for raw materials. But come on, $20/barrel? We don't believe that it's going to happen. We could possibly sniff something in the $40/barrel range for a brief period. OPEC is already talking about another emergency meeting to cut production more deeply than the cut it a few weeks ago. (When they are selling it for $148 about 100 days ago, do you really think they are going to let it get down to something as low as $40?) Greed happened at $148 and was helped along with many others (Bear Sterns, Federal Government, Freddie, Fannie, etc.) to get into this economic recession, yes I said it, recession. Most don't want to say the word but we believe it's true.
If we can get a range of $55 - $75 a barrel, it should make everyone fairly happy. All economies should be able to operate with those numbers, OPEC will make some money and the price should still be at a level where people don't forget to conserve, invest in alternative fuels, drill in areas that make sense and make sensible choices. |
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"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly."
John F. Kennedy
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Fueling Success
If you are a Fleet Manager, CFO, President, Owner or Purchasing Department you must have a comprehensive approach to fuel management. Yes, fuel costs area lower now but they won't always be and even if they are lower, does your company deserve a program that provides security of supply and improved economics of your fuel buying?
Six keys areas should be examined.
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Spend analysis - determine market by market, site by site
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Benchmarking - baseline and compare to published market metrics and establish industry best practices
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Supply strategy - a proper balance of supply security with cost, margin and service contracting- coordinate operations, accounting, legal and safety teams to maximize opportunity.
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Execution - having a playbook is one thing but making sure the plays actually get made is another.
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Audit - all bills, invoices and transactions need to be completely reviewed. Companies make mistakes sometimes. Also, industry statistics say 81% of all fuel stolen is from within your own company.
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Now that you have the basics go ahead and save your company money. Need help? Don't understand or have the time? E-mail or call us at: sales@sokolisgroup.com or (267) 482-6155. |
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"A 5% reduction in transportation costs has the same P&L impact as a 30% increase in sales."
-Gartner Group
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Is your company decentralized?
Click here for fuel program help. |
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It's Not Oil
Oil has come down but stocks have come down too. Five proven principles by Jack Bogle, Founder, Vanguard.
1. Balance oppurtunity and risk
2. Diversify, diversify, diversify
3. Focus on the long term
4. Minimize the cost of investing
5. Stay the course
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These are two stories of many that come out daily.
Story #1
City worker stole gas, authorities say A former night watchman for the City of Chicago was charged Thursday with theft of government property after he stole more than 300 gallons of gasoline from city pumps last year, authorities said. City worker, 23, swiped his employee ID card to activate the pumps, filled up his personal car with gas and then doctored fuel logs to cover his theft, said Assistant State's Atty. Jean McGuire. He stole gas on about 30 occasions from April to November. Inspector General David Hoffman said his office began investigating the employee after receiving a tip last year. Investigators uncovered the thefts by combing through old fuel records, he said. The city worker made $17 an hour working for the city's Department of General Services.
Sokolis Recommendations: The card should have had better controls associated with it. Exception reports should have been provided and reviewed daily. Continued review of records would have caught this issue sooner. In most cases, companies do not know or do not like to fully admit what was stolen from them. In this case we believe over $2,000 was stolen. How many other employees are stealing?
Story #2
City worker arrested in fuel theft Richmond police have arrested a city schools employee in the apparent theft of thousands of dollars worth of diesel fuel. City worker, 43, of the 3600 block of Millers Lane was charged with grand larceny. Police said an audit of fuel transactions made with Richmond schools fuel cards indicated that on various days in October through December, there were multiple fill-ups exceeding the fuel capacity of a school bus recorded within minutes of one another. According to police, three gas cards were used to purchase about 27,000 gallons of diesel fuel, costing the city about $73,000. A detective said in a statement that police concluded that fuel obtained by using the cards was being sold to third parties.
Sokolis Recommendations: Have per transaction and daily limits on your fuel cards. Make drivers put in mileage and/or review miles per gallon. Audits of fuel records will reduce this from happening. In our estimated opinion, over $100,000 was stolen by just this one worker. If you do not have someone watching your records closely, it could be happening to your company. Most fuel theft occurs from employees.
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 We can all make a difference,please recycle.
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