As winter months approach be cautious of “fees” appearing on your fuel invoices.
Fees fall into several categories: surcharges, fuel service fee, not to forget the “other” category. These “fees” should not to be confused with state or local taxes.

Fuel additives are not a fee but the cost of an additional product added to your fuel to keep it from gelling in colder weather. A fuel additive is generally blended from the period of October through March depending on your region.

Manage your fuel costs. As a fuel customer, ask your fuel vendor for explanation of these fees. Follow and calculate the fee rate. 

“Fees” can add up to big dollars that you really shouldn’t be paying. It is just padded cost to increase your fuel vendors margins.

If you not sure, drop me an email at jgottlieb@sokolisgroup.com , I will do what I can to help you out. Without Fuel Consulting people watching your fuel program like us, those little “fees’ can turn into a big fuel management program and bloated fuel expense line.

On Monday AM the fuel market falls below $65 a barrel. Is this a surprise for fuel management firms looking at the fuel market? No. Is it a surprise for people that follow current events and saw that Iran fired missiles off Monday despite what they had said a few days earlier?

These are not people that can be trusted. Not necessarily Iranian people but the powers to be in Iran. Do you want to watch your fuel planning, fuel budget and fuel program go up in smoke or I should say go to $100 a barrel quickly or have fleet fuel go to $4.50 for diesel fuel and $4.00 for gas prices? Watch how non peace in the Middle East from one of the top fuel producers will do that. Your fuel management and fleet fueling program will need a lot of TLC.

Right now we can be talking about the calm before the fuel storm. Fuel consulting won’t even be able to help much if this kicks into gear.
“The Iranian situation is not having much influence. If it was, we’d be back toward $70 again.”
Iran test-fired a type of missile on Monday which defense analysts have said could hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf region, state television reported.
The drills coincide with increased tension in Iran’s nuclear dispute with the West, after last week’s disclosure by Tehran that it is building a second uranium enrichment plant.
Tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program have supported oil prices in recent years. The country is the second-largest oil producer in the Middle East and a major crude oil exporter.
In late 2008, Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 40 percent of the world’s globally traded oil passes, when tensions rose in another row with the United States around the nuclear work.
Even so, sluggish oil demand, reinforced by some lackluster economic data from the United States last week, continued to command investors’ attention.
Oil prices posted their largest weekly decline in around 2-3 months last week, pressured by government data showing U.S. crude oil inventories had risen, suggesting demand remains weak.
This should be your fuel management plan. First have a fuel management plan. Second, start looking at your fuel planning from the price protection side of things. You don’t want your fleet fueling program to be caught with its pants down. Have senior staff put together a program or hire a fuel consulting company to lay this out for you. Do you really want to be paying $5.00 again for diesel fuel? I am not saying it is going to happen, but you just don’t know about fuel prices and the Middle East.

The nation’s economic downturn has trickled down to the fleet managers of the world. Fuel budgets are being lowered, and business seems to have almost come to a screeching halt for most trucking companies compared to what once was.

One third of fleet managers are losing staff, while only around 5% have seen their staff increase. This means you’re fleet managers are expected to do more with less. Programs are being rearranged for cost-saving ideas. Every decision is being dissected to make sure it is the right choice and best for the company’s bottom line.

Maybe the most important program for a fleet manager is their fuel program. What are the margins on your fleet fuel cards? Who’s making the decisions to where the drivers purchase their fuel? A fuel consultant could help solve this problem. Fleet management is a tough job. Fuel prices change every day, and the station that is the lowest one day, could be the highest the next day.

This is a pennies business and like Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned”. If you save a couple of pennies on each gallon your fleet’s savings will be tremendously increased. With an economy coming out of a depression, a fleet fuel program will help struggling companies weather the storm until a brighter economy comes along.  With the right fuel planning, your company too can be successful.

Fuel Mangement tested daily with fleet fuel games!

Let’s take a look at what is being said this morning, September 18, 2009.  Before we do, sometime’s I feel so lucky that I am in an industry like fleet fuel, fleet management, and fuel management that is ever changing.  There is just so many dynamics to it. 

Fuel prices weakened Friday, dampened by concerns that a recovery in U.S. demand may be slower than expected and as stockpiles of refined products continued to rise.

Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, said oil prices were held back by a slide in regional stock markets and a stronger U.S. dollar.

U.S. government data also indicating that economic recovery would be slow, which may mean less demand for energy in the near term by the world’s largest crude user. 

Ok, do any of those statements come as a surprise to you, Mr. Consumer, Mr. Fleet Fuel buyer?  They don’t to me and I’m a fuel consulting and fuel management expert. 

“There is a supply overhang in both crude oil and products. Oil pricing at a $70 plus level is quite vulnerable given the weak fundamentals,” Shum said.

The recession has sapped American fuel consumption, and U.S. oil stockpiles are 14 percent larger than last year. The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that the country also is sitting on a sea of distillate fuels including heating oil, with stockpiles approaching a 27-year high.

Is this new news?  It came out today.  Is there any business out there that is really thriving? Sure earnings for companies have been stronger, but so were job cuts a few months ago.  Let’s be real when we talk about fleet fuel and stockpiles.  They have been there for months, yet the market yo-yos everyday.  This makes fuel planning and fuel management no easy task.

Shum said oil has traded within the $65-$75 a barrel since July and is likely to stay within this range in the coming months.

