Big Oil is at it again - Page 2

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.

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.

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