fuel prices

[Dave_is_truckin]

how come no one is screaming about fuel prices? There going up another .25 a gallon and from what I can tell Expeditors are hurting now !! the only people making money in this business is The truck dealers....and the companies like Fed Ex , Conway Etc etc...

 

[Crazynuff]

We can only hope fuel surcharges will continue to compensate . Way I hear it prices are going much higher .

 

[redytrk]

I must confess I have somewhat been nummed into conplacinty because of the fuel Surcharge. One has to wonder how many customers are turnned off when the recieve the price quotes.

I really feel for those of you out there who do not have the benifit of the Fuel Surcharge.OOIDA has been fighting to have a fuel surcharge mandatory by law.

 

[ATeam]

I too am surprised that the fuel price outcry is mutted. It can only be a matter of time before high fuel prices increase inflationary pressures. I expected that before now, yet people and the economy seem to keep plugging away on OK shape.

Even the big-name pundits and analysts in the Wall Street world are relatively silent on the issue. No one is sounding any alarms. Everyone seems to be rolling along fat and happy.

Most expediters receive partial relief because of fuel surcharges the carriers impose. That's partial relief because in most cases the surcharges apply only to loaded miles. Deadhead and personal miles also occur and that fuel money comes out of the driver's pocket.

But I wonder about other trucking companies, especially smaller ones that may not have that kind of surcharge leverage. Yet even they have been relatively silent on fuel price issues.

For us personally, we're glad to be soon taking delivery on a generator-equipped truck that will get respectable fuel economy. The need to idle the truck engine will be eliminated by the far-more efficient auxilary power unit.

Otherwise, we'll just suck up the additional fuel cost expense of personal and deadhead miles for the short term, and hope the fuel costs will find themselves into the freight rates in the long term.

We continue to build our reserves. Fat and happy preceeds lean and mean. We want to be among the survivors when people quit smiling and optimism fades.

 

[DannyD]

You bring up a good point. If fuel keeps going up, it's probably going to change what loads I'll accept. If it's to an area that my experience has shown it'll likely be a one way run I'm a bit more likely to turn it down now. The down side of this is that it's going to limit what I can make. Then again, the fuel prices in themselves can cut into profits. We'll see how it plays out.

Good luck to all,
Danny

 

[redytrk]

Another thing we FECC drivers should be screeming about is the allowance they make for deadheading.

IE. .15 per mile after first 100 mi(C units).20(D units)

These are the same figures that have been used for at least the last 18 years.Totaly unrealistic today.

 

[BigRed32771]

>Another thing we FECC drivers should be screeming about is
>the allowance they make for deadheading.
>
>IE. .15 per mile after first 100 mi(C units).20(D units)
>
>These are the same figures that have been used for at least
>the last 18 years.Totaly unrealistic today.

This is something that I figured out in my first weeks of running, and I see it reflected in some of my "between the lines" reading of conversations with dispatch. I gather that at least recently most of the traffic for them has been originating in the upper Midwest or Northeast region, but that they have a lot of trucks just sitting in the south (when I put myself available today I was told that there were 6 D-Units in the Orlando area, interestingly enough the same number that were here when we arrived for a break, funeral, wedding, and truck outfitting time). The trucks aren't moving into the areas where the loads are, and I quickly began to wonder if it was due to the low pay for relocating. Frankly, the cost of deadheading back to the "traffic origination zone" makes even a fairly good paying run mediocre at best, and it can turn a mediocre run lousy in nothing flat. I wonder how long they can remind us about running "according to our contracts" when the trucks start refusing to move absent sufficient compensation. I am optimistic about the business, and expect to do well as the "slow season" fades into the "busy season," but you can bet I'm watching that deadheading issue real close.

Doug

 

[davekc]

There are loads out of FL but apparently FedEx isn't recieving them.
Our truck did have to wait half a day but that was it.
.20 cents per mile after 100 is a joke. As mentioned, I don't see how a driver is supposed to afford that. No wonder there are 6 units in Orlando. They are all on the verge of going broke and can't afford to move. It would come as no surprise either that they have alot of equipment sitting in Jacksonville and Tampa.
Flying J in St. Augustine had 3 or 4 sitting there.
As mentioned in an earlier post, I quess if you deliver in FL they expect you to deadhead back to Ohio. Of course, on the .20 cents after the first 100?
Davekc

 

[raceman]

I find this to be a very good question but as always I will point out that the truckers of the world could make a big difference by doing something about this, in my opinion. The problem here as everyone knows you can not get enough of us to ban together long enough to make that difference. That being the case there is not much sence in raising ones blood pressure of the price. None of us will stand united long enough for people to take us seriously and therefore the few that do speak out, scare no one. Think about it. Turn the trucks off and carry nothing until something is done. We could stop and change things pretty quickly. The issue is that we will not.

