Some may joke that the only profitable business during a snowstorm is the one with a plow. But are the profits being eaten by the cost to fueling their fleet.

Just as many major cities have surpassed their snow removal budgets, many fleet management programs are undoubtedly feeling the squeeze from raising diesel fuel costs.

Keep your business running by driving down fleet fueling cost. Sokolis Group is a fuel management company dedicated to reducing fueling expense. Sokolis Group will work with you hands on to get your fleet fuel planning implemented and tailored to your needs.

Our relationships with scores of fuel vendors, fuel cards, fleet card and fuel companies allow us to leverage the best possible diesel fuel price agreement. We manage fueling vendors closely to ensue consistent pricing, quality service, and competitive diesel fuel pricing for you.

Don’t get left out in the cold. Call Sokolis Group to discuss fleet fuel planning with our experienced fleet fueling consultants. 267.482.6155 www.Sokolisgroup.com

What is hedging?  It’s a financial instrument to buy something in the future at a given price.  In this case, we are talking about fuel cost.  Why would you want to purchase fuel today for the future?  As this article is written, fuel prices are near a five year low.  Could they get lower? Sure. Could fuel prices get higher?  Bet on it. I am sure that you have heard the stories of how Southwest Airlines has done a terrific job with their fuel hedging program. They have a good fuel management program.  It is a large part of what makes them profitable year in an year out.  They take a large variable (fuel cost) off of the table when they manage their fuel cost by hedging.  You still want to buy and manage your fuel program the best you can and hopefully with the Sokolis Group (click here for more information), but here is what a hedge might look like.

 Your company budgets $3.75 a gallon for fuel.  You don’t know, like any of the rest of us, if the price will go up or down over the next 12 months.  You are able to buy a hedge (financial instrument) at $2.90 for the whole year.  This means you will not pay more than $2.90 per gallon.  There are several different tools that can be used to work around this, but basically your buying an insurance policy to protect your company from an accident.  The accident being the price of fuel skyrocketing back the $4.75 a gallon.  That would blow your budget out of the water.

Six keys areas should be examined.

•  Spend analysis – determine market by market, site by site
•  Benchmarking – baseline and compare to published market metrics and establish industry best practices
•  Supply strategy – a proper balance of supply security with cost, margin and service contracting- coordinate operations, accounting, legal and safety teams to maximize opportunity.
•  Execution – having a playbook is one thing but making sure the plays actually get made is another. 
•  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. 

Now that you have the basics go ahead and save your company money.  Need more help?  Don’t understand or have the time to dig into this kind of project? 

Let Sokolis Group’s fuel management and fuel consulting team help.  We have saved companies tens of thousands of dollars a year to over a million dollars a year.  We are professional in fuel management, negotiations, auditing, fuel card maintenance and determining what type of fleet fueling program will save your company the most money.  Is it better bulk fuel buying? Fuel cards, truck stop or card lock rates or mobile fueling?

Visit us on the web at www.SokolisGroup.com or call (267) 482-6160

Pay is said to increase by 2-4 cents a mile in the next year, which is better than the 0 cents they’ve changed so far this year for most fleet companies.  Most fleet managers and fleet companies are confident the economy is on the rise, but not exactly sure when and where it will end up.  They are cautious as they wait for their freight to increase, and while raises haven’t been increasing, sign-on bonuses have increased.  Bonuses are said to have increased for fleet management drivers over the past year from $1,000 in the first quarter to $2,500 in the third.

While most fleets are cautious with increases in pay because of rising diesel fuel prices there are the exceptions of fleet companies that have raised their fleets pay.  The problem is that the spread between the highest and lowest pay currently is about 15 cents a mile.  The average spread is usually about 9 cents.

For you drivers out there waiting patiently for your time to come just keep plugging along.  If you want to be proactive contact our office and learn how your company could receive fuel savings by using our services.  Our fuel management system will work with fuel cards, mobile fueling, fleet cards, fleet fueling and bulk fueling.  Whatever your fleet’s situation is, our account managers and team can work with you to save you money.

Below is an article from the Baltimore Sun.  The article is in black print, comments from the Sokolis Group are in red print.

