Archive for March, 2010

A Time To Save

By Laura Owens - March 30th, 2010

With a bad economy and taxes on a rise everyone is looking for ways to save money.  Many try to cut back on non essentials such as going out to eat, the movies, and shopping.  But what can you do when it comes to necessities, such as fuel?  At Sokolis Group one of our goals is to help our fleet fuel clients save money on that necesssity. 

Just recently Sokolis Group was doing a fuel audit on one of our client’s invoices and caught a fuel pricing error which saved our client $774.09.  About 7% of all fuel invoices contain a mistake on price, gallons, taxes or service fee.  Who is auditing your fuel invoices?

While doing a fuel analysis for another one of our fleet fuel clients we realized two discounts that Sokolis Group put in place were not coming across on the fuel transactions.  After getting in touch with the merchants and solving the problem a rebate check was issued for over $2,000 to our client.   Without Sokolis Group our client would not have saved that money.  Just image how much we could save for you.

Contact Sokolis Group and start saving today!  Your fuel management experts, helping clients in bad and good economies lower fleet fuel cost, negotiate fleet fuel prices, perform fuel audits, consolidate fleet fuel purchases to eliminate the back office mess.  Got Fuel? We got fuel solutions! 267-482-6155 or www.fuelmanagementsokolisgroup.com.

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Effective Phoning

By Lisa Hermann - March 23rd, 2010

One of the things that most impacts people’s productivity is not being able to focus on completing one task at a time and telephone calls both making and receiving them, are one of the greatest disruptions to the flow of the day and to our ability to concentrate. By managing how and when we make and receive calls we can not only make better use of our time but make a better impression on the person at the other end of the line, too.

The phone is a tool for your convenience.  We have all had the experience when someone is clearly busy, distracted, frustrated or in a rush answers the call – it puts both people in an uncomfortable position and it would have been fairer for them to allow us to leave a message and to respond at a more convenient time.

Answer the call by introducing yourself clearly. We all have had the phone call where we couldn’t understand the other person on the call so lets now allow that to be one of us.

If you decide to answer the call do your caller the courtesy of paying attention. Disinterest or lack of attention can very easily be heard in your voice – as can the typing that you continue to do while making all of the right ‘aha’ sounds. Stop what you are doing and pay attention, or tell the caller you’ll call back later it’s not a convenient time.

SMILE: It is a proven fact that a smile can be “heard” on the other end of the phone. Your callers will appreciate your friendly approach. 

Always end your call by thanking your caller for calling and/or their time.

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Fleet Purchasing Policy

By Conor Proud - March 18th, 2010

Most companies today if not all have credit cards.  Most trucking companies need a way to pay for their fleet fuel.  That’s not different than the rest of the fuel buying world, except it’s usually a lot more quantity.  How a lot of them do this is by using a fleet fuel card.  This is a good start to helping you buy and manage your fuel, but after that there are precautions you should take.  I’d like to give you a few pointers or tips on how you should use your fleet fuel card:

  • Control fleet spending while monitoring use
    • Set a daily limit for your drivers and monitor transactions.  This will cut unnecessary costs and eliminate any fraud.  If you have a large fleet you might need a fuel management company such as us to help with looking at thousands of transactions a month or year.
  • Opportunities for savings
    • When buying a lot of anything you will usually get better pricing.  If you talk to the right people (Sokolis Group for example) you can get discounted pricing on your fuel purchases.  Sometimes you might need to limit your fuel vendors to a few rather than a lot.
  • Saving time
    • If you’re using a fleet card always pay at the pump.  This is much quicker which eliminates wasted time and gets them back on the road where they’re making your company money.
  • Work as a team
    • If everyone is on the same page your plan will be more successful.  It doesn’t hurt to have more than one set of eyes looking over your fuel purchases.  Fuel is one of your biggest expenses if not biggest when you’re a truck company.  Having a third party such as the Sokolis Group do everything from monitoring your transactions for fraud, better pricing, and an outside opinion to help your business lower bottom line costs.
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Spring Time

By Joan Gottlieb - March 15th, 2010

The winter season is a difficult time in many ways, but spring is near.

Spring, a time of rebirth and new beginnings. Take time to recap, plan ahead, put improvement plans in place.

As a fleet owner, improvement may include a long list of various tasks; fuel costs probably at the top of the list.

The professionals at Sokolis Group can provide your company with specific fuel programs tailored to help you achieve fleet fuel savings.

All clients begin with a free fuel analysis of their current purchases and method of fueling. After which our professional fuel managers may offer suggestions to achieve fuel savings such as participating in the Sokolis Group network of discount fuel merchants, a possible change to the method of fueling your fleet, or providing your drivers with a universal fleet fuel card with membership benefits and set security controls.

Spring into action; call Sokolis Group today for your free fuel audit.

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Show Me the Diesel

By Laura Owens - March 8th, 2010

The popularity and availability of clean diesel is growing.  The recent growth in availability of diesel at local filling stations should come with no surprise given that more consumers are turning to diesel for their cars, pickups and SUV’s.  Nearly half, 42 percent, of all retail sites in the U.S. today offer diesel fuel.

This increasing demand for diesel fuel worldwide has impacted fuel consumers. Diesel fuel prices, in the US, tended to be lower than gasoline prices up until 2004. What has changed since 2004? Well a lot, a worldwide demand for diesel fuel and other distillate fuel oils has been increasing steadily, with strong demand in China, Europe, and the United States.  This has put more pressure on the tight global refining capacity. In the United States, the transition to ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel has affected diesel fuel production and distribution costs. Also, the Federal excise tax on diesel fuel is higher per gallon than the tax on gasoline.

How can you find the lowest diesel prices in your area? Contact one of our fuel experts at Sokolis Group to help with all your fleet fueling needs.  Your fuel management program will be better for it. Reach out to us at 267-482-6155 for more information.

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Does Your Company Have Clear Objectives?

By Lisa Hermann - March 3rd, 2010

“If you don’t know where you are going any road will do”

For all its familiarity and common sense this maxim is worth reiterating. No one and no organization works well without clear objectives. The responsibility for setting many of them may well be yours.

Objectives will only be clear if they are SMART:

Specific so that they are clearly understood and no misunderstanding is possible.

Measurable so that everyone knows whether they have hit them, or not.

Achievable because if they are simply pie in the sky they will be ignored and you, and any future process of objective setting, will lose credibility.

Realistic in the sense that they must logically fit within the broad picture and be a desirable way of proceeding.

Timed without clear timing they will become meaningless.

The objectives you set must condition and direct what your people do. Make sure everyone has clear goals and they are committed to achieving them. Reach out to us at Sokolis Group (267-482-6155) and lets work together to set SMART goals for your company’s fuel management program.

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