Raceman
Owner Two Straight Truck.
Part time driver of one of my trucks and local TT.
15mon.OTR Expediting
1 yr local Expediting
Line Haul TT 2mon.
OTR Straight Truck Plt to Plt off and on 5 years.
Based in Cincy Ohio
Currently at Express-1

 

[rollingstock]

If I may chime in here,

I wonder what the high cost of ENERGY is going to do to the US economy over the next decade. If I might, our economy, while much more adapted to higher energy than in the '70s, is still energy driven. In order for the freight to move there must first be demand for that freight. The only way demand will continue will be for manufacturers to make goods. If the consumer is not buying and so forth, you get the picture. I worry that the possible slow down in the economy that ususally accompanies higher energy costs will cripple the expedited freight industry.

The real reason that expedited freight is accepted is because the business can afford the luxury of having the item/commodity delivered quickly. If the demand is lower the business might return to warhouse resource rather that just in time goods manufacturing. If that happens the expedited business will suffer.

Just a thought or two?

Bob

 

[dukesadog]

I live in Neptune Beach Florida which can be considered the Jacksonville area. Anyone who has been following the local stories in the paper here regarding price gouging by BP and Hess for the last 6 months just shouldnt buy their products.

The BP on the corner by my house has had Diesel at 2.35 for the last 4 months despite regular gas being 1.74. The story goes that fuel is cheaper on the Gulf coast yet the fuel arrives through Jaxport here in Jacksonville and is trucked over there?.

I still think that paying more for fuel distillates is robbery

dukesadog

 

[MSinger]

1997 Dodge Ram 3500 with 12' cube. Dock high with jackstands. 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel.


I whole heartedly agree. Up here in Indiana one cannot afford to fill his diesel truck at anyplace but a truckstop. Even a month ago when diesel prices at the truckstops fell down to around $1.75 the regular service stations stayed at between $2.19 and $2.29.
I also despise paying 30 cents more for a gallon of diesel than a gallon of gas. Makes absolutely no sense.
I hate big government more than most people but if something is not done to reign in these unjustified costs in fuel we are all going to be in trouble.

 

[raceman]

I think I shall dare to step back up. One of the biggest issues is that we, The U.S. has not built a refinery in very many years. When the folks from the Mid East offered to build them or help build them, our Tree Huggers screamed and they are still screaming. Many of you new folks to the site will not remember my tag line used to be, Why Hug a tree when you can sit on a Diesel. Well I still feel that way. We have go to build some capacity or we shall always have these problems. If we want fuel and we do, we have to be willing to refine it somewhere. The environment is going to have to suffer a wee bit or we will always have problems like this. Okay Im out


Raceman
Owner Two Straight Truck.
Part time driver of one of my trucks and local TT.
15mon.OTR Expediting
1 yr local Expediting
Line Haul TT 2mon.
OTR Straight Truck Plt to Plt off and on 5 years.
Based in Cincy Ohio
Currently at Express-1

 

[dukesadog]

Okay,

I'll invent an all new type of fuel that costs .25 cents a gallon but I need someone to invent the bullet proof house I'll have to live in after that

dukesadog

 

[TDIdriver]

I just fill up TDI yesterday for $2.10 a gallon, Today they just raised diesel to $2.29 a gallon. At this rate I'm going have to make own bio-diesel for a $0.82 a gallon

 

[Crazynuff]

I buy Speedway gift cards for fueling in IN Every time you recharge the card for $50 it only costs you $48 . Simply put , if fuel costs $2 a gallon and you buy 25 gallons you end up paying $48 , not $50 . As for fuel stops that charge higher prices , avoid buying anything at all there , especially Pilot , and Love's is just as bad lately . But the point everyone is missing is there is little that can be done to keep fuel prices low . The solution is to get rates up .

 

[RichM]

I was listening to Dave Nemo the other day and he had a fuel guy talking about fuel and oil and what they get out of a barrel of crude oil.Each barrel of fuel holds 44 gallons of crude oil. Since gasoline is lighter than diesel they can refine about 24 gallons of diesel or 42 gallons of gasoline. So they get more for their buck by refining more gasoline then diesel.

Also I was laying over in Bakersfield CA a couple of years ago and Shell oil wanted to double the size of their refinery there. Within 2 weeks all of the eco nuts and tree huggers filed over 50 lawsuits to stop the expansion. Wonder how they would like to not have heat for their 12,000 square foot home and fuel for their Expeditions etc.

 

[rollingstock]

Hey Rich,

Are you sure about that? I understood that diesel is that last to crack in the refining cycle. Gasoline requires far more refining that diesel. More diesel can be cracked from a given amount of crude than can there be gasoline.

I think the current gouging is on the account of lower emission tolerances for sulfur. Diesel is ladden with sulfur because it is not refined as fully as gasoline. Gasoline went the low sulfer content in the mid 80s.

I hope that the Office of Petroleum Manufacturers can be reeled in and get with the EPD folks from the federal gov. and we get these zones of non-attainment sorted out and not need a different blend of fuel for each region. That costs us dearly in the long run.

One more thing. The cost of a gallon of gasoline or any fuel destined for the highway includes approximately .45-.55 for taxes. Some states are even higher (Florida, Connecticut and others).

Hang in there though
Bob

 

[RichM]

I thought heavy diesel used on ships and diesel fuel for trucks plus home heating oil was #1/2 on the distalation process,but I am not an refinery guy. The lighter fuels such as gasoline,kerosene,jet fuel and so on are easier to extract. ??any oil guys out here??