How Does it Feel to Buy Fuel?

[ATeam]

This is a question not about the economy or the industry. It is a question about the personal experience (emotional, mental) of buying fuel at today's prices.

Compared to a year or two ago, when fuel was less expensive, how does it feel to buy fuel today? When you return the nozzle to the pump or get your receipt at the fuel desk and look at the numbers, what thoughts run through your mind? What feelings register in your body?

The other day, I was at the bank and drew out some cash. The teller counted five crisp $100 bills onto the counter. I pointed to the money, told her we drive a truck for a living, and said this is one trip to the fuel pump. She was shocked.

So am I. A fuel stop did not used to be an emotional event. It is now. I feel sad when I buy fuel now, and I worry about things I did not worry about before. I'm getting sick of leaving a pile of hundreds behind every time I fill the tanks but do not see that changing any time soon.

(Pile of hundreds is a figure of speech, fuel card is actually used.)

 

[dieseldiva]

I'm angry and quite simply, it makes me sick to my stomach. The saddest thing is that I have no idea who that anger should be directed towards....there's so many opinions of who is to blame.

 

[piper1]

I just get a sickly feeling. I paid 1.269 a liter today and my first thought was that wasn't too too bad (I was in a remote area) and then I stopped and realized I thought 1.26 wasn't BAD?!!??!

I feel for everyone whose FSC is not keeping pace with the price and especially for those whose carriers don't pay 100% of the FSC to the truck (whether they're up front about it or just lie to you).

The talk about a "tax holiday" for fuel doesn't do anything for me either. I'm not knocking McCain, I just think the oil companies would conveniently find an excuse for the price to go up the same amount.

BTW, for you metrically challenged folks, 1.269/L = 4.803 per US gallon. Ya I'm only a little truck but it still hurts.

 

[arrbsthw]

It kinda makes me sick also. We paid $4.26 per gallon last night in NV. I think back to when a little over $100 would fill up the tanks and it's disgusting to realize that you only
get a little over 100 gallons for $500.00 now. I saw where they were talking about the
tax holiday. I guess it's so folks can drive thier cars on vacation.. I asked my husband
why no one was complaining when we ( truck drivers) are paying $4.00 per gallon.

 

[greg334]

BTW, for you metrically challenged folks, 1.269/L = 4.803 per US gallon. Ya I'm only a little truck but it still hurts.

Piper, one of the local stations here had fuel for $4.55 a gallon and I expect to see it hit $4.80 soon.

What shock?

What feeling?

I can't do a thing about it so what am I supposed to feel like?

Betrayed?

Hurt?

Disgusted?

Cheated?

Someone tell me what I am supposed to feel like because to me it is still about business, so it is business and I have to balance things out.

The thing with any tax suspension is the fact that the money will not stop going out, so either we pay now or pay more in the future.

DD, Washington is to blame! They need to get out of the Oil, Mortgage, Money and our business. Stop trying to save an industry by throwing money at it or giving tax breaks to builders. Stop lowering the interest rate and weakening the dollar and replace the progressive punitive tax system that stifles growth.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Numb. Just numb. I don't let it bother me, as there's nothing I can do about the price itself. Getting mad does nothing but raise the blood pressure. I kinda just let it happen, like a rape victim who knows what's coming, and is helpless to resist.

 

[Streakn1]

Here's a couple of questions to add to the pot:

How long are you willing to accept loads (one after another) that only produce enough of an advance to pay for the fuel required to complete the run. Then what, you wait for a settlement for the rest of the run pay. Do you worry about acceptance ratings that could work against you?

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Advance? What's that?

 

[CharlesD]

It's done quite a few things to me. One is just a feeling of helplessness. It's not like we can carpool or combine that trip to the grocery store with a trip to the bank. All of those tips might help the average joe car driver, but not us. There seemed to be a mental jolt when a fill up for my Sprinter started topping $100. Now when I think about how far that $100 is going to take me, it's made me change the type of freight I'm willing to haul. It's also meant that I will idle a lot less, basically just starting the engine every few hours to make sure my fridge doesn't drain the battery too far. I've slowed down even more on the highway and I'm really careful to avoid fast starts. Another thing I've started doing is trying to combine loads more often. I know our freight is technically exclusive use, but if the rates for one load aren't going up, then a good way to increase revenue is to haul two loads going the same direction. I've found myself booking a good enough expedite load and then figuring out if I have any exta time on the run to try to fit in another stop. I just did a short 200 mile run. When I picked it up, I had 6 hours to get it to the drop, so I figured I had a little time to play with, and I sat and used up a good chunk of that time trying to find an LTL or another expedite to put with it so I could make a bit more money on the run. Anything to try to offset the higher fuel prices. I wasn't able to find anything extra for that run, but I've been able to do that a few times recently. When I'm at the pump, there is a bit of anger, but I'm not sure who to direct it at, so I just do the best I can to reduce my expenses and increase my revenue. You have to control what you can control and try not to get too worked up about what you can't.

