When gas prices go up a penny or two most people don’t really notice and why should they.  When the cost of gas prices goes up 16 cents in a couple of weeks, it gets people’s attention.  It also starts to draw fears of the summer of 2008 when gas prices went over $4.00 a gallon.

What if you are a fleet manager, oh you’re starting to feel the pain.  The price of diesel fuel is up 20 cents a gallon over the last month.  You’re not filling up once a week, like you do for your car.  Your fleet of trucks is filling up daily and taking 20, 30, 50, 80 gallons a day of diesel fuel.  This puts a hurting on your fuel management budget program.  At 20 cents extra a gallon and filling up 50 gallons of diesel fuel a day that adds $10 toward your cost.  We know, mix in that your fleet management is not just 1 truck but 40 trucks.  Your cost per day is up $400 for diesel fuel.  Weekly your fleet fuel cost is up $2,000 and almost $10,000 month. 

We think the bubble is about to pop a little and fleet fuel cost for both your diesel fuel truck fleet and the good old America car fleet will get some relief.  How much? We can’t say for sure, as we all know a lot of factors drive the cost of fuel.  If I am taking a bet out in Vegas, I think we see prices back in the low $70 a barrel or maybe even high $60’s.  This would put diesel fuel and gas prices back down the same they just went up.

Next rides, fuel planning, candy land, fuel consulting super dooper looper.  Good luck. 

How you fueling today?  We are feeling good!

Return to Top

It never ceases to amaze me at how many companies say they can’t afford our service or take on any additional expense.

For some reason they cannot grasp the concept that our service, which is an effective fuel management program, will actually result in a healthier bottom line.

Sure when they pay our fee we do appear as an expense but much more than our fee is removed from their fuel expense as a direct result of the efforts of our expert fuel management staff. I am certain that many of these same corporate officers and fuel managers pay a fee to a financial adviser.

We know from the past recent history of the financial markets that in all likelihood their assets shrank and did not grow as they had hoped, but they still retained their advisers and paid their fee.

If a reputable company came to me and did an analysis of whatever I was doing and guaranteed that they would fatten my wallet for a nominal fee, I’m pretty certain I would jump at the opportunity. We never say we can save a company money unless we are certain we can.

Along with saving companies money, we are watching their back. To make sure they don’t have theft, fraud, performing fuel audits. Where else are you going to get all of this time and first class attention? Sokolis Group!

Return to Top

Headlines of a major newspaper today were, “Long-range forecast suggest a colder and snowier one than usual.” The fuel information below is right on time.

There are plenty of fuel additives on the market today that are designed to improve the performance and efficiency of diesel fuel. How do you know which fuel additive company to use? Sokolis Group has vast knowledge on this information and relationships with fuel additive products. Diesel fuel is popular among those who care about the environment, because it produces fewer emissions than traditional fossil fuel. It can also be produced from a wide variety of renewable resources, such as vegetable oil and soybeans. Because diesel fuel can be made from so many different things, its quality varies accordingly. However, if you use the right fuel additives, you can achieve peak performance from your fuel every time.

Use a fuel additive that will help prevent the formation of sludge and corrosion on your engine. This kind of additive is appropriate for any kind of diesel engine. When your engine is free of sludge and corrosion, its operation will be extended.

Keep a fuel additive around that will prevent the formation of wax crystals in cold weather. All diesel fuel is susceptible to waxing, and those pesky crystals can clog up your engine. Once the temperatures starts dropping to 40 or 30 degrees F, you must begin mixing this fuel additive into your fuel. So before the weather drops colder in your location, contact Sokolis Group today. We can help you find the best fuel additive product for your company and keep your engines running.

Return to Top

We talk about fuel theft and having to make sure you have the proper processes in your fuel management program to ensure the best you can from theft.

In Sunday’s paper here is an example of diesel fuel theft that no one knows where the fuel went.

LORIDA, FL — The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a criminal investigation into the events surrounding a diesel fuel spill that occurred May 8 at the county landfill.
County “rack sheets,” which are used to track deliveries, show 17,446 gallons of fuel missing between Oct. 16, 2008 and Sept. 17, 2009.
The documents show over 62,390 in deliveries accounted for, but just over 44,944 accounted for in usage.
As we see it, 17,446 stolen over 11 months. This works out to 1,585 a month or 52 gallons a day over that period of time. Now, 52 gallons of diesel fuel a day doesn’t seem as big at 17,446 over an 11 month period.

It still works out to be about $45,000 gone away with the average price for the last year around $2.60 a gallon for diesel fuel. That is a lot of money to be “fueling around with.”

That fact proves that most companies don’t have a fuel management system and/or a fuel audit platform to catch 52 gallons a day. That could be 10 fleet management drivers stealing 5 gallons of diesel fuel daily.

My fleet fuel management question to this company is; at what point did you realize you had an off balance? If you can count 62,390 delivers but account for 44,944 was there a point, when you had 3 deliveries and only 1 accounted for, shouldn’t that have been the time to catch the fleet fueling theft.

My guess: 

1. No real fuel management program
2. No daily fuel audits or monthly fuel audits
3. Person who is running the fuel program lacks the proper fuel planning skills
4. The person running the fleet fuel program probably doesn’t have enough time to fuel audit

This along with thousands of other stories is why you can not let your fuel management, fuel planning and fuel consulting go on auto pilot. When that occurs your fleet management program is sure to crash

Return to Top

Isn’t it funny how things work? Crude oil prices at $70 a barrel two years ago was good. Now, it’s very bad. See the big major oil companies, got used to reporting record profits for their fuel companies at $100 to $148 a barrel for crude oil.