Theft of city fuel admitted
Public works driver resold more than 100,000 gallons of diesel
By Robbie Whelan Baltimore Sun reporter
April 1, 2010

A former Baltimore public works employee has pleaded guilty to stealing more than 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel from the city and reselling it as part of a scheme that went unnoticed for a year and a half. (I can assure you that if they had a good fuel inventory control process in place this would have been caught within 2 months)

Maurice Boone, 45, was found out Jan. 5, 2009, by a Baltimore County police officer who saw Boone filling several 250-gallon storage tanks with city-purchased diesel at a warehouse on Sparrows Point Road. The officer observed Boone while investigating a car-theft ring.

According to court records, Boone told police and an investigator from the city inspector general’s office that the plot had been going on since 2007. The tractor-trailer operator would fill a city tanker from a pump at a landfill on Quarantine Road; make several rounds filling city vehicles as part of his job, then sell the remaining fuel for $1 a gallon to an associate named Jimmy, who would leave money for him at the warehouse rendezvous point. The associate was identified in court documents as James Wright, who is a co-defendant in the case. (At this point in time diesel fuel was selling for over $4.00 a gallon at retail locations.  I believe they were selling the fuel for more like $2.00 a gallon.)

Boone pleaded guilty Monday and will receive a suspended eight-year sentence and five years’ probation, records show. He must also pay the city $187,000 in restitution, but Baltimore Circuit Judge Lynn K. Stewart delayed sentencing until July, a month after Wright’s scheduled trial. (The Sokolis Group has nothing against Mr. Boone except you won’t find us hiring him what we are confused about is 100,000 gallons at even $2.00 a gallon is over $200,000.  The average price per gallon of fuel over this time period had to be close to $3.00.)

Boone’s lawyer, Marc Minkove, said his client – who was fired from his city job in March 2009 – will testify against Wright “if he’s summoned.”

A charging document pegs the total amount of diesel that Boone stole at 101,305.4 gallons, but public works officials said they weren’t sure of the precise number. A spokesperson for the state’s attorney’s office said that the losses may have totaled as much as $1 million, but that prosecutors were unable to document the extent of the theft because of insufficient paperwork. (If public works officials don’t know what the amount is as stated they don’t, it is much higher than 101,305.4.  How did they come up with the 101,305.4?  They say the extent may have been close to $1 million so even at $3.00 a gallon for diesel fuel like we said above that would be a theft of at least 333,333 gallons.  As a fuel management company, we would believe that number of 333,333 is more like the real number of fleet fuel stolen.  As a fuel manager someone should have had some fuel inventory records to catch this amount of fleet fuel leaving the fuel tanks.)

“From our end, we never knew how much fuel the guy was actually stealing,” said Robert Murrow, a DPW spokesman.

Murrow added that fuel prices were rising, so the agency did not notice the high cost of diesel invoices being charged to its office. (Sokolis Group agrees fleet fuel prices were rising but that has nothing to do with your fuel inventory and fuel management.  Fuel inventory is just like any other inventory, goods come in and goods go out.  If you have 500 gallons of fleet fuel delivered, you need to know which vehicles your fleet fuel went.  If it only comes out to 450 gallons of fleet fuel and you don’t have 50 gallons of fuel still left in the fuel tank, you have a problem.  The fleet fuel pricing going higher is a matter of fuel auditing to make sure you paid the correct fuel price for what you bought.  Most fuel managers at companies since that job is just part of many jobs don’t do a very good job at it because they don’t have access to the proper data to be able to understand the fuel market trends.)

Diesel hit a historic high of $4.76 per gallon the week of July 14, 2008, before dropping to $2.01 six months later, according to Department of Energy statistics. 

The City should be ashamed of this.  When there are fuel management companies out there that can manage all of your fleet fuel buying, fuel auditing, and fleet fuel pricing and checking for a whole lot less than $1 million dollars.  For a couple of thousand dollars of month they could have been well service in fuel management by Sokolis Group or some other fleet fuel management company.  Who knows who else is or was stealing fleet fuel from them?  They don’t track their fuel inventory, so it could be millions of gallons of diesel fuel that has been stolen.  Maybe before Boone started to steal fleet fuel from them there was someone else that told Boone how to do it.  Do you have someone stealing fleet fuel from you?  Are you sure?  Do you have solid fuel inventory records? How about the prices of fleet fuel are you paying what you should be or are your fuel prices higher than they should be? Do you know?