 

[davekc]

How long are you willing to accept loads (one after another) that only produce enough of an advance to pay for the fuel required to complete the run. Then what, you wait for a settlement for the rest of the run pay. Do you worry about acceptance ratings that could work against you?
====================================

I would focus on what money are you really making regardless of when you get it. It is that TOTAL number I would pay attention to. We are very careful about what we will and won't run. Acceptance rates means nothing if you are running a load that you lose money on.
Company isn't going to save you because you had a great acceptance rating, but you are broke.
This is where a company that obtains acceptable FSC's is paramount. And.........not keeping a portion of it.

 

[fastrod]

I write my own fsc and keep my price for gas at $1.00 per gallon so the pump price really does not bother me. Greg and Dieseldiva take note, we the people are the ones to blame for all this. The people of this country are the ones who keep voting these idiots in washington back into office so we have no one to blame but ourselves. A question for the A team. When Fedex came up with there new fsc program you and Terry were the first to come on here and say how wonderful it was. What changed? Fuel was only costing you $1.25 a gallon then and should be only $1.25 a gallon now. So why the sick feeling when Fedex is picking up the difference?

 

[nightcreacher]

I dont get a sick feeling buying fuel,my surcharge is doing fine,as long as i watch my mpg,what makes me sick is when I'm home and buying that high test gas my cars crave.The pontiac,is under its cover in the garage,but the Aurora gets driven,just not as much as usual.The speculators,value of the dollar,and I dont see any chamge in sight,either from this or the next bunch in office.We the people have let this happen,so guess we are going to live with it

 

[greg334]

Fastrod, that's my point... we are the ones to really blame but until people understand that the government involvement is no solution and many stop being ignorant about the facts, we the people will never come back.

As for FedEx, Phil gets the top tier in FSC for C/D units because of his reefer, which further offset the prices of fuel to something like $1.15 a gallon (maybe a $1.20 don't remember). He does not even have to use his reefer to get it.

 

[Steady Eddie]

Like sand in the Vaseline

 

[bigshow345]

How does it feel to buy fuel. Simple go to a smaller vehicle. Then after filling up the tank, sit there and cry at how much money you spent filling up your gas stank

 

[Falligator]

Sucks buying fuel. Everyone can thank big oil for raising up prices even after testifying on Capitol Hill. And who says there isn't an oil monopoly going here.?! Even if oil companies found more supplies of oil and had more refineries to build it we would still be paying 3.50 for gas. All they want is an excuse to make billions of dollars while raping us consumers at the pump. There is nothing we can do in the meantime except cry about it while they are in their big mansions or on their yacht laughing about our problems. Besides why should they care about us? They can afford 3.50 a gallon. So unless Washington can act by putting a cap on gas prices there is nothing we can do but stand there and watch money go to big oil. This is the only way. It's kinda like the days when you didn't have a choice in what phone company to use. They still charged you an arm and a leg for the bill.

 

[ATeam]

Here's a couple of questions to add to the pot:

How long are you willing to accept loads (one after another) that only produce enough of an advance to pay for the fuel required to complete the run. Then what, you wait for a settlement for the rest of the run pay.

We are not willing to do that. With each load offer, we look at our operating costs and accept or decline loads based on what they pay.

Do you worry about acceptance ratings that could work against you?

No. While we are very proud of our acceptance percentage, that would be the first thing to go if unprofitable offers came in one after the other.

 

[TeamCaffee]

We do not keep to much extra money on our fuel card as I would rather having that money in a interest bearing account. On our better paying loads we get all the advance we can and that takes care of our shorter loads.
It really helps our peace of mind when we fuel to remember with our fsc what our fuel is really costing us. With us being in Express / non reefer today we get .317 cents a mile for fsc. This is figured on a national average of 4.059 and is not the west coast fsc. So for us at 9 mpg x .317 we get 2.853 for a total cost of a gallon of fuel at close to $1.20. When we get 10 mpg our cost would only be .889 cents for a gallon of fuel. This helps us when we go to the fuel pumps to remember what fuel is really costing us.

 

[grog111]

Yeah, I suppose your FSC would color your view. Unfortunately, most of my loads are generated by NLM and the like where the typical FSC is 18 CPM. Now, having been in the business for ten years I remember like it was yesterday what my operating costs were VS. what they are now and it's flat out depressing. When i have to lay out 500 bucks for what used to cost 120 I can't help but to think on a visceral level what that means, not only to my future and my retirement plans , but more importantly, what that means for my child's future. What about her college fund, the one that I'm not contributing anything to and sometimes dipping into to pay the bills. Believe it or not That could be up to 3 grand a month. It's also a constant reminder how much harder it's gonna be for my kid to work and save during high school or to put herself through college. And all the excuses that I've heard for WHY the prices are so high are so ludicrous that i get so mad i just want to spit. And i suppose that's the toughest part, if I worked at GM or where ever and was asked to take a 35 thousand dollar cut in pay i would want some kind of justification, not just a bunch of baloney about how at first it was some broken pipeline, then some other pipeline, then what was it...a hurricane ? Then the war, then the not enough refineries excuse then some great demand in Europe for diesel. But yeah, I'd be less concerned if my FSC was commiserate but thats only if i were to disregard the fact that as the costs get passed on to the customer it also will eventually be passed on back to me as the consumer.

 

[greg334]

Amazing just.... amazing.