Like the old expression goes, all good fuel things must come to an end. Now, we have excess capacity, weak demand for fleet fuel and rising fuel product inventories continue to squeeze margins for U.S. oil refiners.

What will big oil do? Easy, close every possible refinery that they can or have “issues” at refineries so they can keep production down. It’s their own little cartel on keeping fuel prices high and fuel programs higher.

What you haven’t heard? Sunoco closing a refinery they bought a few years ago in New Jersey. Valero has an extended shutdown at its Aruba refinery. No, crude oil (fleet fuel) coming out of the tropics. Valero again cutting back process and capacity in Delaware. ConocoPhillips saying it would sell assets to terminals and refineries. All of this in the last two weeks. But wait there will be more. You see, in the oil business its monkey see monkey do.

There will be others who have “issues”, need unscheduled repairs as they call them or more commonly known to regular people as grab your ankles this one is going to hurt. See OPEC, a slip of the tongue. The major oil companies band together, as far as we know there are no formal meetings or that would be collusion. Who’s to say there aren’t a few golf matches that take place between these fuel giants. The conversation may go something like this, “you do this and we will do that and our shareholder’s and us will all get rich together!”

Does that sound like Oliver Stone’s, JFK to you? Think Enron, MCI, Tyco all of these banks does that seem like JFK to you?

Fuel prices are controlled by someone every step of the way. Free enterprise or space ship enterprise, I can tell you this, if you don’t have someone in your fuel management corner watching out for your fuel planning and fuel program your going to be all wet. See they don’t say oil is a dirty business just because you get your hands dirty when you touch it.

Sokolis Group for all of your fuel management, fuel planning and fuel consulting needs.  267-482-6155

www.FuelManagementSokolisGroup.com

Return to Top

Are you sick and tired of too many choices out there in regards to Fleet Fuel Cards? Do you know that now almost all stations offer their own gas cards and their own benefits for you? But are you getting the correct benefits for your company? Should you go with a gas card or a fleet fuel card?

Fleet fuel cards is a credit card that allows fleet managers to manage, report and control their company’s fuel and maintenance expenses while saving time and money. Unlike credit cards, (those from the stations) a fleet fuel card has superior controls, comprehensive reporting and convenience of use. Teaming up with Sokolis Group the benefits to any fleet card will grow. Sokolis Group will negotiate with truck stops and organizations in your locations. Placing these fuel discount programs on your fleet fuel card so the discount will occur at the point of sale.

Fleet fuel cards enable business’ to purchase fuel and maintenance within a network of authorized fuel and merchants and provides detailed reporting for each transaction, while a gas card’s sole purpose is to purchase fuel.

Let Sokolis Group help you find the correct fleet fuel card match for your company and see the added value Sokolis Group and the fleet fuel card can provide.

Some benefits but not limited to:

• Manage your company’s fuel expense with timely detailed reporting
• Save money by reducing fraudulent fuel charges
• Save time by reducing paperwork
• Driver prompts help prevent fraud and let you track your purchases by driver and vehicle
• Account management restricts purchases and blocks cards
• Negotiated discount stations added to your card for a network of locations
• Weekly and monthly reports provided to managers in the field
• Reduce fuel card fees

For more information or to find your “match” please contact Sokolis Group today at
267-482-6155. Learn more about Sokolis Group at www.FuelManagementSokolisGroup.com!

Many fleet managers, controllers and CFO’s may be surprised if they were overpaying for fuel taxes and fees that are disguised as legitimate government fees. We‘re not since we see it everyday at Sokolis Group. Prior to becoming Sokolis Group clients, these companies signed off on fuel invoices that had additional fuel taxes for which they were not liable, no tax charged when in fact they were liable for the tax, and bogus fees which are nothing more than an additional revenue stream for the fleet fuel supplier.

A few examples: By not knowing the letter of the law and having the proper forms on file with the taxing state one company was paying the state excise highway fuel tax for deliveries of off highway, non road taxable, dyed diesel fuel. Receiving 7500 gallon transport loads this amounted to an overpayment of more than $1500 per load of tax for which, if proper forms were filed, there was no tax liability. Never questioned and paid. Worse yet, after filing the correct forms, they can not file for a retroactive fuel tax refund.

Another company for a small bulk delivery of fleet fuel had so many additional charges on the fuel invoice paid a total of $8.25 per gallon on a delivery of 200 gallons. Never questioned and signed off by fuel management person and paid. Fortunately we were able to recoup that money for our client from the fuel vendor,

Due to a misinterpretation of the tax law by the fuel vendor, no tax at all was charged for a client using the fuel in an off highway application. We rectified the situation and the client had to pay the correct fuel taxes due and the vendor now has had the law clarified. This client was saved from penalties and interest had this not been discovered in a timely fashion.

Just a few examples of what we discover every day for our clients at Sokolis Group. Our clients have the peace of mind knowing that fleet fuel experts are looking at and dissecting every fleet fuel transaction. Who is watching your back?

Sokolis Group is a fuel management & fuel consulting company that helps clients with fuel planning, fuel programs, fuel audits and fleet fueling to name a few.  www.FuelManagementSokolisGroup.com  267-482-6155