These revisions to EPA mileage estimates came after extensive real-world fuel economy testing by groups such as Consumers Union found that ratings were inaccurate, sometimes significantly.  The old testing on fuel economy and fuel usage was taken place in ideal conditions in a simulated driving and not on the real street.  Consumer Reports notes, however, that today’s mileage ratings are “more realistic”, although some drivers may notice they get a tad fewer miles per gallon than they may have anticipated.  Still, noted Consumer Reports’ editor, the numbers are more accurate than they were previously.

Today’s EPA tests are designed to reflect typical driving conditions and driver behavior, but several factors can affect your own vehicle’s miles per gallon (MPG), including how and where you drive, the condition and maintenance of your vehicle, variations in the fleet fuel you buy, engine break-in and more.  To be sure, the EPA ratings absolutely are a useful tool for comparing the fleet fuel economies of different vehicles, but do keep in mind they may not accurately predict the average MPG that you in particular will get every single day. Each day has different driving conditions for each driver, leading to different results in your fuel program.

Where to go for data

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offers on its Web site a helpful list of mileage ratings for just about all of today’s vehicles.  Visit: www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm.  On the site you can do side-by-side comparisons of vehicle EPA mileage ratings, and narrow your search by car class, vehicle manufacturer, and MPG.  No, they don’t really have anything for truck fleets because now we are throwing a lot more into the mix with loads and other variables. These tips will still help your fuel management program and certainly help your fleet fueling.

10 tips

The DOE’s Web site also offers the following tips to help you get maximum fleet fuel efficiency out of your vehicle.

1. By resisting the urge to drive aggressively (e.g., speeding, rapid acceleration and braking), you can lower your gas or diesel mileage by an impressive 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town.  That will help all fleet fuel programs.
2. While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed, mileage per gallon usually decreases rapidly at speeds of more than 60 mph.  Notes the DOE, “You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.24 per gallon for gas that costs $2.67 per gallon.”
3. Don’t keep unnecessary items in your vehicle or on your roof rack.  This is especially true of heavy items.  Here’s why:  An extra 100 pounds in your car or on your roof rack could reduce your MPG by 2 to 5 percent.  This is especially important if you drive a small car, because the reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle’s weight.  Heavy loads on your roof rack also will reduce the aerodynamic capability of your car.  Whenever possible, use your vehicle’s interior cargo space.  This is the truck with truck fleets too.  The heavier the load the fewer miles per gallon you are going to get in your fleet fueling program.
4. Don’t idle too long.  Cars with larger engines typically waste more gas when idling than do vehicles with smaller engines, note DOE officials.  This has become commonplace in the trucking world since diesel fuel prices went over $3.50 a gallon a couple of years ago.  As a fuel consulting company, we have seen some companies go back to their old habits of letting idling happen.  This is not good for your fleet fueling program, the environment increasing more CO2 into the air and your company’s bottom line.
5. Using cruise control and your overdrive gears also saves gas and diesel fuel, as well as reduces wear on your engine.
6. Combining your errands into one trip can save both time and gas.  Several short trips started when your engine is cold may use twice as much fuel as a longer, multipurpose trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.  Proper routing of truck fleets can save a company over 25% on its fleet fuel and maybe more.  As a fuel consulting company we have seen many companies that don’t properly route or control where their drivers go.
7. Tuning you engine according to the specifications outlined in your owner’s manual can increase gas mileage by an average of 4 percent.
8. Keep your tires properly inflated and aligned, thereby increasing mileage up to 3 percent.  This also reduces your fleet fuel cost.
9. Routinely check and replace your filters.  Clogged air and fuel filters can decrease your diesel fuel and gas mileage by up to 10 percent.  Seems simple and logical but some companies think by delaying routine maintenance they are saving money.  They might be saving money in one pocket but it’s going right out their fleet fueling pocket.
10. Driving in cold weather will reduce your gas and diesel mileage.  It will also cost you more money in your diesel fuel trucks because of having to add fuel additive to your tank. Ah, unfortunately this one you can’t control… unless you move to a warmer climate.

