What a difference eight years makes in the world of fleet fuel. In May 2002 the average diesel fuel price was $1.30 a gallon and the percentage of that price collected in federal and state fuel taxes was 37%. At that price, many of us complained about the high cost and the high tax rate. As the price of fuel rose through the years, taxes remained relatively stable in most states based upon a “cents per gallon” tax rate. Throughout the subsequent years, as the price of fleet fuel increased the tax rates as a percentage shrank to less than 10% of the total cost of fuel in July 2008 when diesel fuel prices hit its all time high of $4.70 a gallon, to the current rate of 15% in May, when the average national price was $3.06.... Read More

In this day and age of high priced fuel fleet managers need to have a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the fuel market. This was not always the case. Years ago when diesel fuel prices were considerably less expensive than it is today, and market instability was a daily move in the wholesale market of less than a penny, the fleet manager considered fuel as just another operating expense. After all a price increase of less than a penny was not going to bankrupt his company.... Read More

People are always surprised to learn that over 1.5 percent of a company's fuel budget goes to theft and that eighty-one percent of fuel thefts are an inside job, with the other nineteen percent being an outsider siphoning off fuel or using one of your fleet fuel cards without proper authorization.... Read More

We deal with thousands of fleet fuel transactions every day. Some fuel card companies are better than others when it comes to customer service, offering discounts, speed of acceptance and providing information. We see it all the time as we analyze fuel transactions for our clients. I'm sure you're all well aware of the transaction fees associated with using fuel cards. But what about the fees you pay when you use credit cards, instead of cash or a fuel card?... Read More

I had a pretty moving experience last week that led me to think about life. As I was thinking about these things, I began to realize how similar fuel management, and maybe every profession, is to life.... Read More

My guess is that most of you have a fuel management program. It is either real or it's in your head, but you believe you have an effective fuel program that is money saving when it comes to buying fleet fuel. While you might really have that type of program, our research shows that most companies don't have a comprehensive program when it comes to their fuel management needs.... Read More

Have you ever been to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, horse racing track or bet on a football game? Do you feel like you're going to win? Of course you do or you wouldn't go for the action.  But we all know those places weren't built on people winning money; they were built on people losing money.... Read More

Greece recently provided help to the fleet fuel markets by helping drive down fuel costs by over $11 a barrel for crude oil and nearly 30 cents a gallon for diesel fuel. While diesel fuel costs went down on the open market, at the retail station they actually went up another half cent a gallon, leading some to wonder why. We can tell you that what goes up fast always comes down slow - especially when it comes to fleet fuel.... Read More

I can tell you that most of our clients and other companies we've had conversations with have seen an upturn in demand.  More miles, more fleet fuel and a great demand. 

Let's take a look at what has been going on with fuel.  At the writing of this article crude was over $85 a barrel. Diesel fuel prices were at their highest levels since November 2008. OPEC is still playing around about any further increases in production.  They will increase fuel production but it will come a few months too late.  OPEC's view is better to be late and make more money than early and not cash in.  Remember for most of these countries oil is their economy. ... Read More

Your company has worked hard to get the right fleet fuel program in place. You've picked the right card provider for your company and you might have even negotiated discounts with your fuel providers. Congratulations, your fuel management job has just begun. What a lot of companies foolishly do is put a fleet fuel program in place and forget about it, assuming it will manage itself.... Read More