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  1. #1
    armygreywolf's Avatar
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    It is not fair to blame "big oil" the problem you may or may not realize is your wallet is roughly 7 inches long, stuff it enough that you can just barely fold it and you might be able to buy yourself a cheap car. At the same time...most of us if we filled our wallet with 20s could only put a weeks worth of gross income in our wallet. Now...big oils wallet is proportionately the size of an aircraft carrier, but then so are their operating expenses. They are essentially middle america in a combined operations scheme. We should never assume that because they get 4 billion dollars in subsidies we are doing them favors. First...4 billion dollars to the oil and gas industry might as well be the equivalent of you dropping two pennies in the grocery line...and thinking about whether or not you should bend over to pick them up.

    Some oil execs do make obsene amounts of money, but again, these guys are innovators, most execs in that industry started out as engineers and geologists, not all, but a good majority. All I am saying is the industry is a grass roots to black gold scenario where hard work pays the bills, nothing about it is easy, it's not trading stocks and selling mortgages. It's scouring the earth for deposits, proving thousands of wells every year. Oil and gas account for the majority share of our working industry, wall street was built on steel and oil. And that's where I end that.

    To find your solution big...I think you will find doing some wrenching on your vehicles can improve your situation. Checking tire pressures, doing a complete inspection, changing your fluids to synthetic (more specifically your rear end and transmission fluids) getting alignments done on ALL your vehicles...these things are the only things you can do to combat your monthly expenses. Trust me, with a Van, Truck, Motorcycle, Car... in the fleet they are all maintained to 100%. My jacked up 37 inch tired dodge ram with a 5.9 gasser gets 14mpg highway and weighs as much as a house on wheels.



    There are other options. One is converting to LPG in a dual fuel configuration and then paying to have a large tank and pumping station installed at the shop. You will have to pay your road tax to the feds BUT I do believe California has an alternative fuels subsidy program just like Wisconsin. Another option is CNG supplement fuel in your diesels (LPG can do this as well). You can run E85...it is not subject to federal road tax...but the fuel density is about 30% less and you will need to run it in flex fuel vehicles.

    You could purchase a hybrid truck...Chevrolet make them and they are pretty good. Other things include route planning, making sure the guys take the sides of the stake bed truck when they are empty because thats a hell of a drag. Driving the speed limit, staying away from stop and go traffic (yea I know californian impossibility). My point is, complaints are warranted, solutions are needed, if anything I said might help, that it's a problem that's been solved by your own hand.
    WI ITAD LLC, IT Liquidation Services, we remarket, buy and sell scrap electronics No customer too large or small!

  2. #2
    bigburtchino started this thread.
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    eesakiwi - That do make me think, My mom always taught us no matter how bad we may think our individual problems may be real or perceived. To always remember it could be much worse, someone somewhere has real problems and to get on with what you can deal with so your problems don't become even a bigger problem.

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    Big Oil is at it again

    Burt, I haven't researched it, but I have seen it mentioned that Cali has a different blend and that may cause prices to be higher for many reasons.

    have you looked into a bulk fuel tank? I know a farmer that has a few and it saves him a fortune.
    Currently looking for a job in or related to scrap/recycling. Relocation is possible for the right offer.

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    bigburtchino started this thread.
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    Bulk fuel tank requires local fire department and California enviromental permits, after paying those permits, the price will be over $5 per gallon and would still have problem of uncontrolled prices.

    We have come up with some temporary solutions internally: Daily tracking of each crews milage vice monthly, vacation for some, and putting one truck idle per week by combining crews. Still will need to raise rates if this persist!

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    I don't know your range or number of trucks and equipment burt, I'm assuming quite a bit at 1k a week
    but when prices were real high a few years ago We applied a fuel charge, instead of the rate raise.
    our bills are itemized and the total doesn't change that much but it really helped curb the beating we were taking on driving and running equipment at, to/from the jobsite.
    It was never much I think the highest was $25. but 5- 10 in fuel money every stop... 20 or so stops a day on our two crews.... roughly
    when prices dropped we removed the charge as there was really no need unless a certain job or property requires excessive amounts of fuel.
    sounds like you have done all you can do to try and keep cost down and be competitive...gotta pass the buck
    Last edited by NHscrapman; 07-17-2015 at 02:33 PM.
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    Scrappah is offline Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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    Have you tried researching the supply chain ? I know i has some pretty big questions when the price of oil doubled in a single year awhile back. That helped set my mind at rest.

    Working out better logistics could help reduce consumption.

    I'm in a rural area so there's more driving to get from job to job but i typically don't rack up more than 9,000 miles a year. I'm averaging about 10 - 11 gallons of fuel use per week with an old f-150 running a 351. A lot of it is just planning the stops so that everything is in a straight line. It helps that all of my work is within an eight mile radius of the shop. Saves a ton of commuting time so there are more billable hours.

    Small jobs ( 1 - 2 hrs) get billed at a higher hourly rate because they're so inefficient to do. The larger jobs where you drive there, work for a full day, then return to the shop are more cost effective to do.

    Would it be more or less efficient to have the guys take their work vehicles home at the end of the day ?

    How about service & maintenance ? I typically run a full synthetic motor oil in my machines. You can figure on an extra mile or two per gallon with a good synthetic. Have you looked at specialty plugs & wires. They can make quite a difference !

    I was on a Ford Forum a few years back and there were some really sharp automotive techs in your neck of the woods. These guys knew their stuff. While the rest of us were averaging 15 - 16 MPG on our big v-8's they were pushing 22 mpg with the same motors. They had done a few small specialty mods but more than anything it was knowing how to set the engine up right.

    Don't know about you, but i hate being dependent on imported oil & the people that are always jerking us around on the cost of a vital resource.

    Every bit of streamlining reduces that dependence.

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  11. #7
    bigburtchino started this thread.
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    As Ryanw has stated, Northern Cal. is paying about $1.00 a gallon less, they use the same blend as Southern Cal. So the California special clean air "blend" could not be the total reason for our runnup in gas prices. The biggest reason that I can honestly see is the Torrance refinery still not up to capacity since the last August fire. Exxon/Chevron are playing a "stall" game in getting that refinery back to 100% capacity. They want AQMD (Air Quality Management District) and State EPA to roll back air quality standards. So that is the problem, Big Oil and Big Politics, with the working people paying for the tug-a-war game, (once again).

    What I'm going to do is get as efficent as we can to survive this B.S. again! One of the things I noticed was how much needless cargo our trucks have been hauling around. Added weight decreases gas mileage, so extra weight needs to go. I found some trucks with dirt, rocks, concrete and just trash, I know was from jobs two or three weeks ago. So we are on a clean up the trucks first. Then limit unneeded miles and track each trucks cost weekly as best we can.

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    bigburtchino started this thread.
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    I don't know if this it for price increases, but yesterday was $4.21 and today $4.19 so down $0.02 (better than another increase).

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