The key to making all fleet fuel programs successful is making sure everyone with your company is on the same page.  Layout the ground rules on every area that you want to see happen.  Make sure everyone understands the rules and what the results will mean to your company.  Include in their buying fleet fuel at the truck stops or locations that you have determined to be in your fuel network.  As a company you will always be able to get a better deal if you buy more than one of something from any supplier.  The same hold truck in fleet fuel, send your drivers to the same spot.  Call a fuel consultant like Sokolis Group to help you negotiate the best deals for you and create win/win situation with the fuel vendors you are buying. 

If you follow these keys your fuel management program will be successful and your company will be spending less money on fleet fuel.  Good luck.

Sokolis Group is a fuel management company that helps companies reduce their fuel spend by reviewing, analyzing, auditing, negotiating and creating fleet fuel programs that create value and success from their clients.  got fuel? We have fleet fueling solutions for you! www.sokolisgroup.com or 267-482-6155.

Fleet Fuel Management employees-a staff of talented individuals with fleet fuel expertise in all aspects of fuel management, highest level of customer service, moral and ethically responsible to provide timely communication of the fleet fuel supply chain to the client. 

Fleet Fuel locations-fleet fueling takes place at truck stops, card lock locations, retail fleet fuel locations as well as fuel management client facilities when mobile fleet fueling takes place. These fleet fuel locations are usually kept very clean to improve the environmental commitment of the companies who are doing the fuel dispensing

Fuel Manager-a person working through a fleet management system that puts together fleet fueling programs for their companies.

Alternative fuel products-alternative fuel, renewable fuel, bio fuel, bio diesel fuel, ethanol are all examples of these types of alternative fleet fuel products.  These alternative fleet fuel products help take the strain off of the dependence on crude oil.  Alternative fuel burns cleaner and is usually renewable fuel from a source such as corn or grain. This fuel usage lowers fuel management client’s carbon footprint and carbon offsetting.

Fuel Buying buyers-skilled people that understand the fleet fuel market.  They are able to guide fuel management clients in fuel buying so the fleet fuel client’s rates are low and fuel delivery service is outstanding.

Fleet Fuel Auditors-are specially trained individuals with specialized fuel data to monitor, review, audit, and inspect fleet fuel transactions.  The training of these people takes thousands of fleet fueling transactions to review before they start to understand the fuel data.

Fuel dispensing islands-this is a location at a fuel management client’s location and/or truck stop and/or card lock fuel location that a fleet fueling card is usually used to activate the fueling pump.  This allows fuel dispensing to take place into a fleets operation.  Most fuel dispensing islands are hooked up to bulk fuel tanks that have fuel inventory monitoring systems to ensure safe environmental operations.

Fuel Consulting experts- people that have spent years in the fleet fuel industry and understand how to provide fuel management clients with maximized value.  A fuel consulting expert knows all of the ins and outs of fleet fueling cards, fleet fuel discounts, fleet fuel auditing, fuel rebates, federal & state fleet fuel taxes to name a few.

Mobile Fleet Fueling companies- fleet fuel companies that go to the fuel management client’s location with their fuel truck during off hours.  This type of fleet fuel service is best for a company with fleet management issues such as labor rates or labor time to fleet fuel at a fuel island.  Mobile fleet fueling will save fuel management clients money in their labor expense.

Fleet Fuel Planning programs- a fleet fuel plan is a strategic plan for a fuel management client to meet his fleet management goals of lowering fleet fueling costs, staying under the fuel budget, improving fleet fuel audits to lower overcharges and fraud, increase fleet fuel knowledge through outsourced fuel management programs

Fleet Fueling cards- a fleet fueling card is a plastic fuel card used to purchase gas and diesel fuel.  It has controls in place within the fleet fueling card to protect the fuel management client from fraud and abuse.  The fleet fuel cards also provide fleet management with fleet fuel information such as miles per gallon, fleet fuel usage, number of times a fleet fuels in a day, etc

Fuel Management-when your fleet fuel program is actively managed by fleet fueling experts to achieve lower fuel costs for your gas and diesel fuel purchases.  This increased visibility to your fleet fueling program on your fleet fuel cards, bulk fuel deliveries, mobile fleet fueling and fuel inventory is reviewed and audited daily providing you with up to date fleet fuel data.