“The price action of the last four months gives some credence to the King of the Saudis’ statement that the fair price equilibrium for crude oil is around $70-$75 a barrel,” Analyst Olivier Jakob said.

“A cold winter would be warmly welcomed by refiners who are struggling to deal with the over supply of middle distillates,” JBC Energy said.  It’s only September 18^th, we haven’t even played our second NFL football game and we are hoping for a cold winter.

Now, what will probably happen is the stock market will go up in the next couple of days or some company will report strong earnings and all of a sudden, thinks are better and fuel prices are back off to the races. 

All I can say is if fleet fuel was priced where I think it should be based on fuel inventory, world fuel demand, current fuel outlook and fuel planning we should be around $50 a barrel for crude oil.  Our gas prices should be $1.85 a gallon.  Our diesel fuel cost should be $2.10.  Of course we help clients buy fleet fuel, do fuel management, fuel consulting, fuel planning and fuel programs.  We certainly don’t set the fuel market or speculate on the fleet fuel cost.

For further information, please contact Sokolis Group at 267-482-6155 or www.FuelManagementSokolisGroup.com or Twitter @sokolisgroup, we can also be found on Linkedin, groups Fuel Management Sokolis Group

When it comes to fuel management, looking at your past sometimes (not always) helps to predict what the future might bring. Let’s look back two years ago and compare it with today. The fuel prices from August 2007 are very similar to what they are today. Would that really tell you the whole story?

No, no way! What a crazy world of fuel prices we have had and will continue to have. Look at it this way. The market was crazy for many reasons. Do you see these reasons changing? Do you see the growth in China or India going away? They use fuel too.

We think if you thought the last two years were nuts, the next two may not be as nuts but you better pay close attention to fleet fuel prices or your fuel management will go up in smoke.

     Fast Fact of Fuel Price

• Crude oil goes up 205% over 11 months
• Crude oil falls from $147 to $48 in 19 weeks
• Gas prices go from $1.95 to $3.53 in 11 months without taxes
• Gas price dive from $3.53 to 75 cents in 22 weeks without taxes
• Diesel fuel skyrockets from $1.98 to $4.09 in 11 months without taxes.  We all recall this number being well over $5.00 a gallon with tax in some parts of the country.
• Diesel fuel plummets from $4.09 to $1.22 in 20 weeks without taxes

Of course we are back to what we had two years ago. Do you know where things are going to go? If you think the numbers above look crazy, you should look at them per month or even better by day. It makes your fuel mind spin.

We never know what is going to happen next, your best bet is always to have a well managed fleet fuel program, with fuel experts helping make sure your fuel plan is set.

Sokolis Group has a fuel plan for you. Our fuel management & fuel consulting experts will make sure you save money. www.SokolisGroup.com or 267-482-6155 or Twitter @Sokolisgroup.

Are we going to see a thumbs up and they will keep fuel production the same. Thumbs down and fuel production is cut which will probably lead to higher fleet fuel prices at the pump.

The early straw poll looks like everything will remain the same for their fuel planning. Let’s face it, most of them are cheating on reporting how much they produce anyway and big Russia is just producing fuel like crazy. They really don’t care about OPEC.

If your fuel management team has the plan that fleet fuel prices will remain close to what they are today, that is pretty good fuel planning as long as we don’t have any more wars, hurricanes, natural disasters, etc.

If you need good fuel consulting, turn to the leaders at Sokolis Group; the company that handles all your fuel planning, fuel management and fuel consulting.

With a DOE report today that showed Benign U.S. Supply Data, the price of fuel remained flat. Flat Fuel? Fuel going flat? Fuel going higher? The problem is fuel just does not know what to do with itself.

You still have record high inventory out there with a fairly weak economy. This leads to lower fleet fuel prices right? Well not so quick. The price of crude oil has doubled since the beginning of the year and that has thrown off some people’s fuel planning. A guy the other day told me that he had budgeted his whole year’s fuel costs from last December’s price. I said, why did you do that? He said, “That’s what the fleet fuel price was at the time, how did I know what it was going to do.” Maybe it’s my common sense or maybe my fuel management skills or being around fuel consulting all of my life but that was just stupid on his part. He should have at worse taken an average of last years pricing to come up with his fuel budget for 2009. Talk about a guy that should have hired a fuel consulting firm.

Traders were also eyeing news that big oil producers are increasing fuel output. Russian oil output hit a record high in August, nearing 10 million barrels per day as the country launched a new giant field, while gas production recovered from its lows on improved demand. Does OPEC have a little cheating going on? The next OPEC meeting is set for September 9 and it is highly unlikely that they will raise or cut production.

Oil sank almost $5 a barrel in the first two days of this week on worries that a global economic recovery this year would be slow and may not justify the big rallies in stocks and commodities since March.

See what I mean. After reading this article you’re probably just as confused as oil. When trying to arrange your fuel planning in the coming weeks, just figure we will float around this $65 to $72 a barrel range, though gas prices are up 5 cents since last month. Great news, they are $1.08 less than last year. Do you know where to go for your fuel management needs? Who is going to help you with your fuel planning when it comes to your fleet fuel? Only one fuel consulting company can handle you with the first class service you deserve and that’s Sokolis Group.

Sokolis Group for all of your fuel planning, fleet fuel program, fuel management and fuel consulting needs @ 267-482-6155 or www.FuelManagementSokolisGroup.com. Do you want quick short fuel updates. Twitter us @SokolisGroup.