• Mobile fuel vendors bring the fuel directly to the fleet when it’s not in use, so drivers don’t have to fuel themselves.

There is very little that a fleet manager can do to affect the price of fuel; however, there are steps to take to control the cost of fuel and improve the company’s bottom line. If this seems like a poor attempt to put another spin on the reality of the trucking industry, consider the following as a means to control the cost of rising fuel prices.

There are only so many ways to purchase fuel. There are fuel cards, which save so many cents per gallon at each fueling stop. A carrier could implement a program with nationwide truck stops to purchase their fuel at a lower price. Drivers could simply pay retail and keep going without spending the time to look for the best price on the road. A carrier can purchase their fleet’s fuel in bulk if they have an underground storage tank at their terminal(s). Or, the carrier can have a mobile fuel vendor fuel its fleet when its trucks are idle. This option won’t be too costly if the carrier can negotiate the right price.

A driver will spend a minimum of 20 minutes each time they stop for fuel. If they fuel 5 times per week, that accounts for at least 1 hour and 40 minutes per week that both the driver and the truck are unproductive. Multiply the driver’s time to fuel by the hourly wage and then add in the cost of the fleet’s truck for the same time it was unproductive, and suddenly, the pennies saved per gallon turn into the dollars lost in fueling — especially when multiplied by the number of drivers fueling each day.

A fuel vendor, who will come to a facility and fuel each night (or whenever the fleet is not in use), could lower a carrier’s costs even if the price of fuel increases — providing the carrier negotiated a fair price based on the vendor’s daily cost. This will require a strict recordkeeping system and a daily watch on the true price of fuel so that costs can be managed wisely.