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Aside from the basic oil change, the way someone drives can affect the mileage they get out of the car, for example staying below 60mph and not being aggressive will increase your mileage and fuel savings. When you do get that oil change be sure to have the tire pressure checked and the filter changed if necessary, not only does that extend your fuel use but it’s a safety issue to keep up with. Fuel prices are not necessarily our friend so it’s a good thing to try to get a little fuel planning on the brain while you can. Another simple way to help increase your fuel mileage is to reduce the weight of your vehicle. Take off that roof rack if you are not using it, get books (hello college students) and any clutter that will weigh your car down and force it to push harder using your gas. I recently and unknowingly drove around this past week with our metal Christmas tree stand in my trunk, here I though my husband had taken it out of my car immediately, tough luck for me, at least it wasn’t a months worth of hauling that extra baggage. 

If those simple ways can increase your home fuel management system, imagine what Sokolis Group can do to improve your fleet fueling needs. From fleet fueling cards, to free audits and transaction analysis Sokolis Group will do what it takes to make sure clients get all the fuel discounts and fuel management guidance to create a customized fuel planning system just right for everyone.

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Fuel Buying buyers-skilled people that understand the fleet fuel market.  They are able to guide fuel management clients in fuel buying so the fleet fuel client’s rates are low and fuel delivery service is outstanding

Fleet Fuel Auditors-are specially trained individuals with specialized fuel data to monitor, review, audit, and inspect fleet fuel transactions.  The training of these people takes thousands of fleet fueling transactions to review before they start to understand the fuel data.

Fuel dispensing islands-this is a location at a fuel management client’s location and/or truck stop and/or card lock fuel location that a fleet fueling card is usually used to activate the fueling pump.  This allows fuel dispensing to take place into a fleets operation.  Most fuel dispensing islands are hooked up to bulk fuel tanks that have fuel inventory monitoring systems to ensure safe environmental operations.

Fuel Consulting experts- people that have spent years in the fleet fuel industry and understand how to provide fuel management clients with maximized value.  A fuel consulting expert knows all of the ins and outs of fleet fueling cards, fleet fuel discounts, fleet fuel auditing, fuel rebates, federal & state fleet fuel taxes to name a few.

Mobile Fleet Fueling companies- fleet fuel companies that go to the fuel management client’s location with their fuel truck during off hours.  This type of fleet fuel service is best for a company with fleet management issues such as labor rates or labor time to fleet fuel at a fuel island.  Mobile fleet fueling will save fuel management clients money in their labor expense.

Fleet Fuel Planning programs- a fleet fuel plan is a strategic plan for a fuel management client to meet his fleet management goals of lowering fleet fueling costs, staying under the fuel budget, improving fleet fuel audits to lower overcharges and fraud, increase fleet fuel knowledge through outsourced fuel management programs.

Fleet Fueling cards- a fleet fueling card is a plastic fuel card used to purchase gas and diesel fuel.  It has controls in place within the fleet fueling card to protect the fuel management client from fraud and abuse.  The fleet fuel cards also provide fleet management with fleet fuel information such as miles per gallon, fleet fuel usage, number of times a fleet fuels in a day, etc.

Fuel Management-when your fleet fuel program is actively managed by fleet fueling experts to achieve lower fuel costs for your gas and diesel fuel purchases.  This increased visibility to your fleet fueling program on your fleet fuel cards, bulk fuel deliveries, mobile fleet fueling and fuel inventory is reviewed and audited daily providing you with up to date fleet fuel data.

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Pleasure, pure pleasure is how I would descript my Santa time. Kids hugging this fuel consultant nut, not knowing Santa does fuel management during the day and plays this red and white costume gig once in a lifetime. I can’t tell you all of the things kids asked for because that would be against the Santa Clause in sharing private information. I can tell you in was a very good time and when I left the room, I could have sworn I heard a reindeer say, “Good job fuel consultant Santa, I will glide you fuel planning anytime!”

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